trencher

For anyone agonizing too much about being a friendly officer, remember Rogue One gave us officers on Jedha who smiled, faffed about with their friends, and even played dice if I remember it right. Also, the  first Solo teaser gave us this friendly fellow.
 

Hi there you can record your troop count here 
 
http://www.imperialofficer.com/forum/index.php?/forum/47-imperial-hall-of-commemoration/

A short story for staying in character:
 
When I attended the ANH Star Wars in Concert in Vienna last April I was there as Director Krennic. After the concert we stood in front of the stage and the people took pictures with us. From the crowd a little boy approaches, stands up in front of me and says: "I have a question, what was that at Scarif?" I think this was one of the first times, a question really let me behind speechless. There was no staying in character possible anymore because I didn't know what to say as the question came so unexpected. Neither the Director nore me knew what to answer.
 
This is just one of the little things that make the troops so exciting  

I think you have to remember that it is not you but the character, you can be 'aggressive' with troopers but friendly with the crowd.  I do medieval reenactment and the public love some theatre, but they like you to be a friendly person when you are interacting with the public.  I personally love when people stay in character when explaining stuff.  

Ah, another thing to do is to let people in rebel or Jedi shirts to know about "the emperor's seditious clothing act of 1977." ( Or of '77.)And by wearing seditious clothing , that they are in fact breaking imperial law. Which is punishable by five years of hard labor in the emperor's work camps. And you can make up some kind of job they would do. Like washing tuskens, shaving wookies, or the ubiquitous cleaning of the ewok cages at the local imperial zoo.

Well, I have a lot that I say and do. I have worked on things with my prior service experience.  There are a lot of thing to do to keep up appearances. 
 
1). Greet people as citizens.  If you throw in something like "good morning citizen. How are you on this fine imperial morning." Or " welcome citizen, so not worry. My troopers and I are here to cleans this area of rebel activity. It will be safe again shortly. ". Try it out. It's fun.
 
2)  what I call the trooper blinkins.  After a "citizen" takes a photo. Stop them and ask to see the photo. At which point a trooper or helmeted character in the group gets a down dressing. (Let them know ahead of time you might do it). Mine goes... "Citizen may I see the photo. I need to check that my troopers preformed their duties well.". They show you the picture. Then, " trooper blinkins!  You did it again. You blinked when I ordered you not to blink! ".  And have some fun with it.
 
3)if someone is just walking by, interact with a greeting of citizen. Then warn them of viscous ewok activity in the area. Or if near a parking lot. Warn of jawas stealing motivators from parked speeders in the vicinity.
 
4) more photo fun.  When a "citizen" goes to take your photo. State "make sure to get my good side. Not my dark side". Most everyone will laugh. It's a good ice breaker for adults.  
 
5) you could talk about how tough it is to be a imperial trooper. How on jeda you could get beaten up by a blind Jedi temple guard. And had issues with little aliens charging you yelling, Admiral akbar! And blowing themselves up. 
 
Honestly I have a thousand lines. But just work with the crowd. It's a fun interaction that you want. And the "citizen" will remember.  

Ah, another thing to do is to let people in rebel or Jedi shirts to know about "the emperor's seditious clothing act of 1977." ( Or of '77.)And by wearing seditious clothing , that they are in fact breaking imperial law. Which is punishable by five years of hard labor in the emperor's work camps. And you can make up some kind of job they would do. Like washing tuskens, shaving wookies, or the ubiquitous cleaning of the ewok cages at the local imperial zoo.

Well, I have a lot that I say and do. I have worked on things with my prior service experience.  There are a lot of thing to do to keep up appearances. 
 
1). Greet people as citizens.  If you throw in something like "good morning citizen. How are you on this fine imperial morning." Or " welcome citizen, so not worry. My troopers and I are here to cleans this area of rebel activity. It will be safe again shortly. ". Try it out. It's fun.
 
2)  what I call the trooper blinkins.  After a "citizen" takes a photo. Stop them and ask to see the photo. At which point a trooper or helmeted character in the group gets a down dressing. (Let them know ahead of time you might do it). Mine goes... "Citizen may I see the photo. I need to check that my troopers preformed their duties well.". They show you the picture. Then, " trooper blinkins!  You did it again. You blinked when I ordered you not to blink! ".  And have some fun with it.
 
3)if someone is just walking by, interact with a greeting of citizen. Then warn them of viscous ewok activity in the area. Or if near a parking lot. Warn of jawas stealing motivators from parked speeders in the vicinity.
 
4) more photo fun.  When a "citizen" goes to take your photo. State "make sure to get my good side. Not my dark side". Most everyone will laugh. It's a good ice breaker for adults.  
 
5) you could talk about how tough it is to be a imperial trooper. How on jeda you could get beaten up by a blind Jedi temple guard. And had issues with little aliens charging you yelling, Admiral akbar! And blowing themselves up. 
 
Honestly I have a thousand lines. But just work with the crowd. It's a fun interaction that you want. And the "citizen" will remember.  

Ah, another thing to do is to let people in rebel or Jedi shirts to know about "the emperor's seditious clothing act of 1977." ( Or of '77.)And by wearing seditious clothing , that they are in fact breaking imperial law. Which is punishable by five years of hard labor in the emperor's work camps. And you can make up some kind of job they would do. Like washing tuskens, shaving wookies, or the ubiquitous cleaning of the ewok cages at the local imperial zoo.

Well, I have a lot that I say and do. I have worked on things with my prior service experience.  There are a lot of thing to do to keep up appearances. 
 
1). Greet people as citizens.  If you throw in something like "good morning citizen. How are you on this fine imperial morning." Or " welcome citizen, so not worry. My troopers and I are here to cleans this area of rebel activity. It will be safe again shortly. ". Try it out. It's fun.
 
2)  what I call the trooper blinkins.  After a "citizen" takes a photo. Stop them and ask to see the photo. At which point a trooper or helmeted character in the group gets a down dressing. (Let them know ahead of time you might do it). Mine goes... "Citizen may I see the photo. I need to check that my troopers preformed their duties well.". They show you the picture. Then, " trooper blinkins!  You did it again. You blinked when I ordered you not to blink! ".  And have some fun with it.
 
3)if someone is just walking by, interact with a greeting of citizen. Then warn them of viscous ewok activity in the area. Or if near a parking lot. Warn of jawas stealing motivators from parked speeders in the vicinity.
 
4) more photo fun.  When a "citizen" goes to take your photo. State "make sure to get my good side. Not my dark side". Most everyone will laugh. It's a good ice breaker for adults.  
 
5) you could talk about how tough it is to be a imperial trooper. How on jeda you could get beaten up by a blind Jedi temple guard. And had issues with little aliens charging you yelling, Admiral akbar! And blowing themselves up. 
 
Honestly I have a thousand lines. But just work with the crowd. It's a fun interaction that you want. And the "citizen" will remember.  

I haven't trooped as an officer yet as my Krennic is still being assembled, however I've been thinking a lot about this.    As a TD I only have to say as much as I want to.  Here is the conclusion that I've come to:
 
Ever been to Disney World?     Have you been to the Haunted Mansion or the Tower of Terror?    These cast members thread the needle between being bad and good.   The crowd is never really sure which side they fall on, but they are entertaining while they do it.     That's what I'm going to be going for.  

Thanks everyone for the wonderful replies! I am pleased to see so many good replies in such a short amount of time. The amount of support is absolutely fantastic!

I will absolutely take every word spoken into consideration for my next troop.

HI there!   So this is something that took me a bit to get down as well when I first started trooping as Hux.   Even a few years later, still a work in progress.  Seconding what a lot of people have said already.   Having your uniform in order always goes a long way and people will tend to come up to you since you aren't behind a mask or helmet, sometimes that's easier for people to interact with.   Don't be afraid to break character if need be.  Such as a child wary of others, go down on their level and just go with the flow, be yourself.  As Hux, I've had to walk that fine line between being in character and then breaking it just a little so that it makes the interaction more comfortable for a child.  Always be professional and polite, just as you would in any other public forum.

And absolutely, #1, have fun  

I absolutely agree with my friend Steven.
Literally everything he said is right and I do the same thing.
 
In my opinion it depends on either you want to stay in character or you just want to have fun. That doesn't mean you can have both at the same time of course
If every Trooper at the Event stays in Character and acts like that it is absolutely ok to be the serious Officer including facial expression and everything...
But, when the others are joking around like doing funny dances or something you should do the same otherwise it would look a bit awkward being the only one in character
 
When it comes to conversations I would say, just be natural and everything flows by it self. Remember the usual citizen doesn't know that much about Star Wars like we all do. They maybe don't understand it or recognize the Role/Character you are playing which can result in a look that says "geezer" or "odd fellow"
 
As Robert said, make sure that your uniform looks sharp and straight, always. Maybe a little "Picard" maneuver here and there
Keep your posture straight and try to look lordly to others.
Most important: Have fun
 
 
 

@JudgeGrimm Wonderful question!  I was thinking the same thing as I'm doing a personal favor for my wife and helping her with a May the 4th event at her library and am going to be wandering the floor as Director Krennic.
Excellent answers everyone!!
@Mitthrawnuruodo I especially love the "Hello Citizen"

To me it depends on what we are doing as a group. If we are having a parade like at ComicCon to open the event I'm thinking something like "We just conquered this planet and you people are now all under the rule of the empire." it gives a good feeling that you can use for your expression while marching. But I also wave to the people to convince them we are a friendly empire  
 
Second is when we troop around as a group of four or five. As an Officer I march forward and make the way free for the troopers, having my back stretched through and walking with my head up. If people react to us I sometimes point on them, wave to little children so that they are not afraid and always try to give them the feeling "yes, I know what you are doing here, the Empire is always watching." Reacting and interacting with people leads to number three -->
 
Taking pictures - I we take pictures with fans I greet them, as a good Officer always has to be polite and remember his manners, and then I simply do what feels right in the moment. Do I smile, do I look severe, do I make some fun with the people, these things come very natural to me and I don't think about it a lot. I often make a gesture with my hand, a fist, or I point at the camera, at the Star Wars in Concert troop I had great fun with the people using the Victory/peace sign.
 
I hope this helps somehow. Don't do anything your are uncomfortable with. If you are not the type to interact with people a lot, just do what every Officer should do, look good  and everything Robert said about a sharp looking uniform

Scowling is not the only look for an officer, neither do you have to be smiling like Mr. Friendly.
 
An officer is a professional and the single most important thing you can do is stand up straight and have good posture.  Keep your head up and meet the gazes of the people you meet.  Make sure your uniform is as sharp as you can make it.  Be cordial but composed.  Be direct with your answers.  Try not to hold something that takes away from what you are doing.  If you are drinking anything, only do it while standing, never walking.  And try not to eat in front of the public.  Keep your right hand free whenever possible.  Even if we do not salute, people that have been in the military will notice this as a second nature.  

You can smile.  You can scow.  You can pretend to be a character from one of the films one that you think fits what you are doing.  But remember that the public may not see it that way.  Go with your instincts and remember that an unless you are a power hungry moff or admiral, an officer serves the mission and takes care of his men.  As a costumer who is not burdened by heavy armor, you are one of the few people that can look out for their welfare.

I would say short direct answers are always a good start. Slightly arrogant, "Yes yes we are here, I am here, I am important." without being rude is a good route, a lot of "Hello citizen" kind of stuff. Bark some orders to the troopers, just because you can, "Trooper stand up straight, move over there, stop dancing, etc.."
Officers are professional, loyal imperials, but that doesn't mean we have to be A-holes. 

I find this difficult as well. So long as there are un-costumed handlers at the event, your responsibilities are only supplemental to theirs. Liaising with the crowd feels like the right thing to do, but I struggle to maintain the right demeanor. Scowling would probably be more in character, but I feel unapproachable when I do it. Often I can't help breaking into a smile. I'm genuinely thrilled to be doing this, and the enthusiasm at events is infectious.
 
Anyhow, I'm still very much figuring this out for myself as well, but I'd recommend just behaving in whatever way feels most natural for you. Don't give yourself a hard time. If you're more of an introvert, then just focus on looking good in photos, and let the handlers take care of the crowd.

For my past few troops, I have realised something; I tend to not be very... forward. I understand that as an officer, I sort of have an obligation to be the 'face' of the group, to be the one who interacts with people, since my face can clearly be seen.

But I tend to not know what to say and how to say things or present myself in a good manner. Can anyone help me get over this? To improve my experience and that of others?

Most of us have a busy couple of days for Trooping with May the 4th and Free Comic book day.  Do the IOC proud and have a great weekend!!
 

May 4th. The perfect excuse to watch the original trilogy again ( with a couple of cold ones).

Happy May the Fourth!! It's been a busy day two troops in one day, and one more on Revenge of the Fifth... Oh boy

May the force be with you all!
 
I'm just about to drive to our todays Troop, I wish everyone a lot of fun

I'd be willing to help on this. Buck let me know if I can help you do this from ohio.  I am in Dayton near the Indiana border. So I'm flexible with getting places.