FAKE IT - Six Tips for Tacticool Radio Chatter
Hi all! From an off-Tumblr friend:
âHow do you sound tactical on a radio?â
For anyone who plays a sci-fi, postapoc or modern military LARP, short-range walkie-talkies/UHF radios will be a familiar sight from the field. They can add a great coolthentic vibe to a group and allow people far away from the action to participate in missions.
But how do you sound tactical (or, more importantly, tacticool) without proper training? Talking clearly and correctly over a radio is a skill that professionals devote days and weeks to learning. You donât have time for that! Instead, Iâm going to give you a few quick tips to sound like you know what youâre doing, without doing any of the work.
Photo from Gruntz, by Oliver Facey.
Master Tip: Confidence and Consistency
Different professions have totally different protocols for speaking over a radio. Ambulance dispatchers, military units, merchant navies and astronauts all have their own way of doing it. Each protocol comes with its own unique set of grammar and vocabulary - often varying wildly between countries - sometimes called âvoice procedureâ or VP. There is no single ârightâ VP that will instantly make you sound professional, and this post isnât going to teach you VP.
Instead, you should focus on confidence - practicing a few hacks to make your voice come out fluent, clear and reliable. The first few tips will focus on ways you can fake this. Then try to achieve consistency - a set of mutually agreed rules which mean youâll communicate information the same way every time you pick up a radio, and more importantly, that your fellow LARPers will do the same.
As an example of the latter, in my professional life, I use the word ârogerâ to mean âyes, Iâve understood youâ. But when I volunteer as site crew for a major UK LARP, everyone I work with uses the code âJGâ - short for âjolly goodâ - to mean the same thing. If Iâm the only person saying ârogerâ in that context, I donât sound professional - I sound like an outlier. Better that I say âJGâ instead, because then Iâm widely understood. Consistent group language very quickly creates a group identity through shared speech (a sociolect) which sounds impressive and slick to an outsider listener. This single shibboleth makes it sound like weâve all had radio training (most of us havenât!) and that weâre sticking to a defined procedure - one of the hallmarks of professional voice communication. Itâs more important in LARP to be consistent than to be âcorrectâ by real-world standards.
Photo from Gruntz, by Oliver Facey.
1. Think, Rehearse, Press, Pause, Speak
One of the biggest mistakes unpracticed radio users make is working out what theyâre going to say after pressing the transmit button. Two-way radio isnât like a phonecall - people canât talk over the top of you or interrupt: when you have that button held down, youâre broadcasting to every other set on your channel. That means you need to work out what youâre going to say before you start saying it!
Mentally rehearse the exact words youâre going to use before pressing the button. In a crisis, when youâre stressed, take the cognitive load off by physically rehearsing - whispering or subvocalising - before sending. You might think this slows down your chat, and it does, but youâll save more time in the long run by not babbling, saying âummm... errr....â, or using long inconvenient pauses.
Once you press the button, pause for a moment before you speak. Most handheld radio sets have a delay of up to half a second before your voice is actually transmitted. Always think - rehearse - press - pause - speak.
2. Use the ABCs
The ABCs of good radio communication are Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity.
Accuracy - strive to use precise, unambiguous language. Say exactly what you mean in the simplest terms you can manage. If youâre asking for something, be clear on precisely what you need, when, and where. If youâre relaying information, ask them to âread-backâ or verify theyâve got it correct.
Brevity - Say as little as possible. Time on the net is precious. Aim to never speak for more than 20 seconds at a time; break your transmission into multiple bursts if itâs long. If you need to have a drawn-out conversation with someone on a busy net, consider switching to another channel or moving to their location instead, rather than clogging up the main channel.
Clarity - your voice will be distorted over the radio. Speak slower than you think you need to, enunciate clearly, leave gaps between words. Donât whisper or shout. High voices carry better than low voices over most frequencies, so consider altering your pitch if people are struggling to hear you.
A note on roleplaying. There are always going to be times when youâre going to want to convey emotion through a radio broadcast - this is LARP, after all, and if youâre panicking because youâre pinned down under a horde of zombies you want your fellow players at the other end of the line to be panicking too! Of course you can, and should, break these rules when itâs IC appropriate. If you play a character who has great VP most of the time, itâs even more harrowing and effective when you suddenly break down sobbing or screaming!
Photo from Arkfall, by Oliver Facey.
3. Callsigns
Everyone loves callsigns, right? They make you sound badass. Theyâre like the nickname you wish you had in school. Every action hero has a callsign.
Callsigns are great - in real life, theyâre used to clearly identify whoâs who on a busy radio channel. In military and paramilitary contexts, they also protect the identity of the speakers by avoiding the use of real names.
When picking a callsign, consider the cultural context of your character. How did they get their callsign?
If theyâre a hot-shot independent type - a pilot, or a bounty hunter, say - perhaps they have a badass nickname which says something about their character. (âGooseâ, âMaverickâ, âIcemanâ). In some organisations, these are picked by the individual; in others, theyâre agreed by their peers during training. Link the callsign to a significant background incident for additional colour.
If they work for a hierarchical conventional military organisation, theyâre more likely to have a standard pattern given out from above and based on their current role. This might be a string of letters and numbers - letâs say theyâre the squad commander of 3rd Squad, 2 Platoon, they might be called 23A on the radio. This works great when youâve got a bunch of characters from the same military unit who agree to use the same pattern, and gives an immediate impression of professionalism.
A nice midway point between the two is to give your whole group a team designation (this can be something âcoolâ - Kryptonite, Jackal, whatever) and then assign each individual a number or letter code. (Jackal-One, Jackal-Two or Jackal-Alpha, Jackal-Bravo and so on.) This is great if your groupâs going to be interoperating with other groups also using the same net.
