Room Layout

Increasingly, experienced meeting professionals are asking the meeting facility to break tradition and set rooms to the “long side.” This means the stage and lectern are positioned in the middle of the rectangle’s longest side which allows a speaker to more quickly build audience rapport by providing closer, more intimate contact with more of its members. And ask the hotel staff or banquet manager to set the front row of seats as close to the platform as possible. It is also more comfortable for audience members if their chairs (and tables if they are used) are set in a semi-circle facing the podium which will allow attendees to have their backs squarely against the backs of their chairs with their heads pointing straight ahead during the entire program. Try to avoid a large center aisle-this is where the best seats in the house should be. Rather fill the center with seats and create two side aisles. The argument, when there are two side aisles, that a center aisle is a local fire code requirement is usually fallacious as there will obviously be fewer chairs for a person to cross when exiting from either of the side aisles.

Please Note–The Room Sets described here are intended as suggestions only. Speakers vary greatly with respect to their likes and dislikes and it is a good idea to review room sets with speakers in advance. We understand how difficult it can be for meeting planners to set a room to suit a single speaker and, accordingly, we want you to know we will work cheerfully in any room set you are able to arrange.

Also, because most people will fill the back of a room first, try to have only as many chairs as you expect people-with extra chairs stacked in the back of the room. When a room is used for more than one session and expected attendance varies from session to session, room sets can be quickly adjusted for the smaller audiences by running a strip of masking tape over the backs of the chairs so as to eliminate whole sections and force attendees to sit toward the front.

Luncheons/Banquets

Building audience rapport is important for any speaker in any setting but it is especially true at luncheon and dinner events. If the dinner function will include a head table or dais at which dignitaries will be seated, do not ask the speaker to speak from a table lectern or from behind the head table. Rather, try to provide a small riser to the side of the dais which is visible to both the audience and the head table so he or she can speak simultaneously to both. The speaker can still be seated at the head table during the food service, if the meeting professional so wishes.

Room Tips

Here are five Room Set Rules:

1. Eliminate as much space as possible between the speaker and the front row of tables or chairs. A huge gap between the audience and the speaker is “Death Valley” and almost always deadens interaction.
2. Though not always possible, try to use “theater” seating rather than tables. When using “theater” seating, set the chairs in a wide arc rather than straight across so as to avoid putting attendees in a straight shoulder-to-shoulder line.
3. Where tables are required put the tables as close together as possible.  When the audience will be seated at “rounds,” 8-foot round tables work better than do the big 10-footers. But most important, try to have the tables set as close together as possible. Accomplishing this can sometimes require considerable political skill since many banquet staffs understandably want as much space between tables as they can get.
4. Care should be taken in lighting the room. House lights should be up–never lower than medium–though the speaker should be relatively better lit than the audience if possible.
5. Seat your audience members as close together as possible.

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