Page 45 - Power Presntation

Importance of the venue

When considering seating it is important to make sure the audience can be both
relaxed and attentive; you don’t want them so comfortable they fall asleep. There
are a wide variety of seating options: some of the most common are show in the
diagram above. For large venues this will largely be fixed, but for smaller venues
you will have more discretion.

You need to select the one that give you the best eye contact with your audience

and suits the purpose and nature of your presentation. For example, wider and
deeper rows in theatre style can offer you better eye contact with your audience. In
addition you need to assess how clearly your visual aids can be seen by those at

the back of the room or on the periphery.

If you need good acoustics and the ability to engage with your audience then a
semi-circle or ‘u’ shape is the most effective format. It does require more space so

be conscious of this when deciding on your room size.

Wider & deeper rows –
Compact narrow can be improved by
Theatre style

Engagement with your
Semi-circle, ‘n’ or ‘u’
audience is best suited to shape
Cabaret style –
Cabaret style – tables or
Group interactions are best groups of 5-8 people
suited to

If Notes need to be taken
Classroom style
best served by

Similarly, if your presentation involves a lot of note taking, or includes workgroup-based
interaction, you may want to include tables in the seating plan—but make sure you have
easy eye contact. Research has shown that groups of five to eight is the best size to en -
sure everyone can be included and create the necessary energy within the group.

To avoid everyone sitting at the very back of the room as they enter you can remove the
last row of seats so they have to sit closer to the presenter. These surplus seats can then
be stacked at the back for latecomers to use and place behind the last row. If you are
responsible for setting up the room make sure you consider the following:

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