DON’T.  I absolutely despise voice mails.

I’m not really sure when my hatred for this time wasting event started…I remember a time when voice mails were my life, circa 1991.  I would race back to my dorm room to see if my answering machine had a blinking light…if it did, it usually meant a boy had called me.  {sigh}

Today however…if I see on my iPhone that I have a voice mail…I am not a happy camper.  Almost all of my friends know better than to leave me a vm because a. I have either told them not to or b. I don’t listen to their voice mail ever, i.e. sending them the message that I don’t do voice mails.   I can see that you called my phone so to me that implies, “call me back.”  I don’t need someone to leave me a message just to say “call me back.”  I get it!

If you really want to get me fired up…leave me a voice message and say “Call me back, I have a question for you.” ——What?? What is the question?? If you are going to go ahead and waste time by leaving the message, go ahead and tell me why you are calling…specifically. Do people think this air of mystery will make me want to call them back quicker? I usually just text back and say “what is your question?”

One of my all time favorite movies is Swingers (I have a huge crush on Vince Vaughn), in this movie, Jon Favreau, leaves several voice messages on a girl’s answering machine…just painful to watch.  I found this great article that talks about voice mail and this particular movie scene. 

So all kidding aside, sort of…if you must leave a voice mail, here are a few tips:

1. State your name clearly and repeat your phone number at least twice.

2. State the reason for your call and the reason you need that person to call you back.

3. Keep it simple and to the point.

4. Try really hard not to leave a voice mail!