As someone who had to carry one of these for work at the time -

One of the most ridiculous things about it, was that you didn’t have to use the speakerphone with the walkie talkie feature. You could hold it up to your ear like a regular cell phone, talk at a normal volume, hear the other person perfectly fine, and actuate the PTT with your thumb (or index finger if left handed) when necessary.

There was zero reason to use it as obnoxiously as most people did.