What is your outgoing voice message saying about you?

When a prospective customer, client, friend or someone else calls your business or personal phone, he may hear your outgoing voice message. What impressions are others getting of you after hearing this?

Today I called a luxury hotel and heard the outgoing message of the director of a department. The message was very fast and I had to listen very carefully to understand the person's pronunciation.
The message included the date the person recorded it, as in "Today is ____. I am in the office today." The problem was that the this was not the date I was calling on, so the message had not been updated.

The impression I got was of someone who speaks fast and may not pay attention to details, such as the date or his speech. I wondered if he would pay attention to his department's business details.

When recording an outgoing message, say your name slowly and carefully. Your prospective customer may be in a noisy setting, or may need to remember it so he can write it down. If you leave a telephone number on any phone message, say it only as fast as you can write it (in the air, if needed). Your listener may be writing it down - and if it is clear, he may only need to do it once. 

Put only the essential information in the outgoing message, so you have time to speak clearly.  If you record a new message daily, do that first thing in the morning. If you leave an outgoing message promising to return calls quickly, keep your promise!

If you have speech difficulties, get help for them, whether they are a strong accent, a communication impairment, or something else.  Your speech gives an image of you and your organization. Speech help these days can come in the form of individual or small group coaching, online coaching, an e-book, an mp3 file, or other options.

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive coaching, small group seminars and e-books on diction, accent modification, presentation skills, communication strategies for leadership development, and more!