Public Speaking Course
Banquet and Luncheon Tips
Over the years of my public speaking career I have learned some important
tips to having a successful presentation where meals are being served. These
tips are from my public speaking course. You might want to politely inform the
program coordinator to consider some of these key points:
ROOM SET-UP
(A lot of these tips work whether food is being served or not)
You should always try to avoid spacing round tables far apart in an effort to
fill empty space. If you have distance from the speaker. it makes it hard to
involve the audience and have them participate.
Instead space the tables as close together as you can get while still
letting the wait staff have enough room to move around comfortably. If
there is a lot of empty room space and it bothers you or the coordinator,
you can simply fill it with some kind of decoration.
Avoid having a big space between the head table and speaker area and the
first row of tables. Again, distance can be a great barrier to speaking and
interaction with your audience.
Consider granting the speaker an option of different speaking areas. In my
public speaking course you will see that a public speaker can do a better job
if not confined to a particular location.
If you are able to, set the head table or speaker area on the long side of
the room. This way 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 prefer sitting closer to the speaker anyways. 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 an important part
to understanding what you learned in your public speaking course.
TIMING
Timing during your presentation is an important aspect from my public speaking
course. When your on a tight time schedule, having desserts placed on the
table midway through the meal can help.
Arrange with banquet staff to stop all bussing of tables on a pre-arranged
signal or comment. 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 to use these skills during my public speaking course is
just as important as what you will say.
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