Hey can I ask you something…. – What’s your experience with leaving voicemail messages? Do you have any funny stories to share? Leaving voicemail messages is one of those things that if possible, we’d avoid it. It’s just scary for an English learner, isn’t it? To leave a voicemail message… knowing that you have to keep your messages short, speak loud and clear and sound confident. Too many things to think about! Ok today, we are going to tackle this fear once and for all. I’ll get back to you after this jingle – Go!
After each one, evaluate your performance. Most systems provide the option of listening to the message you just left. Doing this as much as possible will improve your performance more than anything else. Would you save that voicemail? Would you return that call? Would you return that call right away? Are you missing the basics (alternative phone number, optimal ways to get in touch, a fall-back person to call)? Did you craft it or wing it?

Deciding what to say in a voicemail can be difficult. Poor quality and unprofessional voicemails come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Great voicemails strike the right balance of being concise, friendly and professional, which can be hard to do if you don’t leave them all the time.
A good voicemail greeting is short and professional, lets people know that you’ll get back to them, and invites callers to continue engaging with a call-to-action. You should also show your personality if you’re in an industry or role that allows that. If your industry is more conservative, however, you’ll want to keep humor and personal touches to a minimum. A greeting Your name Your company A simple explanation for missing the call (e.g. you’re away from the phone or are on holiday) A rough estimate of when you’ll get back to the person An alternative person to reach out to (if you’re out of office) An alternative mode of communication (if you prefer email or text) A call-to-action such as “Leave a message” or “Send me an email at [email protected]”