humour
 

hey, can anyone from FCA give me some tip's on making up some funny, up beat pa's.I've just been promoted and my pa's aren't exactly starclass!! any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks.:{ :{ :{ :mad:

Hi starclass

I can't help you with specific humour, but can offer some general advice about PA's.

• Try and learn as much of the PA as possible, and then speak from memory (with the PA book open in front of you in case you get lost) rather than reading from it. Reading a PA always sounds like you are doing so, which turns people off, whereas working from memory means that you immediately start to sound more natural and people will pay a little more attention. It's the difference between talking at people and talking to people
• humour 1 - a little goes a long way. Many airlines (especially loco's) have cottoned on to the benefits of humour and encourage their crew to practise it. Unfortunately, this results in a deluge of tedious wit from crew who are convinced that they are hilarious, but rarely are. Professional comedians are funny because they understand timing, style and delivery, not just because they have funny material. Humourous comments can alienate people very quickly if used in the wrong context, although the reverse is also true. 1 standard gag rarely fits all flights.
• humour 2 - many crew tend to use the same old jokes (50 ways to leave your lover, distributing items left onboard amongst the crew etc. etc.). If you are going to use humour, try and make it original, and more importantly, relevant to your own natural style of how you want the flight run, and the crew to be perceived.
• know your audience - observe people as they board and try and get a feel for the profile of customers on any given flight. You can then adapt the way you are speaking to people accordingly. Remember that an audience listening to a professional comedian have an option to walk out if they don't like the performance: Your customers are a captive audience.
• safety - too much humour and you can sound like a joker, and that can impact on customer perception of your professionalism and your ability to manage safety related tasks. In my (personal) view, jokes during a safety briefing undermine passenger confidence

Congratulations on your promotion and I hope this helps!

Dogs-ears -
Very good advice!

Why is it we all think we are great singers, look fantastic and are side-splittingly hilarious!? :}

Professional comedians are funny because they understand ... t-timing
:8



I unfortunately am not - for a multitude of reasons

As a recipient of the PA's - the CC who race through them at 150mph sound awful. You are trying to get the info across to the pax, not get through it as quickly as possible. And repeaatedly using "sit, back, relax and enjoy your flight" 10 times in your PA gets bit old too.

Good luck :)

Irish captain once announced an apology for the delay in taking off.....
"...and as soon as the private jet and little fokker in front of us have left, we'll be on our way".

Went down like a fart in a spacesuit to some of the harder hearing pax!

My only advice is to judge your audience on boarding before atempting humour. Naturally a Majorca flight is very different to a Munich flight. Do not add humour to safety PAs as you'll end yourself in trouble.
The best PA to add humour is on the landing, especially if you'd had a bumpy one or a turbulent flight.