Phraseology is your business card

A wise man once told me...
I've made my basic training on a quite busy controlled airport. In the begining, my instructor was doing the voice. Then I went through a voice course, which are give by tower controllers. One important thing I remember from this course is that it started by saying that voice communication is like a pilot's business card given to a controller.

What he meant is that controllers will be confident with a pilot doing a good, efficient voice than with someone hesitating, or sounding confused. In example, if a VFR plane is waiting for a runway slot, and there are two airliners coming in with just the time in between for the VFR take-off, the controller will decide to leave him go or not mostly on the trust he has in the pilot. If he feels the pilot will manage a quick departure properly, he will let him go, but if he feels that the pilot could be slow, or block the runway, he will have him waiting.

And on what is this trust feeling based ? Mostly on the quality of the voice communication ! So be efficient, clear, complete, and polite if time allows.

No overload allowed
You will probably get more out of ATC if your voice is good, and this also includes not overloading a frequency, particularly when it's already busy. An important point here is to listen what the controller acutally said, not just to assume it. Want a real life example ? Look at this.

TWR: AirLiner 123, Line-up and wait 23, expect take-off in 30 seconds, due to wake turbulence
AirLiner 123: Line-up and wait 23, AirLiner 123
BigJet 456: BigJet456, passing 2 miles final 23
TWR: BigJet456, continue approach, traffic about to depart
BigJet 456: Continue approach, BigJet 456
Nxxxx: TWR good morning, Nxxxx with you
TWR: Nxxxx TWR good morning, stand-by
Nxxxx: Nxx is a C172, VFR from zzzz, errrrrrr with information A, errrrrrr 5 miles nort of the field, errrrrrrrr to land on the active, errrrrrr requesting landing instructions

Do you get the error from Nxxxx ? Yes, it was told to stand-by because of the close departure / arrival situation, but instead he blocked the frequency for a long while. Can you guess the next transmissions ?

TWR: BigJet 456, Go-around, I say again, BigJet 456, Go-around
BigJet 456: Going-around, BigJet456

This example of an airliner going around because of a pilot not complying with a simple "stand-by" instruction could seem silly, but I heard it very recently. Yes, I changed the callsigns.

You might then argue that it's unfair from me to have a example where the private pilot is behaving wrong, causing an airliner go-around. It is true that the situation could have been the opposite. My point here is not to say private voice is not as good as commercial, but to insist on the fact that any pilot should actually LISTEN to the controller, and not ASSUME anything.

One could also argue that the controller made a mistake by lining-up the first plane so close to the approach. This is true, but remind that the VFR was probably not on a flight-plan, so the controller could not guess, nor he could expect a pilot not understanding "stand-by" !

How safe is your readback ?
The voice communication also carries its share of safety issues, especially when it's time for a pilot to read a clearance back. This applies more to IFR pilots, but it is a general issue.

I noticed it once while being the safety pilot on an IR leg, and it was part of the feed-back I gave to the captain. Here is an extract of the communications:

H-xxx: Approach good morning, H-xxx, FL090, ready for lower
Approach: H-xxx Approach, good morning. You're identified, descend FL070
H-xxx: 070 H-xxx

Is not the H-xxx read-back a bit short ? Look at the following communications...

Approach: H-xxx, reduce speed 180 knots
H-xxx: 180, H-xxx
...
Approach: H-xxx, turn right heading 160
H-xxx: 160, H-xxx

The approach controller did not made any remark, and I guess as the traffic volume was low, he probably just monitored the turn on his screen. But how misleading was this readback ? By just answering "160, H-xxx", the pilot does not make clear to the controller that he understood the heading change, and not a new speed restriction.

In a complex situation, the controller would probably request a correct read-back, which would make the frequency busier, and possibly the situation even more complex.

Penser, Presser, Parler
To sumarize, you should always attempt to do a clear communication, short and efficient, and non-ambiguous. And remind that frequency time is precious. In french we have the "PPP" motto: "Penser, Presser, Parler", literally "Think, Push, Talk".

Think: to what you will say
Press: the PTT button
Talk: say your message