By Culture and Manners Institute

Ever get one of those voice mail messages where you couldn’t quite make out what the caller was saying?  The person could have been mumbling or talking like his house was on fire.  Perhaps the person was calling in from out where the elephants go to die and cell service was a little spotty.

When leaving a voice mail message, speak clearly with a smile in your voice.  State your name, company and phone number at the beginning of the message and repeat your name and phone number at the end of the message.  Say the phone number slowly each time, as if you are standing in front of the person who is writing it down.  That way, the person listening to the voice mail message does not have to keep replaying the message to take down your information.  Or if the number was hard to understand at the beginning of the message, the repeat number will confirm it.