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Chris' Bio

Speaker Introduction

Audio/Visual Technical Preferences

Chris's only AV requirement is a lapel lavaliere microphone. He must have one because of his high energy speaking style. If no lapel microphone is made available, there will be a $500 surcharge to Chris's speaking fee.

Room Setup

Design a room set up that provides you with the best chance of making the meeting a success. Put yourself in the audience and see things from their perspective. How you set the room can literally make or break your meeting.

Chris asks that you have a table at the back of the room for book and CD sales.

Suggestions for Audience-Friendly Room Set Up

Avoid a center aisle.

The best seats in the house are directly in front of the speaker. Don't waste space with a large empty aisle. The speaker is forced to run stage left, stage right, to address a "divided" audience. Place a row stage center and use two smaller side aisles on either side.

Keep the audience responding as a group.

Keep the front row as close to the stage as is comfortable. Reduce the distance between the speaker and participants in the last row.

If the room is rectangular, set the stage in the center of the long wall.

Cut single-chair access lanes into long rows every sixth chair.

Curve or angle your seating.

Straight rows do not max a room. Curved seating exceeds straight row capacity by 26%.

People will simply interact more when the audience can see each other and interact. People are social animals and are more likely to feel free to enjoy themselves if they see the people next to them in rapt attention, smiling or laughing.

Straight row seating requires additional concentration to absorb the message. (Turning the neck 15 degrees restricts blood flow to the brain, limiting learning. End-row participants must turn their necks 80 degrees or more!)

Stagger the chairs.

Eliminate audiences twisting, bobbing and craning to see around the head in front of them.

Keep Empty Seating to a Minimum.

If you expect 200 people, set the room for 180 not 250.

Rooms tend to fill up from the back. More seats means that people spread out. The room feels empty and the meeting can seem less successful.

Stack extra chairs at the back of the room. Let the room fill up, then bring in spare seats for the late comers. This creates a more exciting atmosphere of the meeting exceeding expectations. Better to have every seat taken than large empty spots throughout the audience.

Have a door host direct participants to take the seats up front. Rope off the back rows until ten minutes into the presentation.

Bring in tables.

If you're having a small meeting or receive less bookings than expected, consider bringing in tables to reduce empty space. If the event is more than a half-day long, tables can also make your audience more comfortable. Arrange chairs so that no one will have their backs turned to the speaker with U-Shaped, or angled classroom-style tables.

Wheelchair Seating

If you know some attendees will be in wheelchairs, you might remove a few chairs at the ends of the rows near the front, to provide space for them to wheel their chairs to the ends of these aisles. This allows for easy entry/exit, and it's a nice change for those often relegated to the back row in an audience. (If they are placed in the front row, it may be difficult for others to see over them.)

Call today and make your next event unforgettable.

To Check Chris' availability call:

713-927-6592