Microphone Failure – NOT an option!

Glossophobia: The Fear of Public Speaking
July 7, 2017
NEVER touch the Lectern
July 21, 2017
All events have one thing in common – sound! It’s the common denominator that can make or break an event. Creating great sound is not for the novice however. Knowledge of state-of-the-art systems and experience are the calling cards of an established reliable sound company. Let’s face it, great sound can be the difference between having a successful conference or one that falls flat and fails.

What makes up great sound? It starts with two crucial pieces of equipment – PA speakers and microphones.  If something is going to go wrong, chances are that it’s associated with one of these items. And when they do go wrong, they go terribly wrong.

An example of a classic fail was at a conference I attended a few years back.  The microphone went dead in the middle of the company’s vice president’s speech. It was as if the world had stopped. The AV techs were scrambling to fix it; the audience was uncomfortable; and the presenter most likely felt embarrassed or was angry. They finally got a new microphone out to the speaker but they had lost the momentum of the presentation and the damage was done.

Another example of catastrophic microphone failure is when the Oilers fans “saved the day”. Check out the video “Oilers fans belt out US anthem after mic fails”.  What a great save! It’s very cool how the singer and fans rolled with the mic failure.  But, I can’t help but wonder where the backup mic was and had they done a sound check!  What if a similar mic failure happened at your event or conference? How would your presenter and your audience react? Hopefully they would be champs about it, but why take that risk?

A reliable sound production company knows what to pre-check to ensure your conference or event goes off without a hitch. And their pre-check goes far beyond the most common reasons for a mic to go dead (weak or dead batteries or failing battery terminals contact points). They know that’s just one of many items to pre-check. For instance, would you know to check if the operating frequency at the event location was available? Or what about checking for local interference from other electronic or wireless devices? Or checking to make sure the operating frequency of the wireless receiver matches the frequency of the mic? The list goes on!

Precision planned conferences or events are successful for the presenters and memorable for the audience. Makes your next one memorable with great sound!