Avoid the Hotspots

When you are speaking in a new room for the first time, and you are using a new microphone/speaker system, it always pays to test the system in advance. The challenge is not just to turn the mic on and talk to see if it works-the trick is to see if the mic works everywhere in the room. If you are a skilled speaker, you will be walking around the room a great deal throughout your presentation. The microphone might work well in most areas, but create feedback and distortion in other parts of the room. The key is to learn where the hotspots are in a room so that you can avoid them while you are presenting. Nothing can shut down your tempo or ruin the mood of your presentation than for there to be a sudden, loud, screeching sound coming out of the speakers making everyone cover their ears.

It’s not the end of the world if you encounter loud feedback from a speaker while delivering a presentation and most people won’t think of it as your fault. But the result is the same: for one brief moment your speech stops and everyone’s attention is directed toward the noise. It only takes a little extra effort to find out in advance where the hotspots are in a room. Granted, this one bit of due diligence makes only a minor positive impact on your overall speech impression. But if you want to be a great speaker, paying attention to hundreds of minor details like these adds up to the difference between being merely good versus truly outstanding.