Hi there, and welcome back to the fourth Star Pronunciation tip
in today's tip we will be talking about voicemail messages
and we'll help you record a personal voicemail message
Now, often when I call people from non-English speaking backgrounds
I find that they haven't recorded their own personal voicemail message
sometimes they tell me that this is because they don't like hearing their
voice on a voice recorder
or because they're not sure what to say
or they're worried about
making grammar mistakes
or having poor pronunciation in the message
it's really important to have a good
professional voicemail message
especially if you get calls
from clients or colleagues
or even more so if you're looking for a job
and recruiters at calling you
to speak to you about your qualifications or hopefully
ask you for an interview
You want and voicemail message that is grammatically correct
and one that sounds friendly, and confident, and professional
Now, we don't have time in this tip to cover correcting your pronunciation of
the vowel sounds and consonant sounds in the message
Remember that to correct and improve your pronunciation of English vowels and consonants
sounds you will need more detailed teaching
and unfortunately we don't have time for that today
You can get step by step teaching and practice to correct the sounds in
English that you find challenging with a Star Pronunciation course
In this tip, we will focus on the first step
recording a personal voicemail message
that's grammatically correct
and sounds confident and friendly
You will see the script
for the voicemail message
below this video
Cut and paste it, and use it for when you record your new personal
voicemail message
So, let's start!
I will say the entire message a few times so you can listen to it
Then I'll prompt when you can repeat and practice the message after me
O.k.? Let's start!
Ready?
Hello
thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer the phone at the moment
please leave a message, and I'll return your call as soon as possible
Thank you!
Hello
Thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer the phone at the moment
please leave a message and I'll return your call as soon as possible
Thank you!
Can you hear that the tone, or pitch of my voice
goes up and down?
Listen to this part:
As soon as possible
Can you hear how the tone of my voice goes up and down?
Listen one more time!
As soon as possible
The way we do this in English is called "syllable stress"
It's what makes the music of English
and it's hugely important for speaking clearly
many non-native speakers speak English flatter than a native speaker
and sometimes they put the stress in the wrong place
using flat
or incorrect syllable stress can make a person's speech unclear and difficult
for listeners to understand easily
Do you feel that your English is a little bit flatter than a native speaker?
or do you sometimes not know where to put the stresses in words and in sentences?
making the correct stresses and rhythms in English is covered in detail in
a Star Pronunciation course
In this tip I would like you to just start to listen
to the up and down of the voice
Start to become more aware of it!
Being able to hear the changes in pitch is the first step towards
improving it
Anyway, we'll talk in more detail about syllable stress in another tip
For now just practice listening to the up and down of my voice
Listen one more time!
Hello, thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer the phone at the moment
please leave a message and I'll return your call as soon as possible
Thank you
O.k. - Now it's time for you to practice
I'll say it again, and this time I'll break it up into sections
So, into smaller phrases
Remember what you've learned in previous tips
Don't speak too fast; remember to open and move your mouth when you speak - o.k.?
Let's start!
Repeat after me
Hello, thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer
the phone at the moment
please leave a message
and I'll return your call
as soon as possible
Thank you
Hello, thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer
the phone at the moment
please leave a message
and I'll return your call
as soon as possible
Thank you
So this time, I'd like you to smile
as you say your messege
The smile will come through your messege and it will help you sound enthusiastic
and friendly. Nobody wants to hear a grumpy messege - o.k.? So smile and it will
make your message sound much more pleasant
Hello, thanks for calling Georgie
I'm unable to answer
the phone at the moment
please leave a message
and I'll return your call
as soon as possible
Thank you
So, here's an idea
I'd like you to record your voicemail message and email it to us
We'll listen to it and we'll give you feedback on the areas of your
pronunciation that you could improve
for clearer English
To do this, click on the link 'record my voice mail message' under the video
We'll put your voicemail message with our feedback onto our website
You'll also be able to listen to the messages and feedback
of other students as well. This is a good listening exercise and will help you
become more aware
of your pronunciation
and English pronunciation in general
So we look forward to receiving it
Now, one more thing before I go:
How do you answer the phone when it rings?
Now, I'm not talking about if it's one of your friends and you recognize the
number
I'm talking about if it's a colleague or a client or if it's a number that you
don't recognize
I often hear people answering the phone like this:
Hello!
Now, that's o.k. if it's one of your friends
but if it's a work related call it's not good enough
You should answer the phone like this:
Hello
Georgie speaking
and again
Hello, Georgie speaking
If you need to use your company name, you would put that after "Hello"
like this:
Hello, Star Pronunciation - Georgie speaking
and again:
Hello, Star Pronunciation - Georgie speaking
So, that's the best way to answer the phone in a professional manner
in English
O.k.? Have a great week!
Good-bye!