If you’re like some people, for some strange reason your normally functioning brain seems to suddenly short circuit when you have to leave a voice-mail message.

What would normally take 30 seconds to say, now takes two minutes. Then if someone doesn’t return your message, you imagine they are gloating behind your back as they gleefully push the delete button.

Jodi R.R. Smith, owner of Mannersmith in Boston, recommends that people think of what they want to say before they even pick up the telephone.

“For business calls, I actually recommend that people write out and bullet the major points they want to make before they pick up the phone,” said Smith. “So if they get an answering machine, they have already thought about what it is they want to say. And if they get the person, they can go through their agenda.”

When Smith calls her mother, she said she uses this technique because she has so many things to talk about.

“Otherwise, we’ll have a conversation and hang up, and two seconds later I’ll think, ‘Oh I should have asked her this, or I should have told her that.’ So it’s very helpful that if there is something specific you want to tell someone, write it out ahead of time.”

Name and number twice

If you get an answering machine, Smith recommends leaving your name and phone number at the beginning of the message, followed by a brief message and then leaving your name and phone number again at the end of the message.

“We tend to talk faster than people can hear, and we hear faster than we can write,” Smith explained. “On top of that, most people say their telephone numbers very quickly. So I tell people to slow down. It also gives people a chance to double-check your number without having to listen to your entire message again.”

If people find they are frequently being cut off by answering machines, their messages are too long. “Those are the people who really should think before they pick up the telephone,” said Smith.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they leave voice-mail messages is sounding surprised, she added.

“People rarely answer the telephone nowadays,” Smith explained. “So don’t be surprised by getting an answering machine. Be prepared instead.”

Eliciting a return call

Bill Lampton of Atlanta, author of “The Complete Communicator; Change Your Communication, Change your Life,” suggested speaking clearly and distinctly while maintaining a conversational tone and spelling your name if it is not common enough to understand immediately.

“When possible, include the name of the person who referred you,” he said. (Example, “Marty Wilson said it would be a good idea for me to call you.”)

Speak with zest so you don’t sound like a robotic telemarketer and mention a benefit the person will get from calling you back, said Lampton. Also, be careful of humor. It could backfire, if the recipient misinterprets your tone.

Mark Amtower of Highland, Md., author of “Why Epiphanies Never Occur to Couch Potatoes,” said to keep your message short, sweet and to the point, and always leave your name and phone number twice.

“I hate it when someone leaves a three-minute message, then at the end they hurry through the number and I don’t get it, and I have to listen again,” said Amtower.

The root cause for problems in any relationship invariably can be traced to prior miscommunications, said Jim Brady of Brighton, Mich., a growth-management specialist for “Focus on Success.”

“Clearly, professionally and slowly enunciate your name and contact information,” said Brady. “And maintain the strength of your voice all the way to the end of your message. Remember that the recipient can hear your smile. You want to leave a positive impression in the recipient’s mind.”

Pamela J. Holland of Philadelphia, director of Professional Development, cautioned: “Be careful about leaving voice-mail messages from your cellphone. You can’t always be certain that the reception was clear and came through.”

Thom Singer of Austin, Texas, author of “The ABC’s of Networking,” said, realize that while it is rude, it is fully acceptable in today’s business world for executives to ignore your call. “Instead, leave short messages that build on each other, waiting a week or two between calls, so that the person can see both your enthusiasm and your persistence,” he said.