VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Deirdre]

Not everyone has a cell phone or caller ID!

When I leave a message for someone I say "Hello, this is DB Cooper— 207-251-6039." and then I leave my message. I'll say my phone number at the end, too. This saves the person who's listening the hassle of having to replay the WHOLE MESSAGE if they didn't get my number written down.

And whenever I say my number, I write it or pretend to write it as I speak each numeral. This way it's not too fast for someone to make a note of.

I can't tell you how often I hear professional VOs leaving their numbers so damned fast it takes 3 replays to get it.
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[bobsouer]

Deirdre,

This is excellent advice. I'm trying to remember to always leave my number right after introducing myself; but I still forget sometimes. I do make a habit of repeating my phone number twice, the second time a little more slowly, when I leave my number.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Frank F]

Great advice for everyone - not just VO's.

Thank you D. B.!

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Mike Sommer]

Yes this is excellent advice. I do this all the time. As a matter of fact I leave it a third time very slowly and clearly at the. As one with a cellphone I know that an unclear signal can mean an unclear message.

It also helps not to leave long rambling messages too- short, sweet and to the point.
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http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Lance Blair]

I hate it when people rattle off their numbers "great thanks...call me at 421-912-2491." Yeah...what???
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[flaspots]

Always, name and number at the front and back of the message. If I've got something details to say, I may even jot a note to myself, so I don't ramble and repeat.

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

And you know your name - but the person you are calling may not - so please, say your name as clearly as your phone number.
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[Chrissy]

I do the name, number, short message and name and number again at the end.
I hate the phone calls which take time with the message and then see how fast the number can be rattled off.

[Bailey]

DB... I like the number thing.
But I find that most people under the age of 30 talk faster than I can compute.

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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
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"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[Mandy Nelson]

I learned that when I was pretty young and it sure helped me to sound more mature when I was leaving messages for future college recruits/employees, etc. My Dad used to make us answer our home phone using our real names so I had to say, "Saucier house, this is Miranda." I hated it but when I started to sound more like my Mom it came in handy. And to this day, even if I'm calling my Mom I say my name. It is so annoying to have people call and expect me to know who it is just from their hello. Some folks are obvious but others are not.
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[Deirdre]

People who call and expect you to know who they are are idiots.

What gets me is when I do ask who's calling, and the reply is petulant.
Worse: "It's Dave!" as though there's only one "Dave" I could possibly know.
Worst: "It's me!"
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[ballenberg]

Lance's example isn't egregious enough. There's a large number of people who don't understand telephone number "rhythm" --as in 123-456-7891, so they say

4219122491 or sometimes 42 191 22491

Heaven help us.

[ccpetersen]

Oh, while we were gone last week we got a phone call from someone who identified himself as a Very Important person we needed to talk to about us doing some work with him and made sure we got the "very important:" part but then left his name and number in a blur of drunken-sounding words that sounded like "My name ish mumbletymumbleswlishgruglegrumgne, at num num num, feefffro oot num: -- call me back right away." And we go to callerID to see if we can get his number that way and he's blocked.

Sheesh.
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[Deirdre]

Apparently not THAT important.
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[Mike Sommer]

Indeed!

I've been know to call such fools back; if I get their voice mail I'll say "it's me, the "Very Very Important Person," and you have my number." (with my ID blocked of course)

I'll also call back solicitors if I have time, and solicit them.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.