If there is a microphone, then use it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a succinct article by Andrea Markowski at WORK IT DAILY on October 5, 2023 titled The Mic is Mightier Than the Voice: Yes, You Need to Use the Microphone. Andrea gives four reasons:

 

1] Your voce isn’t as loud as you might think.

2] Some audience members may pretend they can hear you because they don’t want to admit they can’t.

3] If you’re at an event with a Q&A session, use the mic when it’s your turn to ask a question.

4] Is it a hybrid event? If you skip the mic, remote participants won’t hear you.

 

On September 20, 2023 I blogged about Recent and definitive advice on preventing hoarseness (dysphonia). That advice incudes use of amplification to reduce voice strain when in large noisy spaces.

 

The microphone came from Openclipart.  

 

Is a large audience one where the speaker needs a microphone? Is a small audience one where everyone can see a flipchart?

Our terminology is vague, and assumes people magically know what our dichotomy means. Is a small audience where everyone can see a flipchart? Is a large audience where the speaker needs a microphone?

On November 8, 2017 at Ethos3 there was an article by Stephanie Fulton titled Public Speaking Tips for Speaking to a Large or Small Audience. She referred to a September 28, 2017 article by Anett Grant in The Business Journals titled 3 differences between speaking to large groups and small groups. Anett discussed Movement, Concentration Level, and Style. Under Style she said:

“You may think that the larger your audience is, the ‘bigger’ your style needs to be — that you need to be larger than life to grab the attention of a big crowd. In reality, the opposite is true. If you’re speaking to a large group, your style should be more personal — especially if you’re being projected onto a screen. The audience doesn’t need to be drawn to you because the camera is already giving them a close-up.”

The ‘especially’ is confusing. Back on June 16, 2010 I had blogged about how Gesture size usually should match audience size, and showed the above graphic to illustrate how projected live video changed things. On October 19, 2016 Anett had a longer, clearer Fast Company article titled 5 Speaking Habits You Need To Adjust Depending On The Size Of Your Audience.

Another dichotomy is via room sizes, like boardrooms and ballrooms. In his The Extreme Presentation Method blog back on January 16, 2008 Andrew Abela posted about Ballroom vs. Conference Room Style Presentations.

How many people can be in an audience before you need a microphone? In his 2001 book 10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking on page 63 Lenny Laskowski says that:

“…speaking to a group of more than fifty people requires a microphone and a good sound system.”

Others divide audiences into more than two groups. In an article titled Size Up Your Audience by Cliff Suttle on pages 18 to 20 of the December 2007 Toastmaster magazine he used four –

“Here’s the basic breakdown:

Talking to 10 people or fewer is a conversation.

Getting up in front of 20 people is a speech.

If there are 40 people in the audience, it’s a performance.

100 people or more is a show.”

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall used four distances to discuss different types of spaces (Proxemics), as shown above. Can we relate audience size to distance?

As shown above, we can assume that (for dense, theater seating in a square room) a person requires a 3 by 3 foot square, so the distance will be the square root of 9 times the audience size. I first discussed this in a December 7, 2008 blog post titled Audience size determines working distance and thus presentation style.

When we look at audience sizes defined by different powers of two, we can make a table relating audience size, distance, and venue name, as shown above. 21 types will cover the range of audiences from one to about a million. I first discussed this in a December 6, 2008 blog post titled Your presentation style should match both your intent and the size of your audience. Hall’s four types of spaces fit neatly into the table. Many other audience sizes don’t have venue names though.

Real venues usually are not square, may have stages, and they will offer event planners a variety of seating options. A speaker needs to check on how his room will be set up. For example, at the Riverside Hotel here in Boise the 76’ x 120’ Grand Ballroom could be set up with Theater seats for 1000, Round tables for 600, or as a Classroom for 500. The 27’ x 15’ Garnet meeting room could be set up with Theater seats for 40 or Conference seats for 20.  

