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1. Warm Up
Answer and discuss these questions in pairs or as a class.
1. Have you ever had to leave a business message?
2. What information should you leave when a secretary answers the phone?
3. How long should a voicemail message be?
4. What information should be left in a message?
5. How long should it take for someone to call you back?
Office Life
Lesson 6 of 15 : Leaving a Voicemail
2. Correspondence Building
The correspondence below is not in the right order. Work alone or with a partner to
put the telephone messages in the right order. The rst is a message that Lee is
leaving with Mandys administrative assistant. What should be lled in on the
phone message form? The second is Mandys detailed voicemail message to Lee.
Place the message in the right order. Then practice reading the correspondence.
3. Find business words and
phrases. !
Circle any words or expressions from the
correspondence that you think are useful
in the ofce. Write them below.
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
___ Fumi Carson, Administrative Assistant
___ Lee Timson
___ Mandy Noland
___ It is very important that he speaks to you.
___ River Education Books
___ Please call him back as soon as you can.
___ July 24, 2008
___ Hed like to discuss the prices for the disks and software.
___ 212-555-1234
___ Hes calling in regard to a supply order he placed via email.
Attention: __________________________________________
From: __________________________________________
Company: __________________________________________
Phone No: _________________ Date: ___________________
Message: __________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Taken by: _____________________________
Telephoned
Called for a Meeting
Please Phone Back
Will Call Again
Called to See You Urgent
_____ River Education Books is a good customer though and Id like to see if we
can settle on a price.
_____ I got the message you left with my assistant, Fumi.
_____ This is Mandy Noland from Main Supply Company.
_____ Our prices went up several weeks ago to combat the rising costs of shipping.
_____ I look forward to hearing from you soon.
_____ Im calling to discuss the price of the disks and software.
_____ Please call me back at 212-555-4321.
_____ Goodbye.
_____ Hi, Lee.
_____ Again, my number is 212-555-4321.
VOICEMAIL
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4. Match these words or phrases to their correct denitions. !
1. in regard to
2. via
3. taken by
4. attention
5. urgent
6. message
7. combat
8. rising
9. customer
10. settle
11. voicemail
5. Fill in the blanks with the right form of the correct word or phrase. "
1. McDonalds has a lot of good _______________________; some people eat there every day!
2. Everyone is hurting from the _______________________ price of oil.
3. How can I _______________________ this headache?
4. I had to negotiate for a better price on the car, but we nally _______________________ on a good price.
5. I left a _______________________ for my wife telling her I would be staying late at the ofce.
6. My boss said it was _______________________ that I call one of my customers.
7. When Tony returned to his desk, he found a _______________________ message on his telephone.
8. The supplier was calling _______________________ the new catalog.
9. I tried to reach the supplier _______________________ phone, but the line was busy.
10. My phone number was _______________________ the administrative assistant who promised to give it to her boss.
____ a. by, over
____ b. to
____ c. increasing
____ d. information to give to someone
____ e. agree
____ f. written or handled by
____ g. about
____ h. a person thats making a purchase
____ i. requires immediate attention; important
____ j. ght
____ k. telephone message
6. Reading
Now practice reading the voicemail message with a partner. Take turns practicing the pronunciation. Discuss what you think is good
about this voicemail. How fast or slowly should a voicemail message be spoken? How long or short should the message be?
(Your teacher will provide you with the full dialogue on a separate sheet. Page 3.)
7. Speaking
Write your own voicemail message. Use at least four words or phrases from todays lesson. Practice and memorize the message and
then present it to a partner. Your partner will ll in a phone message form (Page 3) based on what your message is. Switch roles.
8. Writing "
Write a paragraph discussing what information you think needs to be included in a voicemail message. Also include your idea of how
long a good voicemail message should be. Discuss any tips you would give someone who needs to leave a voicemail message for a
business.
Office Life
Lesson 6 of 15 : Leaving a Voicemail
3
Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.
