The Proactive Speaker: Find your light
I still perseverate with regret about the time my dad gave an entire speech IN THE DARK! It was at the Harvard Kennedy School for about 100 people. He stepped behind the podium and into the shadows. Thank goodness he had a mellifluous voice to carry the rest of the audience with him. My mind, though, was whirring! How do I fix this? Do I ask someone? Who’s in charge here? Do I just start flicking all the light switches? Do I mime, “MOVE!! Shift to the right!” or stage whisper, “DAD! WE CAN’T SEE YOU!” Do I simply walk onto the stage and nudge him over or move the podium or…?” I did nothing. Thus, the ruminating. However, I vowed to be proactive and make sure future speakers, whether known to me or not, are IN THE LIGHT!
For TED Talks, the hottest lights are aimed at the famous red circular rug on stage, showing the speaker where to stand. At our TEDx Charlottesville we encourage our speakers to use the whole stage, as long as they know the center red dot is their sweet spot. And, if they want to use the aisles or sit on the edge of the stage, we ask the tech crew if it is possible to make this happen. (They always say YES! Great thanks to JF Legault and The AV Company!)
One year, we wanted a few of our coaches to start the event by reading poetry from different seats all over the 1000-person theater. JF and his crew set the lights in advance so that we knew our actors would be seen. In this photo by Edmond Joe, you see Mercedes Herrero reading her poem, lit up and radiant.
A few years ago I had the chance to sit in on a fund-raising lunch for one of my clients—a treat to see the product of our work together. The luncheon was in a multi-use events space—weddings, dinners, talks. And though I was invited as a guest, it was clear that the area designated for the speakers was in shadows with the track lights aimed at the audience. The audience would be blinded, seeing only the dim outline of the speaker while staring into bright bulbs.
Before the seats started to fill, I took off my heels, found the least wobbly folding chair, and refocused the lights.
From now on, NO REGRETS! Be proactive so that we can be seen! Next time we are asked to speak, get in early, find out where the lights are, stand in the light, get a sense of the heat and awareness when we move out of the light. Ask for light where we’d love to have it—like JF, most tech crews want the best experience for the audience and will do what they can to make this happen. And remember, if we see another speaker standing in the shadows, it is not only a gift for them to be seen, but for the the audience to see them! Go ahead, speak up, gesture, move them if needed, INTO THE LIGHT.