Should you wear a megaphone helmet for public speaking?

Probably not, although wearing your very own personal public address system might be tempting. Back on November 18, 2005 Phillip Torrone posted on the Make web site about How to Make a (Pimped Out) Megaphone Helmet:

“Here I show you how you can very simply modify a megaphone to accept 1/8” line input from an iPod, and mount the megaphone on top of a motorcycle helmet. The resulting ‘Mega Helmet’ delivers the maximum aural stupidity allowed by law...Go play softball wearing the helmet. It is very good for antagonizing the pitcher, and trash-talking in general. The helmet allows both for amplification of your voice, and playback of mp3s from the iPod.”

Then on October 24, 2012 The Onion took that idea to an absurd limit (implanted microphone and speakers), demonstrated with an Onion Talk parody of  a TED Talk titled Loudness Equals Power.

Finally, over in London, designer Tomomi Sayuda came up with her two versions of what she called the Mask of Soul. The newer one is described on Designboom in a July 2nd post, Tomomi Sayuda’s mask of soul helps overcome fears of public speaking. It’s slick looking, but the concept is a bit silly. (The Vimeo video shows a swearing contest, and thus is not suitable for playing in a work environment). Her earlier soft version is shown in another Vimeo video from December 14, 2013. 

Control your nervousness by focusing on the wire mesh over the microphone?

Everyone has advice about public speaking. One unusual source I found recently was Edward J. Darby & Sons, who provide wire mesh in Philadelphia. In a blog post on May 24th they suggested that instead of imagining the audience naked you should take a deep breath and concentrate on the woven wire mesh covering the microphone. That might help if it takes your mind off being nervous.

They didn’t say what to do if your microphone instead has a foam shield. The Shure and Sony microphone images came from Wikimedia Commons. 

An unusual sound system disaster

Is there anything worse than having a sound system with a dead microphone? There is, and I encountered it last year. For a while it seemed like my talk was going down in flames.

In January 2008 I gave a technical talk. It was for a corrosion meeting held at the ski resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. There were presentations in one half of the Inn ballroom all day Thursday. The wireless microphone, sound system, the laptop computer, and digital projector all worked perfectly.

My talk was the second one on Friday morning. Our chairman handed me the microphone. Just as I was about to begin speaking, we all heard another voice take over the sound system. He began with, “Welcome to the annual refinery meeting!” My microphone acted like it was turned off, and the other speaker continued by reciting their safety record. Then he began discussing production statistics.

Our chairman sent someone running down the hall for the audio-visual staff. They got our sound back after three or four minutes, but it seemed like forever to me. What could have gone wrong only on the second day?

The large ballroom had been split by a movable wall to accommodate two different meetings. On Thursday no one was using the other half of the ballroom, so their wireless microphone had been switched off. The staff had forgotten to split the sound system into two independent parts. On Friday the other half of the room started their meeting later than we did. As soon as their master wireless microphone was switched on it overrode ours, and it fed the speakers for the entire room.

Fortunately this is an uncommon situation. Unfortunately, unless you are a skilled mime, there is not much you can do about it.

It is more common to encounter an adjacent ballroom with amplified music. An accountant told me about a tax refresher course held next to a Native American Powwow. Their speaker could not compete with drums and chants. Bagpipes also are rather piercing.

In a previous post I mentioned having a projector bulb fail as I began a long technical talk. With more forethought I could have begun without using visual aids. You can too, if you have planned, written out, and outlined your introduction.

Aids to speaking: a 15-minute film from 1979

Have you ever noticed how some people grip a lectern like the steering wheel of a bus? Others imitate Teddy Roosevelt and bully it like an anvil.This oldie from the Centron Corporation has clear descriptions of how to use a lectern, a microphone, and various visual aids. Watch it here on YouTube. Just before the very end watch out when the bearded gentleman returns. He uses the microphone to practice a clarinet fingering!