We know that, as a conference planner, you put massive amounts of energy into making sure that your event is successful. But what’s a successful conference without strong, effective speakers?
No matter how much experience a speaker has, they can still get flustered or uncomfortable without the right kind of support. We pride ourselves on our ability to send speakers onstage feeling confident in the technology they’re using, but there are many things you can do before your event to help your speakers succeed!
IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO YOUR EVENT...
SEND OUT A POWERPOINT GUIDE.
Even the most experienced speakers sometimes struggle with creating presentation visuals. Luckily, we have a great resource for creating slides that read well onstage. Click here to download it, and feel free to share it as you please!
HAVE SPEAKERS SUBMIT THEIR MATERIALS AHEAD OF TIME.
Whether it’s PowerPoint slides, a Keynote deck, a Prezi presentation, or especially video content, have your speakers submit their presentation materials prior to the event so that you & your tech team can review them. We often ask for presentation materials a week in advance so that we can run through them, make sure that they play seamlessly, and fix any problems while we have time.
GIVE GUIDELINES FOR TECH-FRIENDLY CLOTHING.
If your speakers are going to be using headset microphones, you’ll want to let them know that dangly earrings may be problematic, as they may bump up against the mic and cause unwanted noise. If the speaker has long hair, they may wish to pull it back or push it behind their ears for the same reason. Or, if they are planning to use a lavaliere microphone, they’ll want to have somewhere on their clothing that they can clip the mic, and ideally, something like a belt or pocket that they can clip a transmitter pack onto. We can always get creative if needed, but sometimes it helps to mention these points ahead of time.
BE CLEAR ABOUT TIME LIMITS.
By providing your speaker with their time slot beforehand, they can practice their talk and make sure that they pace it to fit within their given time limitation. If your event has a firm wrap time, make sure that you stress the importance of not going overtime to your speakers.
DURING THE WEEK OF YOUR EVENT...
HAVE A REHEARSAL.
It can be daunting stepping into a new environment, coordinating which side of the stage to enter from, knowing where the tech table is and at what time you need to go get mic’ed, and choreographing interactions with hosts & other speakers onstage. Having a rehearsal during which your speakers can practice and ask questions eliminates many of these stressors, both for you and for your speakers.
ON THE DAY OF YOUR EVENT…
This is when we take over. We’ll be stationed at a tech table and will be ready for any questions that you or your speakers may have day-of. When your speakers come to us to get mic’ed before going onstage, our professional and knowledgeable staff will help them to feel at ease, making sure that they are comfortable with any tech they’re using and reaffirming any points they need to remember.
We love being the facilitators of your vision, and we want your event (and your speakers) to succeed as much as you do! We’d love to assist you with fine-tuning your next event or conference!