12 ways to leave better voice messages on the phone
12 ways to leave better voice messages on the phone
caller. I was in fact surprised to find out that the message was by my friend
when I hit the key for ‘dial back’ and talked to him. What had happened was
that he had caught a terrible cough and cold and when he left me a voice
message he completely ignored that fact that he sounded completely different. Moreover,
the signal was weak as he left it while travelling on a country road so the
message broke so much, it was practically undecipherable. Had he announced his
name and replayed the message before confirming it, things would have been much
better.
If we do not pay attention every time we
leave a voice message, it becomes our habit to take it casually, to the point
that the whole purpose of the call gets defeated. This particular message was
just to say ‘hi’ and catch up, but there could be situations in which a bad
voice message could mean worse and in business scenarios it could mean big losses.
E.g. a bad voice message could mean a missed business or job opportunity.
This set me writing some pointers to leave
better voice messages on the phone. Here are the tips I try to use when I reach
any voicemail machine:
1) Be loud and clear: Nobody
wants to hear a message if all you can hear is some mumbling. It is better to
leave the room if the message is private, rather then speaking inaudibly.
2) Check the signal: Make sure
that when you leave the message, your cell phone shows good signal strength.
Walk to the window or the lobby if needed. The recorder, unlike a real person
on the phone, will not tell you that it can not hear you well.
3) Always tell the WHO, the WHEN and YOUR
NO.: Some newer smart cell
phones, display all this information neatly
formatted on the screen but some companies don't show/tell all this
information. Check right now to see if you cell-phone company provides you the who,
when and their no. Some companies DO NOT provide the time for messages not
received today. Always tell the time (even the time-zone, if calling someone
out your time-zone)and the day OR time and date (one of them is usually
sufficient (I prefer the day, though you may choose to tell the date). This
should be told preferably in the beginning of the message.
Remember, the first thing to be told is your name
(the WHO). If they do not know you well enough, you’re your company name and
job title. The no. you can be reached at, should also be mentioned at the end
of the call, unless you are sure they have your cell or home no. (I prefer to
give my number anyways...)
4) Wait for the machine: When you
call someone and it goes to voice-mail, there will usually be a voice which
tells you what key to press to leave a voice message and what key to press to
leave the phone number as a text message. Wait for the voice to complete the
message as it will tell you what key to press for options. If you don't
know this key, before you leave the voice message, you will not be able to use
the very useful options which most telecommunication companies provide. I even
save these three keys (digits) for each of my contacts in my address book.
5) Re-record if needed: One of
the options is to review your message. It is generally a good idea to check
what you are sending and re-record if needed. (sometimes you already know that
you need to re-record without reviewing, but you will be surprised how often
you will want to do that if you just develop the habit of reviewing your
messages)
6) Set priority only if needed: You can
set the message to be high-priority or low priority, but set this only if
needed. (Just as in an email, it is not good to set unnecessary flags on the
outgoing message)
7) Give the message: This
might seem obvious but I've seen people who don't tell the reason why they
called. Please leave a message! If you did not call for any important
reason, do say something e.g. ‘Just called to say hi’. In fact, most of the
times you can tell everything you wanted to convey, had the person picked the
phone, in the voice-message itself. If it is loud and clear, the person will
listen to it, even if it is not a brief message. But, obviously you don't want
to leave 5 minute messages!
8) Who
is the message for?: If you are leaving the message at a home no., or if
the number is shared by many people, or if you are not sure that the number you
have dialed is correct, always tell who is the message for.
9) Don't repeat yourself: It does
not help to repeat yourself in the message. It only shows that you did not
review the message and are not sure about the voice/volume/clarity when you
gave the information for the first time in the message. The voice message does
not have to be of a minimum length, so just cover the points mentioned here and
end it. If the receiver could not catch the information the first time he/she
heard it, they can always replay it.
10) Lingua franca: Always
leave the message in the language in which they will best understand the
message. What I mean here is that, when you talk to a person vis-à-vis, they
might understand your mother-tongue or some other language also, but when they
hear it on the phone it will be hard for them to understand the meaning as
there are no visual aids. Always prefer English or his/her mother tongue (if
you are comfortable in it, that is.)
11) Tell them how to take it from there: Tell the
person if you want them to respond to you via email or you will call them again
or they should call back ASAP. If you do not want to receive a call back during
certain times, mention that. It is best to let them know the time to call back
e.g. ASAP, After 9 pm EST today etc.
12) Practice makes perfect: Finally, use every opportunity to practice and leave the best voice message possible even if it is not to your boss or colleague.
© Mangal
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