Or you could do it the Half-Life way and effectively pause the game until the message has been entered, whatever that may be.
Not that I enjoy hitting the talk key in HL... nay, my keyboard likes hitting keys for me. I don't even tell it to, it just randomly does it. Its favorite keys seem to be W and Shift, off-hand (forward and walk, in my case), which can be a PAIN when I'm navigating a tough jumping area. Kinda like what you'd find in Verdant Forest Zone... those floating platforms are the death of me, since every time I try to stop and stand still while I find the next platform, my keyboard goes "OKAY! RUNNING TIME!!1!" and I get propelled right off of it into the pit of water to my doom. Not fun.