Consider the backdrop before you step on the stage to present.
Speakers, event and meeting planners and hotel venues, take the time to consider the color of your backdrops. Black Backdrops can create floating heads - so here’s how to avoid that problem. Before you do your speech, do you ask about the backdrop? Learn why you want to do this.
When you want your audience to focus on the presenter it is necessary to have a clean background. Windows are the worst and any cluttered backdrop might be more interesting than the presenter. Your goal is to limit the number of visual distractions, so that your audience only has a couple of places to look - at the presenter or at the screen.
Think of a puppet show. What do the performers wear? Black. If you are doing a puppet show, then by all means camouflage your body in a black suit and use a black backdrop. The audience will see the items on the stage that are not black. Yes, they will see a floating head and hands. It makes for a cool Halloween effect with a drifting talking head.
However, if you are hosting a meeting or event, then don’t let the speakers blend into your background. The black on black creates the puppet effect particularly prominent if you have a large distance like 100 feet between the speakers and the last attendee.
This is called an ‘Event Eroder’. By itself it may not seem like a big deal, but you add several of these distractions and your meeting is doomed .
Solutions
Ideally, you want better lighting. Most of the time lighting will be outsourced and at a substantial cost. But if you can afford it, than do it.
- Have a back light for the stage, so the audience can see the separation of backdrop and person. The easiest way is to have par can lights on the floor shining up on the backdrop.
- Use lighting to illuminate the presenter
Low Cost Options
- Create a better room set-up to reduce the distance from the speaker to the furthest attendee
- Use a different color backdrop
- Tell your main presenters about the color of the backdrop
The solution is simple, but apparently many people don’t think about it. Don’t be that person. Make a change. Make it easy for the audience to get value from your meeting. The meeting distractions are obvious, but why do we keep seeing these occurrences.
Comment by Joanna Tong on Mar 4, 2011
For women speakers, what colours of clothing are best to avoid and what would be most preferred and ‘safe’?