I recently received a phone call from a nice man looking at maybe doing a joint-venture and/or sharing space for workshops and seminars. Although it was a pleasant-enough conversation I would like to remind him and everyone else out there that you must identify yourself at the beginning of your phone call! He confirmed who I was, and then immediately went into his pitch, or reason for calling. It was a little amusing to me at first, but finally after 5 minutes or more chatting I asked “So what is your name?” To which he gave me only his first name. I then was forced to ask the second obvious question “What organization do you represent?” To which he gave me the name and website. So how do you think I felt about his credibility and/or business experience?

This little anecdote serves as a reminder to all of us to always, at the beginning, identify your name (preferably full name with a pause in the middle between your first and last name) and your title if relevant, and finally your company or organization. This sets the right tone for the conversation and avoids confusion. Besides, don’t you want people to know who you are???