陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作，他跟美國同事Amy約好一起吃午飯。
　　(Office ambience)
　　C：對不起Amy，讓你久等了，辦公室有點事。
　　A：Nothing big, I hope.
　　C：一個客戶在電話里給我留言，但她說得太快了，我反復聽了五遍，才把她的電話號碼記下來。
　　A：Many people don't realize that they need to slow down when they are leaving their phone number on voice mail.
　　C：就是， 而且往往越是到最后講電話號碼的時候，有些人講話的速度越快，真不知道他們是怎么想的。
　　A：Neither do I, but it is all too common. There is a simple solution which shows courtesy on your part.
　　C：What's that?
　　A：You should give your name and phone number at the beginning of the message and repeat your number at the end.
　　C：你是說上來先說一遍電話號碼，到留言結束前再重復一遍？這樣做有什么好處呢？
　　A：If the person you are calling has trouble understanding the phone number, he gets a second chance at the end of the message. If that doesn't help, he only has to replay the beginning of the message to hear it again.
　　C：沒錯，今天我反復聽那個留言，就是因為留言太長了，要從頭聽到尾才能等到回電號碼的部分。
　　A：Uh-oh, it looks as if we should start back to the office. I have a meeting in twenty minutes.
　　******
　　陳豪跟Amy一起走回辦公室。
　　A：After all the trouble you had understanding the number, were you able to reach your client before you came to lunch?
　　C：別提了。她肯定是留完言就走了。我打過去已經沒人了。
　　A：I find that very inconsiderate. If you know you are leaving your office as soon as you hang up, the polite thing to do is to let others know you are going to be away from your desk and tell them when you will return.
　　C：對呀！我發現，很多人離開辦公室的時候都會修改語音信箱的問候詞。
　　A：That's a good idea. It not only lets other people know when you will be available, it sends a clear message that you are thoughtful as well as efficient.
　　C：上次休假，我也特別錄制了語音信箱的問候詞，告訴來電話的人我什么時候回來，結果回來后忘了改回去。最后還是客戶告訴我說，你的留言過時了。
　　A：Listen to your own greeting from time to time so that doesn't happen. In fact I recommend you change your greeting whenever you are out of the office for more than a few hours. Then make it a habit to change it again when you return.
　　C：我現在就是這樣，每次出差或是休假，只要是半天以上，我都會修改留言。我發現，如果養成習慣，這樣做其實并不麻煩。