It happened to me this morning. It happens to me almost every week. I received a message on my voicemail that stated the person’s name, followed by a long message detailing every aspect of their life and then the request to return their call at a telephone number spoken so fast and only Superman would be able to keep up. Having no way of understanding the telephone number I am forced to listen to the whole message again pencil in hand with sweat pouring down my brow in great anticipation of listening to that phone number. After three attempts I generally give up.
Voice mail and the answering machine have been around as long as I can remember. Generally, we experience them at such a young age that they become second nature. Nobody ever tells us how to leave a message on the machine because it appears to be so apparent. High school’s and colleges fail to provide courses on this simple subject. Because of this I will offer my tip of the day on how to leave a voicemail.
When leaving a message for someone please make sure to pronounce their name correctly. I would suggest the following order to your message.
- Clearly state your name
- Slowly give your telephone number
- Proceed to the message
- The best time to call back
- Optional, you may wish to repeat your name and telephone number one last time.
- Bid farewell in a polite fashion and hang up gently
If the above procedures were used more often than I believe that there would be greater peace and harmony throughout the world. Maybe that is overstating it, but at least I won’t be aggravated at least one time a week on my voicemail.
;)
;)
