If I use a microphone: What are the special things to consider?
As helpful as technology is today for presentations in large rooms or in front of large audiences, there are many dangers lurking for the careless speaker.
- Do a sound check. Make sure everything is working correctly. Are the batteries in your wireless microphone new? When and where exactly will it be switched on?
- Make sure you have a "plan B". Even the best technology can fail. Knowing that replacements are available in an emergency is immensely reassuring. Take spare batteries with you. If a sound engineer is not available, ask a partner or colleague to have the backup microphone ready for you.
- Wear "microphone-friendly" clothing. Small clip-on microphones are clipped onto the jacket collar, button placket or blouse, and you wear the radio transmitter on your belt. As a woman, keep this in mind when choosing your wardrobe. Silk blouses tend to slip under the weight of the small microphones. The thin cable to the radio transmitter should be hidden under a jacket or blouse in good time, unobserved.
- Know where the "off" switch is. The anecdotes of "live broadcasts" from washrooms are legendary. Nor will you want confidential conversations with your companion to be transmitted to the courtroom.
- Avoid "pop" noises. Never speak directly frontally and too close to your handheld or table microphone. Their breath causes unpleasant disturbing sounds. Hold the microphone a good hand's width away from your mouth and speak lightly over it. This means that the blast of air from your "p's" and "t's" cannot directly hit the sensitive diaphragm of the microphone. If that's a more serious problem, train gentler "p's" by holding your hand in front of your mouth and saying, " P Aulchen P Anther p etch p inke P Pointed to P Ack p a p I." Take your "p's" back until you hardly feel any puffs of air on your skin.
Reading tip: "Secret Seducer Voice. Voice as a success factor. 77 Answers to Unconscious Power in Communication" by Arno Fischbacher, Soft Skills Kompakt, Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn. 3rd edition. Order here on Amazon
Wireless microphones that are not switched off in time sometimes also occupy world politics. The most famous case is probably a "Oops!" by former American President Ronald Reagan. He had jokingly announced war with the Soviet Union, unaware that his microphone was already on the air – which caused a lot of confusion.
The Kleine Zeitung has compiled a small list of similar mishaps: http://www.kleinezeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/2343994/besten-mikrofonpannen-politik-sport.story