Alternatively, you might simply give people callsigns which reflect their role in the mission or team, particularly if itâs a small team. âGunsâ, âMedâ, âBaseâ and âBossmanâ all clearly indicate who youâre talking to.
Photo from Contact LARP, by Oliver Facey.
4. Grammar and Vocabulary
Like I said at the start, Iâm not here to teach you one set of VP. I could write a post explaining why in my profession you should never say ârepeatâ over the radio unless you want a lot more artillery than you bargained for, or why I immediately know someone who says âover and outâ hasnât had much training. But that isnât why Iâm here - youâre here to fake knowledge!
What I will say is that you should construct, or adopt some set of radio grammar and vocabulary, and agree it with your fellow players. It doesnât matter what it is - what matters is you do it the same way every time. Thatâs how you quickly sound tactical. If you want to adopt an existing one, a fellow LARPer has written a great guide to the basics of the British system which is easy to steal, here.
If youâre constructing your own, Iâd suggest at a minimum you probably want to consider:
a) How do people introduce themselves? You canât always recognise voices on the radio - somewhere in the transmission they need to use their own callsign.
b) How do they make clear who theyâre speaking to, or asking to speak to? âThis is Iceman, I need backup!â is going to cause confusion as everyone tries to answer at once. âHello Zero, this is Iceman, send reinforcements to Hut Three!â is going to get you what you need.
c) Do you have special words for encountering the enemy (âcontactâ)? For asking someone to repeat their last transmission? For acknowledging youâve heard someone (ârogerâ) and/or that youâll comply with what theyâre asking you (âwilcoâ)? Do you use special words for different types of enemy?
(If youâre in a sci-fi or postapoc setting which is not strongly tied to modern militaries, this is a great time to start adding in your own distinct flavour. Pick something that isnât ârogerâ or âaffirmativeâ to mean âyesâ, make sure everyone understands it. Use a few words in second languages to emphasise a linguistic legacy from particular modern Earth cultures, or add in bits of religious language for an occult vibe. It doesnât take much before your sociolect is very distinctive and recognisable - great for group cohesion.)
d) How do you end a transmission - do you use a special word to make it obvious youâve finished?Â
(Many organisations in real life use âoverâ as the last word in a message to mean âI have finished speaking and expect a replyâ, and âoutâ to mean âThis conversation is over, do not replyâ.)
e) Do you launch straight into transmissions, or do you use a âwarningâ transmission first to get their attention?
(Some organisations find it polite to send a message like âHello you, this is me, message, overâ to make sure theyâve got someoneâs attention. This saves you talking to thin air as someone on the other end has left their radio on the table!)
f) Do you have specific types of report you will ask people to give - for example, instead of âhow are things goingâ, might you ask for a SITREP (situation report)? Or a report on the status of casualties? Talk through these scenarios in advance and try to agree a format for what a âstandardâ report might include. Donât be afraid to write down these formats on little laminated cue-cards so you can read them off when sending a report - professionals use these cheat cards in real life!
g) How do you tell someone that their message is clear? Or that itâs broken up and youâre struggling to hear them? Are they too quiet, or too fuzzy?
h) Do you have a special way of saying numbers or letters (which are often misheard over the radio)? For example, in a modern or near-future sci-fi LARP you might want to consider using the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Photo from Before the End, by Oliver Facey.
5. Check Your Comms!
LARP radios are notoriously unreliable. They will break down, constantly. This can be great fun when it happens in the middle of a tense stand-off! But to avoid it happening too much, make sure you check how reliable your comms are before setting out on the big adventure. Stand a good distance away from âbase campâ and make sure the radios can hear each other. Plus, the action of conducting this comms check IC immediately establishes your professional credentials and is a nice bit of flavour roleplaying to get you in the zone.
If you have a particular pattern of checking, you can use this when youâre out and about on a mission just to check in and make sure your radios are still working.
6. Code Words
There will be times you want to communicate without everyone understanding exactly what you mean - this is a great opportunity to use code words. Code words might be used for the objective of a mission (a person, place, or enemy base), particular locations, or particular scenarios youâve foreseen in enemy planning.
Remember, code words sound extremely cool, but theyâre only useful if everyone remembers them! - so try to keep it simple. If you have three objectives to complete, calling them âbronzeâ, âsilverâ and âgoldâ or something equally logical is fine. You might feel super tacticool muttering down your mic that youâve neutralised Objective Sparkling Thunder, but if nobody at the other end knows what you mean, youâll end up looking a bit daft.
Location identifiers can be invaluable when youâre trying to talk someone on to a target. âBehind the tall treeâ isnât great - âfifty metres west of Hut Fiveâ is much better. Helps if you have a map of your site and a compass, but even without that, you can designate location names on a site walk-round.
One particularly fun example of code words is a duress code - a phrase spoken over the radio which secretly tells your mates that youâve got a gun to your head. This needs to be something sufficiently innocuous that you can work it into any normal speech without alerting the baddies. You might never use it - but agreeing it and rehearsing it with your colleagues can be a great piece of roleplaying!
Photo from Death Unto Darkness, by Oliver Facey.
Final Note: Itâs OK to be wrong!
This stuff should help you fake a character who is professional and familiar with communicating over radios. As with all my advice posts, it is okay to get it wrong and that doesnât make you a bad LARPer. Indeed, if youâre playing a character who isnât familiar with the local standard for radio communication, getting it flagrantly and excessively wrong can be a great piece of roleplaying!
