I recently visited the beautiful G18 Delta Sky Club at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). It’s an absolute gem of an airport lounge. I genuinely look forward to stopping at that club.
While getting some water at the hydration station, something caught my attention.
A guy on his iPhone barked through a conversation with someone. And all of us in the area could hear every word not only from Schlubbo but the person with whom he had his conversation. Why? Because this guy put the darn call on speakerphone.
Some of us shook our heads. But this is hardly anything new. I’m sure you’ve been there.
But it’s still annoying.
And if you’re someone who uses speakerphone in public or loves making sure everyone around them hears their video calls, please keep reading. Because you might end up embarrassing more than yourself.
Airport lounges are great places for business people to work. You can access tables, snacks, coffee, water, and any other beverages to get you through whatever you’re doing. That’s one of the reasons some of us get credit cards with airport lounge access.
The communication landscape has changed drastically during the past several years. Video calls are very much part of our everyday culture — both professionally and personally.
I don’t know about you, but my clients would not be happy if I broadcast our Zoom calls to people who are not involved in them. It’s not that anything nefarious is said, but confidential information is occasionally shared.
Ego, narcissism, disregard for others, and cluelessness are the only reasons I think people love popping on their speakerphones or leaving headphones off — and their conversations available for all to hear.
René and I had the pleasure of meeting United Airlines 23 million miler Tom Stuker at last year’s Chicago Seminars. During his group presentation, the topic of people using speakerphones and talking too loudly on phones or video calls came up. He had the perfect Hey, keep it quiet warning. It was something along the lines of, Next time you make us come to your business meeting, don’t forget to bring donuts!
Don’t Be That Person
You might think that people hearing you close a theoretical deal makes us go, “Wow, that person sounds important! I should hire them!” (Two of the parents at my daughter’s dance class love taking a flurry of “financial calls” in the observation room where the rest of us parents watch our kiddos. On Sunday mornings. At 10:00 AM. You know, while the stock market is closed. We know they’re a joke.)
Some airport lounges now have soundproof booths where people can have phone and video calls. The booths are great for several reasons:
- They have power outlets
- There’s space for your electronic devices
- No one will hear what you or the people on your call say
Imagine the person on the other end of the line — whose voice is broadcast for all of us to hear — breaking some major news. A job termination, a family illness or death, etc.
If you use those booths — or even just not use speakerphone and talk in a not-loud voice — that’s the best of both worlds, right?
Hello, TikTok: Maybe You Do Want the World to Hear Your Conversation?
Perhaps there’s a reason some people don’t keep their conversations private: they want them to be heard. What do you think? Should people who insist on using speakerphone and video calls without headphones have their conversations recorded and broadcast to the universe? After all, they surely don’t mind, right?
Final Approach
I can’t stand it when people insist on using speakerphone for voice and video calls in public places. It’s rude and inconsiderate.
How do you feel about this? Do you say something? Or are you like me: just stay quiet and whine about it? 🙂
Please share your thoughts in the below comments!
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Pretty funny / sad.
My strategy…
1. Pull out your phone and start videoing them.
OR
2. Go stand right NEXT to them (And I mean NEXT to them) and just stare.
Maybe they’d get the message?
Those booths look great! Can’t wait to use one!
By the way, can you please ask your IT guy why I am no longer getting these as you post them, even though I was subscribed and keep on trying again to subscribe?
Totally agreed, and I’d add that the “public space” should be extended to restrooms as well. These are not so much (yet?) prone to video calls. However, I’ve heard my share of speakerphone conversations coming from the stalls of several lounge restrooms.
When I hear someone in a stall talking on a phone, I start flushing.
Great post. Thanks for addressing this problem.
I LOVE that idea of telling the “big shot” to bring donuts when he or she decides to allow me to attend their meeting. For years, I have found these egomaniacs to be extremely annoying. Even those not using their speakerphones: they just HAVE to talk loud and try to “ impress “ everyone with their BIG careers. So what impress me??? Frankly, it how incredibly rude and inconsiderate they are regarding others around them. Bottom line; it’s your business deal, not mine- keep it to yourself!!
Thanks for highlighting this annoying behavior displayed throughout the lounges and our communities in general. You can’t walk through a grocery store without be exposed to someone’s “private “ conversation usually broadcasted at high volume. The same with folks on Facebook or YouTube. I really wanted to toss a pair of airline disposable ear buds to a woman in the lounge last week. Just trying to help her out, you know. I have learned that when I on a video or phone call I use one ear bud so I am able to hear how loud I am talking. It works well and my wife doesn’t elbow me as much in those situations. I would love to hear some more snarky statements that others have used to highlight this bad behavior.
It’s a lot harder to find a place to have a biz call in an airport than it used to be. Add to that more remote tolerance and you have more chances of taking a biz call while in transit.
The old 90s/00s generation clubs esp the old Continental Presidents Clubs were packed with phone cubicles, those were great to take calls and a really efficient use of space.
They are only 3 sided so you can’t have a ‘private’ conversation but it’s a lot less distracting to everyone else because of the walls on 3 sides to absorb your voice. They were also set away from the place where people like to relax.
Now you’re lucky to find 3 or 4 booths and they’re the super quiet enclosed type. Which is fine but I’d rather have 6 cubicles in the space of 2 enclosed booths.
There will always be people who need to take calls and some of them loud – the airlines need to better factor actual biz happening in designing the lounges, like they used to.
When people sit next to me on a NYC bus starting using Speaker Phone for conversation, I just turn on my YouTube and put on the loudest Drum and Bugle Corp competition to the MAX. What’s good for the Goose is good for the Gander!
A long time ago before Cell phone was very popular and airport gate area still have Pay Phones banks, I hear a woman spoke VERY LOUD on her cell phone leaving a message to people to remind them to make sure they RSVP to her party. She said: “Please RSVP you attendance at phone number…. ” , and that went on for call after call… To the point, it was annoying everyone in the gate area. So I got up, went to one of the pay phones, and called her RSVP phone number to tell her “No One in this gate area is Interested in your party, you are making an ass of yourself while disturbing the peace of other passengers.” Meanwhile, I was looking right at her in a distance. Of course, this woman had NO CLUE who is calling her.
That is fantastic!
Amen! The others are the clueless people who watch their videos/shows/games in the lounge or at the gate with the volume on max. I’ve actually tossed disposable earbuds at some of these people, but usually get a dumbfounded, “what are these for?” look?
@Jim – I always collect Delta ear buds for just this reason. I just walk over and either hand them to them or place a set near them and smile.
I absolutely hate it! There used to be a youtube video of someone who’d join the phone conversations of strangers just to throw them off. It was hilarious.
During the Thanksgiving holiday — and this is maybe ten years ago — this woman sitting behind my wife and me on a flight was on speakerphone and loudly discussing some recipe she was making for family dinner. (This was while the plane boarded. She was talking about pumpkin pie.) We’d turn and speak between the seats, then disagree with her ingredients. We suggested ludicrous substitutions like heavy Italian seasoning instead of cinnamon, potato puree instead of pumpkin puree, and cloves instead of nutmeg. I think we somehow worked BBQ sauce and ponzu sauce into there, too. She was oblivious, but the person on the other end was like, “What? Why?”