VOICE PROJECTION

A tour guide who cannot be heard is of no use to a tour group. Make sure you project your voice with authority, especially at airports or around noisy equipment in the hangar bays. If there is enough money in your public affairs office budget, purchase a megaphone or some other type of portable voice amplification equipment.

While projecting your voice, you should speak slowly and clearly so as to increase your chances of being understood.

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

One of your tour participants collapses while you are explaining the functions of the catapults on the flight deck. What happens to the rest of the group while you attend to the ailing person? Who should you call? Where is the nearest telephone?

Answers to these questions are available in the command or public affairs instruction that covers the policies and procedures for public tours. Within this instruction is a section pertaining to emergencies that occur on the tour route. You should become familiar with the entire instruction, but pay particular attention to the section dealing with contingency responses.

If for some reason this instruction is not available at your command, seek the guidance of the senior journalist or the PAO.

You will find more detailed information on tours in Chapter 4 of PA Regs and in Chapter 1 of the JO 1 & C TRAMAN.

EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Identify the procedures for maintaining public affairs office equipment, in terms of performing basic user maintenance and inventory.

As a Navy journalist working in a public affairs office, you will use several pieces of equipment to carry out your mission efficiently. Although today's "tools of the trade" are state-of-the-art and relatively trouble-free, you must learn the basics of user maintenance to avoid problems at the most inopportune moments.

NOTE: The maintenance procedures in this section are rudimentary in nature and are not intended to replace the more detailed methods contained in owner's/ operator's manuals. Refer to these manuals for further equipment maintenance information.