Whether a K-12 school, college campus or performance venue, auditoriums provide a space for audiences to view a performance, instruction, or speech as well as various other types of presentations. And while the audience is obviously important, the speaker or performer as well as backstage crew need to be considered as well to ensure that everyone is happy and that the performance looks professional to viewers.
Presenter or Performer
A speaker or performer should be able to walk on stage and get to work with no stress of worrying about setting anything up. Tools such as confidence monitors, teleprompters, audio stage monitors, speaker timer, wireless microphones, and wireless cue light systems for advancing slides are ideal to ensure a smooth and impactful performance. And just as confidence monitors provide the presenter with a view of exactly what the audience is seeing, discreet audio monitors that face the presenter allow them to hear exactly as the audience hears them so they know if they need to speak louder or softer. Proper lighting is also key to make sure audience members in every seat can clearly view what’s happening onstage and so that if the speaker or performer is being recorded, the resulting video will effectively capture the performance.
Audience
From the closest to the farthest seat in the audience, AV has to be right on to project sound, video and lighting in a manner that provides viewers in every corner of the auditorium with a quality experience. Seating should always be carefully considered to make sure that there is a clear view from every seat without having to strain or sit in an uncomfortable position. Lighting and sound need to be projected in a manner that is not too loud and bright or too quiet and dim in any one area. Video displays need to be positioned correctly, bright enough, large enough and at a high enough resolution for viewers to clearly see.
AV Technician
Skill level is a huge consideration when talking AV tech for auditoriums. Less skilled internal technicians will need less complicated controls while experienced professional technicians will want more intricate control. Comms are also very important during performances to ensure that the technicians can easily communicate with the presenter, stage manager and event organizers.
