Page 31 - Institute Quaterly 5 Final

Next comes the ‘What?’. What are we going to communicate? The More P’s here: Pitch, Pace, Pause and Tone (OK, that last one isn’t a
what will be very much influenced by the nature of the operation itself. P!). If you were talking on the phone Pitch, Pace & Tone would be very
For example, a mobile surveillance task will often entail a running different. There are even courses you can go on to teach you how to
commentary on the progress of the target relaying location, speed, get them all right if, for example, you are a telemarketer or telesales
distance and co-ordinating backing vehicles to take over in the event person. However, it’s different on the radio when you are also being
that a single vehicle has been too long in the follow. Whereas a Close mindful of your A, B, C’s.
Protection operation will be concentrating on managing the movement
of a number of team members whilst staying alert for potential threats, Your pitch and tone should be even, and whilst there is nothing
trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible and trying to interpret the stopping you using some intonation in your voice, it isn’t really
actions of the Principal. necessary. Generally, the information you are delivering will be factual,
succinct and to the point, and your emotional state should not really be
In these two examples, the what is very different, and requires a evident from the tone of your voice.
different ‘language’, which brings us to the ‘How?’.
The pace is ultimately the most important. People who don’t practise
How actually has two elements to it. Part 1 is the language we use, and this tend to speak far too quickly, frequently causing the message to
Part 2 is the physical mechanism we use to deliver the why, what and need to be repeated and wasting vital seconds.
how (part 1)!
Lastly, let’s talk about numbers and difficult words. If you are going to
How Part 1 will differ according to the scenario and also, to a large give a string of numbers, it’s sensible to alert those listening to the fact,
degree, to your previous operational experience. I was recently on a by using the pro-word ‘figures’ e.g. “we will be departing the residence
surveillance operation where an ex-HMRC guy was working alongside at (figures) 21.00”, where ‘21.00’ is delivered “two-one-dot-zero-zero
an ex-SBS surveillance operator, and honestly they may as well have hours’ and not “twenty-one hundred”.
been speaking different languages (well they were actually!).
And if you have a difficult or important word to relay, one that it is vital
Being professionals they figured it out, but it could have been their is not misunderstood, then spell it using the phonetic alphabet (which
undoing and the undoing of a lot of preparatory work. Generally, the should be second nature to all), but again, alert those listening to the
three golden rules apply, no matter what words you are actually using: fact you are going to spell a word: “RV at the Medici, I spell MIKE-
A for accuracy, B for brevity and C for clarity. ECHO-DELTA-INDIA-CHARLIE-INDIA at two-one-dot-zero-zero hours”

Next, you need to figure out what we in the communications world All of this should be practised in regular training scenarios until it is
would refer to as the ‘pro’ or procedural words. We all know what second nature to all, even when under considerable pressure or at the
they are, but do we all interpret them in
the same way and fully understand their
implications? Bravo to most people is
the phonetic spelling of the letter ‘B’, but
to many surveillance operators, a Bravo
indicates the target vehicle whilst Alpha
is the target male and Echo the target
female.

This should form part of your training
activity, to ensure that the Voice Procedure
(VP) is understood and well-practised. It’s
massively underestimated, but good VP
can make a huge difference to the smooth
running of a task, and at the end of the
day, sounds consummately professional to
anyone who happens to be within earshot.
You never know who may be listening,
which leads nicely on to delivery!