Daily English 968 - Recording an Outgoing Voice Mail Message

Complete Lesson

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Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:16
Explanation begins at: 5:11
Normal Speed begins at: 21:42

I hate the sound of my own voice. I always have. When I’m speaking to an audience, I always sound forced and unnatural. So when we had to set up our new voice mail system’s outgoing message, it took me a few tries to get it right:

“Hello, you’ve reached Martin Navra at McQ Corp. I’m not available to take your call right now. Please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you for calling.”

No, that wasn’t quite right. I gave it another shot.

“Hello, you’ve reached the voice mail for Martin Navra at McQ Corp. I’m in a meeting or away from my desk. Please leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. If your call is urgent, please contact Julia Mann at 555-434-3232. Thank you.”

That seemed okay, but since I was leaving on vacation next week, I needed to record a temporary outgoing message as well. This is what I came up with.

“Hello, you’ve reached the voice mail of Martin Navra at McQ Corp. I will be on vacation from March 3rd through March 10th. If you need to reach someone immediately, please call Julia Mann at 555-434-3232, or dial “0” to reach reception. Otherwise, please leave a message and I’ll return your call when I return. Thank you.”

I was finally done. The good thing is, whenever I call to retrieve my voice mail messages, I can bypass my outgoing message. With any luck, I’ll never have to hear my own voice again – ever!

Category: Business | Technology