Obviously, a sound audio engineer is essential to a speaker because great sound is critical to the success of a presentation. That’s why professional speakers, teachers, or preachers invest in a professional sound crew whenever possible.
But there’s another — perhaps even more important — reason that a good sound person is critical: He or she is often the last person a speaker talks to before taking the stage.
RELATED: Check out more stories from Christian media expert Phil Cooke.
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I speak at conferences and events around the world, so I get a pretty good idea of what matters to speakers, particularly in unusual or new situations, and here’s what I’ve found:
Sound professionals are critically important to a speaker’s emotional well-being. In some situations, they come up to me before speaking and just hand me a microphone — no comment, no assistance and no advice. So, especially with a headset microphone, I struggle to get it on, worry about whether the microphone is in the right place, and wonder if it will slide around.
Not a terribly confident place to be before I walk onto the stage.
But in the best situations, a good sound professional helps me with the microphone, stays to make sure it’s fitted properly (especially with a headset mic), has some tape if necessary, and answers my questions about how it works. Then he or she will often say something like, “We’re very excited to hear your presentation,” or “We’ve been waiting a long time for this event.”
Motivating? You bet. Confidence building? Heck yeah.
Worth the investment
Sound engineers? Your role is far more critical than audio levels, EQ, and running a sound board.
Conference directors, pastors and leaders, make sure you share this with your sound team. Encourage them. Let them know what they do is essential — perhaps the most critical thing that will happen before a guest speaker takes the stage.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally written by Christian media expert Phil Cooke and published by philcooke.com.
