Before anyone touches a camera
Every live exercise we run starts on paper. Learners receive a short brief that reads like a real assignment: a location, a story angle, a slot in an imaginary bulletin and a hard time at which the crew must be ready. I ask them to turn that into a one-page plan before they pick up any kit. The plan names who is on camera, who is operating, who is cueing, and what happens if the first idea falls apart.
Most people want to rush outside. I keep them at the table for the first twenty minutes, because the decisions made there decide how calm the next hour feels. Where will we stand so the light stays reasonable? Where is the nearest sheltered spot if the weather turns? What is the one fact the reporter must be able to say without notes? Writing these answers down is dull work, and it is exactly what separates a steady crew from a frantic one.
- Name each role on the crew before leaving the classroom
- Agree a fallback position and a fallback line
- Write the single key fact on the back of the script
Choosing the spot and checking the signal
Once the plan is agreed, we walk the location together. Learners look at the background, the traffic noise, the direction of the light and whether the shot tells the viewer where they are. I often ask them to stand in the proposed position for a full minute and just listen. A spot that looks good in a still frame can turn out to have a ventilation fan or a school bell that ruins every take.
Then comes the check nobody enjoys: confirming that the connection and the return feed actually work from that exact spot. We test early, not at the last minute, and we test again after the crew has set up. If the link is weak, we move. Learners are surprised how often a ten-metre shift solves what looked like a technical disaster, and how much better a calm walk-around goes than a panicked search with two minutes left.
Cueing: the part viewers never notice
Cueing is the quiet skill at the centre of live work. The reporter needs to know exactly when they are on, how long they have and what the signal to wrap up will be. In our exercises the cueing role rotates, so everyone feels what it is like to give a clear count and what it is like to receive a vague one.
We practise three things repeatedly: a countdown that is short and unhurried, a hand signal that works when the earpiece fails, and a clean way to stretch or cut when the studio changes its mind. Learners often discover that a good cue is mostly about tone. A flat, steady voice in the ear lets the reporter think about the story, while a rushed one makes them think about the clock.
- Rehearse the countdown aloud, not silently
- Agree a hand signal as a backup to the earpiece
- Practise stretching and cutting by ten seconds on request
Working with a small crew and limited kit
Our groups are small on purpose, usually a reporter, an operator and a person looking after cueing and logistics. That mirrors how a lot of field coverage really runs. There is no spare pair of hands, so every job has to be clear, and every person has to notice problems that are technically someone else's.
I watch for the moments when learners help each other without being asked: the operator who flags a gust of wind before it ruins audio, the reporter who tells the crew the next line is changing. Those habits matter more than any single piece of equipment. We also teach learners to carry a short checklist for batteries, cables, spare cards and a printed copy of the plan, because the dullest item on the list is the one that fails first.
The take, and what we do afterwards
When the crew is ready, we run the live exercise start to finish, with a timer and no stopping for mistakes. It is deliberately a little uncomfortable. A learner who stumbles on a line has to recover in front of the others, which is the best preparation I know for the real thing.
Afterwards we sit down and watch the recording together. I ask the crew to speak first, naming what they would change before I say anything. Usually they spot the problem themselves: a rushed opening, a wobble during the handover, a cue that came a second late. Then we pick one thing each to fix and go again. The second run is nearly always better, and learners see that improvement comes from small, specific changes rather than general effort.
- Watch the recording as a crew before any tutor comment
- Choose one fix per person, then repeat the exercise
Filing from the field
Live coverage does not end when the broadcast does. Often the same crew has to file a short version, send material back or hand over notes for the next bulletin. We include this step in the exercise because it is where tired people make careless errors: wrong captions, mislabelled files, a name spelt two ways.
Learners write a brief log as they go, noting times, key quotes and any facts that were checked or still need checking. It takes a few minutes, and it saves far more later. I would rather a crew leave with an untidy but honest log than a polished summary that nobody can trace back to what was actually said on location.
A good live broadcast looks effortless because the hard work happened earlier: the plan on paper, the walk around the location, the rehearsed cue and the habit of reviewing honestly afterwards. That is what we try to build in a small group, one exercise at a time. If you work in the field or want to, spend your first practice sessions on preparation, not performance. The performance usually looks after itself.