People talk differently from how they write, and it’s painfully obvious to your listener if you’re reading from something pre-written. Know your content well enough to avoid stammering through with “um”s and “like”s, but don’t put your prospects to sleep. In an age where phone ringers are set to silent and text messaging is a primary form of communication, finding a successful voicemail strategy can be daunting and discouraging. Here are some pointers I’ve learned from my time on the phones. Surprisingly, you can use this fact to your advantage. Keep your tone conversational.

The conversation was flowing, the insights were remarkable and we were able to cover all of one question; who should be in control of content? Of course this one question spawned more tangential conversations/questions and led to a discussion of what type of experience an employee should ideally have when tasked with developing content for an organization? We discussed the difference in utilizing a journalist versus a marketer and some of the variations in writing styles that typically exist between these two backgrounds. Seems easy, right?