Tips to make your next presentation a success
Audiovisual technology communicates best when the message is important and when crossing distance fast matters, whether your message impacts an audience of one or 10,000. Here are some tips from the A/V specialists at NextArts to help make your next presentation a success:
- Plan session times and meeting schedules so that set-up and tear down activities take place during normal business hours. This is particularly important if premium-time applies. Changing the start time of a meeting by just half an hour can substantially influence your labor costs (+ or -).
- Schedule meetings that use the same A/V set up. Reduce equipment set-ups and tear downs by scheduling meetings in the same room but at different times. If you have a general session room blocked all day but larger meetings only in the early AM/late PM, schedule a breakout session in the room. It may be a larger space than needed but you will save by using A/V equipment that has already been set-up.
- Make sure your A/V consultants understand your meeting objectives. Routinely copy them on any changes to your program. Give detailed instructions to the hotel or meeting facility as they can often spot potential problems.
- Don't count on "I'll tell them." Make sure your A/V consultant attends pre-conference meetings.
- Small details are important. Your A/V consultant must know audience size and room set preference. If the location is unfamiliar, include room dimensions such as ceiling height, obstructions and structural features.
- Get speaker's A/V requirements early and in writing. Let speakers choose from a limited list of standard A/V items. If they request special equipment, find out how they plan to use it. Confirm speakers' requirements and pass the information along to your A/V consultant as soon as possible. Any changes should be made two weeks in advance.
- Make sure you get what is needed. Early planning allows adequate time to reserve equipment not on location at the hotel or meeting facility. This will resolve any conflicting or vague equipment requests, especially if specialized equipment is required.
- Save your time. Tell your A/V consultant how to reach speakers directly to clear up any questions that they may have.
- Establish an "on-site equipment additions" policy before the meeting. Have a policy and corresponding procedure in place for accommodating last minute requests. This will help to avoid invoicing questions later.
- Have a speaker "ready-room." Provide an A/V-equipped room to check out materials in advance and rehearse presentations. This will help to eliminate problems such as improperly loaded slides, damaged slide trays, bad film splices and incompatible or damaged videotapes. For larger meetings, use an unoccupied breakout room.
- Don't limit sound quality. Check the sound system with on-site visits during an actual presentation. Test soundproofing between rooms, especially those with partitioned walls. Always provide a lavaliere microphone and lectern microphone if visual materials are used or if you have an animated presenter who moves away from the lectern. Always provide aisle microphones when sessions in large rooms have a "Question & Answer" segment that involves the audience. If your audiovisual consultant recommends an audio technician, take their advice. It is critical to have them in the room or near the controls if you:
- Have more than one microphone
- Have more than one speaker; each has a different voice level
- Have an audience of over four hundred people
- Have microphones placed in the audience
- Avoid computer/electronic data problems. Tell your audiovisual consultant if computers or electronic data video presentations will be used. There are too many technical variables, even between the same computer manufacturers to trust anything to chance. Scrambling for last minute "fixes" can have a dramatic impact on your budget.
- Avoid embarrassment. Don't make the A/V budget an afterthought. The cost of having a professional technician in the room is an inexpensive insurance policy when divided by the number of attendees. It is negligible when you consider the value of your audience's time and how inept you and your company may seem when the equipment does not work. The cost of upgrading to a better projector or sound system is also insignificant and makes a difference in the audience's ability to retain your message.
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