If you’re like most professionals, you find that the majority of your phone calls during the workday end with leaving a voicemail. As workdays become increasingly packed, more and more professionals are letting their voicemail serve as their personal secretary, screening incoming calls and then prioritizing who to call back. In order to stand out from the crowd, make sure your voicemail skills are up to par! Take a look at these three strategies for upping your voicemail game:
- Include all the necessary information: An effective professional voicemail consists of four parts: an introduction, your reason for calling, how you expect the listener to respond (i.e., Do you need them to call you back that afternoon? Will you follow up via e-mail?), and your contact information.
- Keep it short: Your voicemail shouldn’t contain much more than the above four pieces of information. People find voicemails that drag on and on extremely irritating and will be left with a bad taste in their mouth. To keep your voicemail succinct and specific, think through the most important information you need to convey beforehand.
- Clarity: A mumbled message is difficult to understand and often deleted outright by people who don’t have the time to try to decipher what is being said. Take extra care to pronounce each sound, especially the consonants at the ends of words, and don’t rush your speech.
- Leave your number twice: Say your number at both the beginning and end of your message. It gives your listener two chances to get the information right, plus it allows them to re-play only the beginning of the message to get your information without having to listen to the entire message a second time.
Want to learn more strategies for leaving a voicemail that gets results? Click on the video below for more great tips from Corporate Speech Solutions President, Jayne Latz:
Would you or a colleague benefit from communication training or accent reduction services? Give us a call and see how Corporate Speech Solutions can improve your professional life! Call us at 212-308-7725 or send us an e-mail at info@corporatespeechsolutions.com to learn more. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have!
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