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How to deliver effective announcement coming from a cabin crews point of

view.

Imagine that you are 25,000 ft in the air and your aircraft is about to land. You

walk up to the Public Announcement System microphone and clear your throat

before you engage the passengers. In your mind you say Hey Ive done this a

million times, so it should be a breeze! then while you make your announcement,

catastrophe happened. You mistakenly mentioned that the airport ahead is an

international airport while for a fact its only a small local airport. Damage has

been done! You could feel the blood rushing to your head and images of confused

locals and colleagues on board nod disapprovingly.

That happened to me during my early years of flying. I realised that it is

something that I need to master and it was not an easy task. You bear the

responsibility of giving a clear and concise announcement that will benefit the

passengers and also set an example for the cabin crew on board. Being in an

environment that is way off my comfort zone was something that I am not used to.

I could still remember how I was so jittery doing my first announcement on an SNY

flight with 144 passengers on board. The leading said that my announcement was

done as though I was chased by an express locomotive!

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I grew confident over the years and with the help of the MAS instructors, I was

well on my way in making proper announcements. You will see yourself improving

in no-time when you read a lot of books and looking up unfamiliar words in the

dictionary or on the world wide web. Another effortless attempt in perfecting your

announcement is by watching the news, observing how intonation and pronunciation

of words works for the broadcaster. With the newly found vocabulary, you need to

practise with your passengers. You will appear well versed and would leave a great

impression to the passengers.

In making an announcement, one should smile during the announcement, not because

the passengers can see you but by smiling sets the tone of your voice in a cheerful

and lively manner. It has to be lively and cheerful so that the passengers reach

from point A to point B, either on business or holiday are on a pleasant note.

When we make an announcement, we have to read the announcement text

wholeheartedly and not to take it lightly. When you are on the verge of making an

announcement, take a deep breath and pace yourself. Your voice should project

well and avoid swallowing your words or mumble. The main objective is to deliver

effectively a message that people can understand. You may also need to avoid

sounding fake for we have our own Malaysian-English accent not of British, or

American accent.

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Even if someone is in-tuned with their mother tongue (i.e Kelantan, Terengganu,

Kedah, Perak etc), the person can emulate the proper methods of announcing with

a lot of practise. Its a different case if the person prefers to sing through their

announcements! One should hold back their urges in showing their singing talents at

a better platform!

No matter how bad my day gets, with non-stop domestic flights and at least 48

announcements a day, one has to keep their momentum up and smile. You have to

think of happy thoughts before announcing. You need to smile naturally. Dont rush

and dont memorize your announcement. Even though its like riding a bike, you tend

to forget halfway through the announcement when you least expect it.

You need to do a background research for the places that you will travel to

because sometimes on paper these places may not sound like it should, for instance

Suvarnabhumi International Airport pronounced as Suwan Napoom International

Airport.

A crew member should cultivate their desire to improve themselves in giving

announcements, for there are a lot of room for improvement if they seek for

it. More classes should be conducted to raise the standards of our cabin crews

annoucement onboard.

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A special mention dedicated to the instructors at the Malaysia Airlines Academy

(MAA) and especially to Abdullah Fauzi Abdul Shani, In-flight Services

Executive, for their unwavering diligence in pursuing excellence.

Azuati Mahmud

Leading Stearwardess

Rated 5 Annoucement