Voice Mail Standards

What is the number one item we need to leave on a voice mail if we want to make sure we get a call back? I would say a phone number.

So why do so many people wait till the end to leave their callback number? Sometimes it gets cut off. Sometimes it is said so fast that we need to listen to the entire message again just to get to the phone number.

So this is my attempt to try and set a standard for leaving a voice mail message.

We should always start with the big three:

1.       Our name.

2.       Our company.

3.       Our phone number.

After those are covered we can then leave our brief message and politely ask how we would like the person to respond to us or if we will try back again another time. At that point we should repeat the “big three”, pausing after saying “…and my number is…” thus giving the recipient a moment to begin to write our phone number.

If we need to listen to the message again to capture the phone number, we do not need to listen to the entire message just for that one little piece of information.

I hope someone can utilize this suggestion to improve their communications, either leaving or receiving messages.

Change

I came across this today and thought it was very appropriate based on the current financial situation occurring around the globe.

“Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.”

- William Pollard

Common Keyboard Shortcuts for Word

These are some standard shortcuts that can be used from the key board to perform simple tasks. I found this list at the Microsoft Office Online Training site. There is an incredible amount of information there. I am re-posting the list here for my own convenience.

SHIFT + LEFT ARROW = Left one character at a time
SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW = Right one character at a time
SHIFT + DOWN ARROW = Down one line at a time
SHIFT + UP ARROW = Up one line at a time
CTRL+ LEFT ARROW = Left one word at a time
CTRL+ RIGHT ARROW = Right one word at a time
HOME = To the beginning of the current line of text
END = To the end of the current line of text
CTRL+HOME = To the beginning of the document
CTRL+END = To the end of the document
PAGE UP = Up one full screen
PAGE DOWN = Down one full screen
CTRL+PAGE U = P To the beginning of the previous page
CTRL+PAGE DOWN = To the beginning of the next page
CTRL+O = Open
CTRL+Z = Undo
CTRL+Y = Redo
CTRL+S = Save
CTRL+P = Print
ALT+F4 = Close the active window
CTRL+B = Bold
CTRL+I = Italic
CTRL+U = Underline
CTRL+R = Align right
CTRL+E = Align center
CTRL+L = Align left
CTRL+C = Copy
CTRL+X = Cut
CTRL+V = Paste
CTRL+C+CTRL+C = Open the clipboard
CTRL+F = Find
CTRL+H = Replace
CTRL+A = Select whole document
F7 = Spell checker
SHIFT+F7 = Thesaurus
CTRL+SHIFT+S = Style box
CTRL+SHIFT+F = Font
CTRL+SHIFT+N  = Change font to Normal style

Honda video on the results of failure.

I came across this video at http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/01/25/failure-is-the-new-success/ Here is a link to the blog of Guy Kawasaki:  http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

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The First Post

Another blog....

This is not intended to become a regular item on my list of things to do, however following the theme of the rest of the site it is just a sample of who I am and the abilities I have.

I do appreciate you taking the time to read a little though.

Thanks,

Tony