It’s conference day, and it’s far from what you had anticipated! Despite all the prior preparation, you and the speakers are grappling with technical glitches, incompatible file formats, and last-minute changes in the presentation.
You can sense the audience’s sighs of disappointment whenever the presentation falters due to audio issues and slides not displaying correctly. The presenters feel it too, struggling to maintain their composure, feeling unprepared and unsupported in the face of mounting challenges.
Sounds like your worst nightmare?
The good news is: these mishaps are normal for big conferences, especially if you don’t have proper arrangements for the event. We’re talking about arranging a speaker-ready room (also called a presenter ready room) for your presenters; a place where they can do last-minute preparations, verify that their slideshow plays as expected and get in the zone before taking the stage.
What is a speaker-ready room?
A speaker-ready room is a dedicated space set up at the event venue to assist speakers prepare for their presentation before going on stage.
It’s equipped with workstations, technology, and support services, so presenters can:
- Rehearse their speeches
- Make last-minute adjustments to their presentations (if allowed by your policies)
- Make sure the audio and video setup is functioning properly
Think of it as a way to help presenters feel confident and prepared, so they can deliver a more engaging experience to the audience.
Components of a speaker-ready room
Generally, a speaker-ready room has a few (or all) of the following amenities:
- Workstations with comfortable furniture for speakers to relax while preparing for their turn.
- Laptop or desktop with presentation software (such as PowerPoint) installed for editing and refining slides.
- Projectors or large displays and audio-visual equipment to review the presentation.
- Direct connection to the main stage via cables or wireless networks to update the presentation files in real time.
- Trained technicians available on-site to assist speakers with any technical issues.
- Monitors or screens to observe a live stream of the event.
- Refreshments to keep presenters hydrated and energized before their speech.
Benefits of speaker-ready rooms
In an ideal world, everything would be perfectly polished and ready before the conference. However, glitches can sometimes happen – especially if you don’t use presentation management tools like Preseria yet.
That’s where speaker-ready rooms become safe havens for presenters. They allow presenters to prepare and hype themselves up to speak in front of a large audience. But they’re also a life-saver for AV professionals who want to avoid last-minute glitches.
At the same time, speaker-ready rooms help presenters stay informed about timing and logistics. If there’s an issue, they can make adjustments to their presentations on the fly.
Overall, think of the speaker-ready room as one of the command centers behind your event.
Recommended speaker-ready room software
Speaker-ready room software facilitates presentation preparation and management in speaker-ready rooms with features to streamline the presentation process and enhance the overall event experience.
Here are our three favorite tools for your speaker-ready room:
1. Preseria
Preseria helps you easily manage and easily gather event content and accommodate any last-minute changes by presenters. It’s a great addition to your speaker-ready room where you can ensure that every presentation runs smoothly.
Here’s how Preseria helps you manage presentations at big events:
- Gather presentation data in advance: Preseria allows you to invite your presenters to upload their content before the event. You can use templates from the email template library to send invitations to upload and set up email reminders to be sent before your event’s upload deadline.
- Automatic error detection: Once files are uploaded to Preseria, it automatically checks them for errors such as broken links to non-embedded videos.
- Sync and play: The Preseria desktop app lets you launch the presentation files in full-screen view onto your projector screen and seamlessly switch between presenters and their content. Presenters can make any last-minute updates to their presentations, either from their own laptop or at a speaker-ready room upload station, which will automatically be synced to the presentation laptops in the session rooms.
2. Speaker Ready Room by IEM
Integrated Event Management’s Speaker Ready Room is designed to coordinate multiple presentations seamlessly. Each speaker is invited to post their presentations to an event-specific location well in advance of an upcoming event.
The files are analyzed for compatibility with the actual hardware and software you’re going to use for your event. If the software encounters any incompatibilities, it notifies the speakers.
IEM also offers other event management services, including:
- Complete graphic production services
- Transfer of a speaker’s presentation to the event template
- Creation of unique event templates
- Reviewing font sizes and the graphic integrity of PowerPoint slides
3. Hermes speaker-ready room software
CadmiumCD’s speaker-ready room software integrates directly with your AV setup, so you can collect and push updated content out to your AV tools in real time.
It also offers an attendee engagement platform that helps you deliver consistent experiences to your attendees and you can share up-to-date presentation slides directly to attendees’ mobile devices.
Cadmium’s additional service offerings include:
- On-site audio recording
- Audio synchronization with presentation slides
- Abstract collection systems
- Speaker data collection
- Review tools
- Poster galleries
- Online itinerary planners
Set your speakers up for a successful presentation
Speaker-ready rooms are crucial if you want your conferences to be successful. By equipping your presenters with resources, support, and technical assistance, you empower them to deliver their best performance on stage.
From rehearsal to real-time monitoring and last-minute adjustments, speaker-ready rooms enhance presenter confidence and ensure seamless presentations, ultimately leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
Make Preseria a part of your speaker-ready room setup and make sure no updates or last-minute changes slip through the cracks in your conference. It will automatically check all the presentation files for compatibility issues and play different file formats seamlessly, without the need to switch between platforms.
Book a demo with Preseria today!