Author Topic: CALLING: Headset Etiquette  (Read 41463 times)

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MatthewShiner

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Re: Headset Etiquette
« Reply #60 on: Apr 09, 2009, 01:50 pm »
I am a potty mouth all the time - - - - but not towards anyone . . . just towards the air.  I get angry at situations not people.

But a good point is brought up, when on headset, always assume your boss is listening in, and everyone's mother . . . and then you should cover all your bases.

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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

wheatwheat9

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Re: Headset Etiquette
« Reply #61 on: Apr 09, 2009, 02:07 pm »
Reading through this post really got me thinking about myself on headset. I am the only girl on headset so all the boys are suprised to hear the huge potty mouth I have. But, they had no problem joining in. We don't bad mouth actors but our side conversations are becoming a bit of a distraction. We open in 2 weeks so let's see if I can shape things up.
“Perhaps, therefore, ideal stage managers not only need to be calm and meticulous professionals who know their craft, but masochists who feel pride in rising above impossible odds.” - Peter Hall

PSMKay

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Re: Headset Etiquette
« Reply #62 on: Apr 09, 2009, 11:11 pm »
I was learning headset protocols at the same time as I was working for my college's student police force back in the mid 90's.  At the time, I was doing radio dispatch for about 20 hours a week, so I was spending more time with the police walkies than I was on headset.  My headset style was definitely shaped by working in that kind of environment.

The issue that Lilz brought up back on the first incarnation of this thread with FCC supervision is 10 times more intense when you know full well that the city police force and the college police force are auditing every word you say. It's also a complete game-changer to know that your fellow students in the field are depending on you to efficiently work the radio and rescue them in the event that they get into trouble. 

It took about two years after graduation for me to be able to swear successfully if a microphone was anywhere near my face.  As I was only allowed to send out over police radio for necessary communications, I did not get in the habit of bantering in, although I had no problem if my show crews did so.  I'm a mouth breather by nature, so if I wasn't calling a standby or a cue, my mic was off.  My crews didn't really hear a peep from me for the first couple of years out of college.

I did eventually learn to talk though, and found out about actor-accessible coms in a very amusing way.  We had one actor who was only onstage for about a quarter of a five-person show, so he spent a lot of time being very bored backstage and would listen in on com.  After about a week he came up to me and in all seriousness asked me if I would consider phoning him for... hm, shall we say "adult conversation"? as he found my voice exciting.  (I declined and spoke a lot less over com for the rest of the show.)

I think in retrospect that attempting to apply FCC regulations to a closed-circuit hardwire system is excessive by miles.  However, we can reach back a few decades to the era of party telephone lines and bring forward some of the etiquette used in those days.  (For those of you who are too young to even know what a party line is, check over here.  Basically, if it oughtn't to be said in public, then don't say it over com.

cprted

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Re: Headset Etiquette
« Reply #63 on: Apr 10, 2009, 02:26 pm »
I was learning headset protocols at the same time as I was working for my college's student police force back in the mid 90's.  At the time, I was doing radio dispatch for about 20 hours a week, so I was spending more time with the police walkies than I was on headset.  My headset style was definitely shaped by working in that kind of environment.
This is a quirk I am definitely familiar with!  Before I got back into theatre, I was in Law Enforcement for a couple of years.  The 10-code and other policeism often sneak into my comms lingo.  Old habits die hard. 

Josh Parkin-Ring

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Re: Headset Etiquette
« Reply #64 on: May 03, 2009, 02:12 pm »
Just from experience of beng on the road, in differnt houses, I would never bad mouth or have a conversation involving anyone in the company over headset.  I was backstage before curtain when I noticed the box on stage was set to speaker.  There was, shall I say, a colorful conversation being held.  I never told anyone that the squawk box was on, but I wonder who heard the conversation.


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