This post provides tips on perfecting your microphone skills to ensure you come across as a pro and avoid any awkward moments when presenting.
I was at an event recently where the keynote speaker left the audience feeling exasperated.
After a few minutes they were checking their messages, scrolling aimlessly or doing anything else to avoid listening.
They had zoned out.
This was a pity, because the speaker had decent content, clear slides and a solid structure.
What was the problem?
Simple.
They were hopeless at using the microphone – which in this case was a hand-held mic.
Two things in particular were noticeable.
Firstly, they looked awkward holding the mic.
Their free hand appeared to be glued to their side and they did no gestures at all.
Secondly, they had a regular habit of moving the mic too far from their mouth, so there was no sound for several seconds.
A lot of sentences were missed by the audience, so they gave up.
It is not easy to use a mic if you are unfamiliar with them, so how can you remedy this situation?
The basic answer is get familiar with them.
‘But Gavin I can’t get into the room until the day of the presentation.’
The way you can boost your skills here comes down to how you rehearse.
Get an object around the same size and weight as a microphone.
Hold it in your hand.
Rehearse.
Keep the object in your hand for the entire rehearsal.
Have somebody to observe and ask them to shout out whenever the object looks too far away from your mouth.
In short, try to mirror the circumstances of the real thing as closely as possible.
If you get used to this, your gestures with the other arm will become more natural.
And holding an object in a fixed position for a sustained period will feel more comfortable.
If you’ve perfected the use of a microphone, another top tip for presenting is ensuring you are maintaining eye contact in a presentation – check out the following article on how best to do so…
