If you gave it an honest listen and you’re satisfied with what you heard, you can stop reading and go enjoy a cup of coffee. If not, or if you’d just like to read some reminders for creating a professional voicemail greeting, read on.
The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.

Make sure you don’t use a monotone voice when you record your business voicemail greetings. Use inflection in your voice so you don’t sound like a robot.
Expanding on the simple approach above, let the caller know who they've reached. This will not only eliminate people leaving voicemails by mistake, but it will reassure the caller that they have called the number they intended.