Here’s a great Google Tech Talk by Merlin Mann. The best bit of advice he gives is to “First, stop sucking”. You have to stop whatever bad habits you’re doing (like ignoring the 500 emails in your inbox) before you can get better at it. The whole talk is below, it’s definitely worth a look.
Below is a quick cheat sheet I made up to help out when I was on the phone with people. Inevitably you have to either read off an account number or spell out some weird URL and run into a conversation like this:
Tech Support: Please read off your account number
Me: k, 005V345
Tech: Thank you, I have that as 005B345
Me: No, that’s V as in Victor not B as in Bravo
Now I keep this next to the phone so I don’t have to think of a word that clearly begins with V.
Phonetic Alphabet Cheat Sheet: Download (PDF)
