Make Voicemail a Production
This is the first in a series I’ll be posting. The goal: equip you to be a superhero.
You probably don’t think of it this way, but voicemail is a production. It’s a little radio show. It’s meant to convey information, and you must keep the audience (of one) in mind. Here are some thoughts on hacking voicemail into something useful that will improve the effectiveness of your messages.
Jot it Down First- It sounds stupid to write notes for a voicemail, but how many times have you heard a whole lot of “um” and “uhhh” and filler words while listening to voicemail. Jot down your points, and put your most important points first. And do a precis- Before you go in deep, give the main topic(s) you’ll cover as a quick bullet. THEN, you can go in.
Start With Identification- First, identify who you’ve called. “Hi, Rich. This is Chris Brogan.” Why? Because it tells the person you called that you know WHO you called. It also gives them time to get a pen, to calibrate. Second, give YOUR name clearly, and if the person doesn’t know you very well, give them your phone number slowly for callback. Right off the bat. Why? Because some people don’t listen to the whole message (I rarely do, especially if it lingers).
Be a Journalist and Lead StrongLike I said about the precis, give your lead bullet point(s) first. “Hi, Rich. This is Chris Brogan. I’m calling to talk about the Videoblogging strategy for our team. Frankly, we need to change out the talent.” That’s a strong lead. It says what I’m calling for, and what action I want to take. THEN, I can give the supporting info. If your message is simpler, like setting up a meeting, perfect. Be brief. “Hi, Rich. This is Chris Brogan. Call me back at 631.612.8945. I’m making sure we’re good for 1PM on Tuesday for our conference call. I’ll be calling you.”
Finish Strong- When you close your voicemail, end with a “call to action.” Unless your voicemail is just a report on something (”Wow, Rich. That meeting stunk. Natalie wanted all our numbers, and we had nothing!”), end with whatever action you need next. And try for something more than “call me back.” If you can, make it something the person can do. “Rich, could you give me your best guess on one or two replacements for Kari. We need an on-screen talent that really drives the team relationship. Call me before Thursday, and we’ll get that on the agenda.”
Your Take- What are the tips I missed? Help me tidy up this post and make it useful to your fellow lifehack readers. And if you want, leave me a voicemail about it.
Chris Brogan is co-Founder of PodCamp (next one’s in Stockholm in June), and he blogs at [chrisbrogan.com]. If you use Twitter, add him.
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Comments
Ekbrothers says on May 30th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I also like to use the military alphabet when giving any specific information over voicemail, especially as I don’t always have email addresses for clients. If I can leave the information clearly enough on the voicemail, I can usually avoid having them call back. For example, I’ll say, “just give me a call back if you have any questions about this info, otherwise I’ll talk to you soon…”
Jesse says on May 30th, 2007 at 11:09 am
My addition and personal voicemail pet peeve: Give your phone number twice.
Sometimes people rattle them off too fast or don’t speak clearly enough. Nothing frustrates me more than having to re-listen to a message just to confirm the phone number.
clkl says on May 30th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Since using JOTT, I think I’ve improved my messages on other people’s voice mail.
Reading my transcribed ramblings to myself had made me more focused when I leave a message for someone else.
Markj says on May 30th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Just don’t do it! If I don’t pick up, then send me an email or try to call back later. Don’t EVER leave me a message saying “Hi Mark, I’m returning your call, call me later” because I will forever have contempt for you.
(As you can tell, I’m lacking in several of the types of intelligence in mentioned in the other post from today)
James says on May 30th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Leave your phone number twice. Once right at the beginning after your name and once at the very end. And speak it v e r y slowly.
Nothing worse than having to sit through a really long* voicemail twice just to get a phone number.
Better yet, don’t leave it at all. If you get my voicemail, hang up the phone slowly and turn to your keyboard. The blinking light on the phone comes second to the e-mails in my inbox.
(* Of course, if you leave me a long voicemail, I’ll call or e-mail you and say “Hey, got your voicemail, what’s up?” and make you tell me all over again.)
Jeff Gonzalez says on May 30th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I really like to leave my call-back number very early in the message… “Hi, this is Jeff, 303 875-9999, would you give me a call about…”. Then if they miss the number, they don’t have to listen to the whole thing again to get to it.
Dennis Brault says on May 30th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Simulscribe is great for getting solid voicemail messages - not only does it instruct callers to leave me a voice message slowly and clearly, it also automatically transcribes the message to text and delivers it to me as an email with an attached audio file of the original message.
ken says on May 30th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
And make sure you sign up for Callwave’s vtxt beta service
http://www.callwave.com/landing/vtxt.asp
Bill Reid says on May 30th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
If I’m calling someone who doesn’t know me well, I always finish up by saying “Once again, this is xxxx at xxxxxx.
And I always say thanks.
Leslie M-B says on May 30th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I agree–people should say their number twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. Also, enunciate the numbers and say them slowly.
catherine says on May 30th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Speak slowly, much slower than you think you need to. Especially if the person you’re talking to has an accent different from yours.
Agree with Bill Reid about leaving my name and identifier again at the end.
I disagree with your script under ‘Be A Journalist’ - if you want Rich to call you then don’t say you’ll call him. Repeat at the end that you’d like him to call you back and confirm otherwise why are you bothering to call?
Daniel Kim says on May 31st, 2007 at 7:49 am
When I leave my phone number on voicemail, I give it in two forms: single-digit and multi-digit.
For instance, a number of 543-234-6590 is first pronounced as “five, four, three; two, three, four; six, five, nine, zero”
Next, I speak it as: “five fourty-three; two thirty-four; sixty-five, ninety”
The two different presentations clarify certain digits that may not have been clear