events – Minerva Accountants Bristol and Somerset

With the return of face to face events this is one thing that I haven’t missed.

During Q&As the event organiser will offer a microphone to the audience member asking the question and a fair number will reject it announcing “I don’t need a microphone”

Well, I’m going to burst your bubble and tell you that you do. And here’s why:

I’m a professional speaker and quite capable of projecting my voice to a significantly sized theatre and I still use one to save the quality of my voice.
People fade as they speak. Especially if it’s one of those long questions that involves sharing your life history (don’t do this either; nobody is really interested)
Your voice mainly travels forwards to it will be fainter for those behind you
The event organiser will often be recording the event. If you don’t share your question via the microphone that is hooked up to the AV deck the speaker will have to remember to repeat the question “for the tape”
Those wearing hearing aids will set them to a particular position for the best sound reception from the microphone. Use it in order to be accessible.

Also remember that the slot for Q&As is often limited so:

Keep it brief
Ask a question; don’t make a statement
Ask yourself if it will really help the rest of the audience.

As you probably know I speak professionally, and so I often get asked for tips on how people can improve their speaking.

Please see my article on basic Zoom meetings. Get your camera angle, lights and sound all set up even for normal meetings.

For speaking on webinars rather than just meetings:

I speak professionally after years of practice and training from the Professional Speaking Association! (The speaker’s equivalent of ICAEW). If you want to run a professional event hire a professional speaker, just as you would use a professional accountant.
I don’t use a script so, after writing the talk, I set aside a whole day or more for rehearsing in the week before the event.
Any slides should enhance your event. If you’re just going to read from your slides then you’re not adding any value.
I have crib notes on my keyboard for any facts I might forget but they need to be big enough to read without my glasses!
As I’m talking about my own subject matter I can tweak the talk as I go to adapt to timing (often needed when other speakers overrun). In an event where I can see my audience I can even adapt the content to spend more time on a topic where they look engaged and skip over anything that is of less interest to them.
DO NOT OVER RUN as it is rude to other speakers and the event organiser. If you’re organising events please be clear on how long the actual talk should be and whether introductions and questions need to be included in this time.
If I’m MCing an event I hold cue cards in my hand (or on my keyboard) but I still try to rehearse introductions beforehand so that I can look at the camera/audience as much as possible.
Use a professional MC for your events. They will ensure that everything runs to time even if you have less experienced speakers.
Have a dedicated person to look after your AV.
Ensure that you have a diverse mix of speakers. If anybody needs help with this then feel free to contact me as I know hundreds of speakers who cover a range of topics.

A lot of people are setting up online courses so I’m hosting a webinar on Tuesday 20th October to share how I create and host our coaching programmes on Thinkific.

Tag: events

“I don’t need a microphone”

Speaking for business