A coworking space manager told me my background noise was driving people crazy

I used to take client calls from coffee shops, thinking the ambient noise made me sound busy and professional. She said it was actually just annoying and hard to hear, so now I use a mic filter and record from a quiet corner of my apartment instead. Has anyone else had to adjust how they handle calls on the road?

3 comments

3 Comments

kais6729d ago

The car thing is so common. I used to take calls from my parked car too, thinking the quiet hum of the engine made me sound like I was between important meetings. Then one day my client said "Are you okay? You sound like you're in a submarine." That was the moment I realized the road noise was just making me sound distant and muffled. Now I sit in my home office with the door closed and a blanket over the window to kill the echo. It feels a little silly at first but the difference is night and day. People actually comment on how clear I sound now instead of asking if I'm in a tunnel.

skyler_adams2mo ago

Mentioned this to my brother who works in IT. He said the Panera parking lot is basically a second office for half his team.

oscarb712mo ago

lol yeah the mic filter thing is smart. I had a friend who used to take calls from his car thinking the road noise made him sound like he was always on the go. One time his client actually asked if he was driving during their meeting and he had to admit he was just parked in a Panera lot. After that he started recording from his bedroom closet with pillows on the floor to muffle the echo. He said it felt ridiculous at first but his call quality got way better and people stopped asking if he was in a tunnel or something. The lesson I got from his story is that sounding clear and human beats sounding busy every time.