Robyn Foyster
Michaela Launerts wrote her book to help the Millennial Generation on how to manage new technologies in social situations and face-to-face behaviours.
Here are a few tips when it comes to using your smartphone in public:
- Never place your phone on the dinner table. This is discourteous to the people with whom you are sharing a meal.
- Don’t call, answer, text or do anything else while engaging or interacting with other people. Be polite to actively listen to somebody, whether you are interested or not.
- If you need to answer an urgent and important call, simply excuse yourself and walk away so as not to interrupt or distract others.
- Respect others’ right to privacy. Avoiding using the speaker function on your phone unless you are in a private setting.
- Turn your phone off or switch it to silent mode if you are part of an audience, a group or in a professional environment. It is polite to consider others’ right to a quiet place.
- Avoid speaking loudly on your phone on public transport, in waiting rooms and in queues in general. Just as it is considered rude to eavesdrop or listen in on others’ conversations, so too is it rude to force your conversations upon them.
- Avoid using your phone in your daily interactions with others. Give the people with whom you are interacting with your full attention. This conveys a sense of respect for the person and/or the service that is being provided to you.
Check out other extracts from this book here:
