A Positive Speaking Environment
By Chris Joscelyne
Several years ago I was the guest speaker at a franchising industry
breakfast at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. It was a
typical Sydney winter's morning … fine and clear with a spectacular
sunrise.
The room had been prepared with the speaker's lectern on the eastern
side of the room in front of huge ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking the
city. Yes, you guessed it. I had to stand in front of that spectacular
view and compete with it for the attention of the audience. It was a tough
task.
Ever since, I have paid very careful attention to room set-up. My goal
is to create the most positive environment for the audience. Sometimes
this requires rearrangement of the room, so I always discuss this with
meeting organisers well before the event.
If you are organising a meeting, seminar or conference, you can apply
some simple and logical ideas that will create a positive environment for
your speakers and your audience.
Here are my suggestions:
- Place seats for least external distractions - visual and noise
- Locate the presentation area as close as you can to the audience
- For a small audience, use a semi-circular seating layout
- Avoid long narrow rooms - rear rows will feel isolated from the
speaker
- Guide attendees towards front rows by placing "Reserved"
signs on rear rows - these signs can be removed as the room fills
- Ensure sufficient isles so that audience members do not have to
cross more than five others to get to a seat
- For a large audience, set isles wider closer to the exits.
- Keep room lights bright unless data projection or slides are to be
used
- If room lights are dimmed for a slideshow, put a soft light on the
presenter - don't leave the presenter in the dark.
- Ensure that windows can be covered if natural light must be reduced
for screen presentations
- Test and ensure that the sound and audio-visual equipment is
reliable
- Have backup equipment and a backup plan in case of equipment failure
- Provide cool water and a fresh drinking glass for each speaker -
this is often forgotten
- Check room temperature for comfort - a hot or cold room kills
concentration
- Ensure that food and beverage arrangements are appropriate
- Locate toilets - if they are some distance from the room post a
direction sign
- Be aware of emergency exit locations
- Make sure there are signs displayed to direct attendees to your
room.
By following this checklist you can create a positive environment for
speaking, listening and learning. It works for me and I hope it works for
you too.
About the author: Chris Joscelyne trained as a
clinical hypnotherapist under the tutorage of Margaret Tomko. He was taught
grief counselling by Mal McKissock, and he learned meditation in a course sponsored by the Department of Health. He developed his personal awareness knowledge with
mentors Barbara and Terry Tebo of Lifespring.
For ten years Chris was a visiting lecturer at the
Australian Film, Television and Radio School where he taught personal
development, meditation and stress management skills. Now he shares his
knowledge with a wider community as a speaker, trainer and coach, teaching
people how to live "Life
by choice - not by chance".
If you work hard, you can make your choices. If you don't, then people make them for you.
Dr Fiona Wood
Australian of the Year 2005
Dr Fiona Wood
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