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Banquet and Luncheon
Tips
After years of doing presentations and
writing this public
speaking book, I have learned some
very
important tips on having a successful
presentation where meals are being served. You
might want to politely inform the program
coordinator to consider some of these points
before your presentation:
Room Set-Up
(A lot of these tips work whether food is
being served or not)
- Avoid spacing round tables far apart in an
effort to fill the empty space. Distance from
the speaker makes it harder to involve the
audience and get them to participate.
- Instead try to space the tables as close
together as you can get while still giving the
wait staff enough room to move around
comfortably. If there is a lot of empty room
space you can fill it with a decorative
divider of some sort.
- Avoid a great big between the head table and
speaker area and the first row of tables.
Remember, distance can be a great barrier
to speaking and interaction with your
audience.
- Consider allowing the speaker an option of
speaking areas. In my
public speaking book I show you that a
speaker can do a better job if they are not
confined behind a head table or lectern.
- Try to set the head table or speaker area
on the long side of the room. This means that
the back row participants will be closer to
the speaker than if you set the head table or
speaker area on the short side of the room
(the audience will feel they are really far
away from the action).
- Most audiences enjoy being closer to the
speaker too. To accomplish this, place extra
chairs near the front of the room to be used
by the head table participants after dinner
(of course, this would depend on your overall
program). You would not want them seated
behind the speaker during the program. Set the
head table back from the front of the podium.
The speaker can perform in front of the head
table.
- Set your buffet tables far off to the side or
on the opposite end from the speaker area. If
someone goes back for seconds or arrives late
during the program, he or she will not be
disruptive. Discourage use of doors anywhere
near the head table/speaker area. All these
placement factors are explained in detail in
my public speaking book.
Timing
The aspect of timing during your presentation
is taught in my
public speaking book
also.
When your on a tight time schedule, having
desserts placed on the table midway through
the meal can help.
Arrange with banquet staff to cease all
bussing of tables on a pre-arranged signal.
Many functions have less than
interesting openings because service personnel
are running around for the first 10 minutes of
a talk. This can get everything off to a bad
start.
A few minutes before the program is to begin,
it is very helpful to announce something like:
"The program will start in ten minutes. Please
get your drink refills, (go to the little boys
and little girls room), get some more food and
then take your seats and get ready for a great
program!"
When speaking in public settings where food is
involved you must make a special effort to
take care of all of the logistical details so
your speech is well received. Learning these
skills from my public
speaking book is just as important as
what you will say to your audience.
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