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A big mistake most keynote speakers still make on the platform. And how to repair it!

Posted August 6th, 2009 by hansruinemans
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 Yes I agree, it was a great 2009 convention in Phoenix organised by the National Speakers Association of the USA. Top keynote speakers informed, moved, shook and inspired an (international) audience of 1,500 colleagues. There were lots of laughs, some tears and many standing ovations. I felt fortunate to be part of it.

I could not help noticing that all keynote speakers were making one big mistake. In this report I like to share my insight with you.

From the stage (I was there for five full minutes) an audience of 1,500 looks like a vast ocean of people. On the other hand from the audience viewpoint there seems to appear a ‘small puppet’ on a large stage quite far away. NSA is aware of this and used large video screens on the left and right side of the stage. Compared with a speaker of six foot (or 1.80 cm) the video screens were at least five times bigger. Most of the time a multi cam live registration of the keynote speaker was displayed on these screens. Sometimes spiced with PowerPoints or a videofilm. Most of the time, the audience looks at the screens, instead of looking at the speaker. Even the eyes of people on the first 10 rows meandered from screen to speaker, I observed during these three convention days.

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Ok, let’s get to the point. The mistake that all of the speakers of the NSA Convention made, in spite of all their professional skills, is that not one of them looked into the main camera! They just did not adapt their presentation to the live screen presentation. They used their routine skills and looked into the audience. Beginners looked until row 25. More experienced speakers looked until row 40. All the people that were seated further away from the main stage were visually not reached at the optimum.

So what? The solution is very easy. If you stand as a keynote speaker on a platform in front of a large audience and there is video registration look regularly into the main camera in the back of the room. And smile into the lens. Even if -for your feeling- the camera is very far away. Your face will be magnified, especially with close-up shots on the huge screens left en right from you. You make your story more personal and strongly increase your impact. Good luck the next time!

Speak well,

Hans (:-)
Twitter: @hansruinemans
Hans speaker reports: http://hansruinemans.wordpress.com


Comments

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