English for personal assistants - part 4 ppsx

(7) ............., the administrative secretary has got rather set in her ways, and (8) .............,

is still refusing to use the new software. I (9) ............. recommend that she should be

invited to retire early, (10) ............. we will have complete chaos as far as record keeping

is concerned. If we were to appoint a more flexible and better trained secretary to

replace her, there would be several advantages over the present arrangements. (11)

............., we could put her in charge of updating all the information in the department

and (12) ............. reduce the burden on the person in charge of ordering from the stores.

We might (13) ............. ask her to take a more active part in producing the annual report

for R&D than her predecessor has done.

(14) ............., I would argue that we approach the appropriate union, and suggest that

the present administrative secretary should be retired early and, (15) ............., that her

job should be upgraded to Grade 2. (16) ............. I would be prepared to draw up a new

job description pending your agreement.

Telephoning in English

Leaving a voicemail

Hints on voicemail organisation:

top down not bottom up e.g., give the main message but don’t supply all the details

content not process

synthesis not summary e.g., state what the message is and the actions you’d like the

other person to take

Tips on leaving a voicemail:

no longer than 60 seconds

summarise the purpose of your message in a sentence or two

give your name and telephone number early in the message

speak slowly and distinctly

give the recipient enough information to act

say when you will be able to receive a return call

Leaving a message in your own voicemail:

give your name clearly

say when you will be available to receive a call

do not say ‘speak after the tone’

do not say ‘you have reached the voicemail of ...’ – we all have enough experience

of using the telephone and leaving messages!

Telephoning in English 15