Voicemail
Office Life
Lesson 6 of 15 : Leaving a Voicemail
Hi, Lee. This is Mandy Noland from Main Supply Company. I got the
message you left with my assistant, Fumi. Im calling to discuss the price
of the disks and software.
Our prices went up several weeks ago to combat the rising costs of
shipping. River Education Books is a good customer though and Id like to
see if we can settle on a price.
Please call me back at 212-555-4321. Again, my number is 212-555-4321.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Goodbye.
Attention: _____________________________________________________
From: _____________________________________________________
Company: _____________________________________________________
Phone No: ___________________________ Date: ____________________
Message: ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Taken by: __________________________________
Telephoned
Called for a Meeting
Please Phone Back
Will Call Again
Called to See You Urgent
Phone Message Form
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! !
In Task 2, your students are required to put the correspondence in the correct order. Its more fun for students to put the correspondence
in order by physically rearranging cut up strips. Below are two shufed copies of the voicemail message. Have your students cut it into
strips and rearrange them until theyve put them in the correct order.
!
Teachers Handout for Task 2.
River Education Books is a good customer though and Id
like to see if we can settle on a price.
Hi, Lee.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Our prices went up several weeks ago to combat the rising
costs of shipping.
Again, my number is 212-555-4321.
Goodbye.
Im calling to discuss the price of the disks and software.
This is Mandy Noland from Main Supply Company.
Please call me back at 212-555-4321.
I got the message you left with my assistant, Fumi.
Office Life
Lesson 6 of 15 : Leaving a Voicemail
River Education Books is a good customer though and Id
like to see if we can settle on a price.
Hi, Lee.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Our prices went up several weeks ago to combat the rising
costs of shipping.
Again, my number is 212-555-4321.
Goodbye.
Im calling to discuss the price of the disks and software.
This is Mandy Noland from Main Supply Company.
Please call me back at 212-555-4321.
I got the message you left with my assistant, Fumi.
5
Copyright 2008. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.
2. Correspondence Building Note. Do not hand out Page 3 until this task is completed.
(Also, see page 4 for the dialogue strips to hand out to students before starting.)
Voicemail
6. River Education Books is a good customer though and Id like to see if we can settle on a price.
3. I got the message you left with my assistant, Fumi.
2. This is Mandy Noland from Main Supply Company.
5. Our prices went up several weeks ago to combat the rising costs of shipping.
9. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
4. Im calling to discuss the price of the disks and software.
7. Please call me back at 212-555-4321.
10. Goodbye.
1. Hi, Lee.
8. Again, my number is 212-555-4321.
5. Fill in the blanks.
1. customers
2. rising
3. combat
4. settled
5. message
6. urgent
7. voicemail
8. in regard to
9. via
10. taken by
Teachers Answer Key
4. Matching
1. g 2. a 3. f 4. b 5. i 6. d 7. j 8. c 9. h 10. e 11. k
Office Life
Lesson 6 of 15 : Leaving a Voicemail
Attention: __________________________________________
From: __________________________________________
Company: __________________________________________
Phone No: _________________ Date: ___________________
Message: __________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Taken by: _____________________________
Mandy Noland
Lee Timson
River Education Books
Telephoned
Called for a Meeting
Please Phone Back
Will Call Again
Called to See You Urgent
212-555-1234 July 24, 2008
Hes calling in regard to a supply order he placed via email. Hed like
to discuss the prices for the disks and software. It is very important
that he speaks to you. Please call him back as soon as you can.
Fumi Carson, Administrative Assistant
10. Fumi Carson, Administrative Assistant
2. Lee Timson
1. Mandy Noland
8. It is very important that he speaks to you.
3. River Education Books
9. Please call him back as soon as you can.
5. July 24, 2008
7. Hed like to discuss the prices for the disks and software.
4. 212-555-1234
6. Hes calling in regard to a supply order he placed via email.
Telephone Message