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What is RoomToDo

It’s a special software for your computer where you can fast and easily create the design of your house. Making a house design should be easy and joyful and you can make it with RoomToDo. By using this program, you can create the design of your dream in a short time without any professional skills. We thought about everything, that’s why our program has all-powerful instruments, which go with an easy and intuitive interface. Here you can plan your own home remodel online, play around with some furniture arrangement and make all other stuff to make your project better. RoomToDo is also a perfect software for designers. Using it, you can provide your projects for clients or contractors.

What you can make in RoomToDo

In our program you can: 1. Creating 2D plans. Here you’ll find all instruments which you need for creating complex planning projects which include putting a wall at different angles and making walls with uneven thickness. All these things will help you create a professional model and make it easy. 2. Draw your project on the top of your drafting. For making the process easier, you can download your plan and draw the contour of your rooms. This will save your time and when you’ll finish your project will be ready for design in 3D. 3. Doors and windows for everyone. Here you’ll find thousands of different door and window styles. Moreover, in our program, we also have different columns, arches, and other elements. 4. Make experiments with the wall, floor, and ceiling decorating materials. Create your walls? It’s time to decorate them. In RoomToDo you can find different materials for walls, floors, and ceiling. Here you can big variety of wallpaper, laminate, tile, mosaic, wood and stones. 5. Furniture and accessories. When the main part of your project is done, it’s time to play around with some furniture arrangement. In our program, you’ll find hundreds of different furniture models, which you also can customize. You can change sizes, materials, and colors, so it will be only your original style. 6. Different viewing options. In the program, you can change the view type for more comfort. You can use:

  • drafting – for creating your walls;
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  • first-person view – for the presentation of your work.

7. Save your project and share it. You can save as many variants of your project, as you want. You can share it on Facebook using a special link. So if you ready for house remodeling, you can try it absolutely FREE! You’ll pay only if you’ll like it and want to extend facilities by using Pro Version. Use the contact form on our website if you have any questions! Make your house perfect with RoomToDo!

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DESIGN YOUR HOME IN 3D

Plan, design and decorate your home in 3d without any special skills, what is roomtodo, simple and playful interior design software..

Online based software with an intuitive interface and powerful tools. Plan, design and decorate your apartment, house, office, and more. Get professional results without any professional skills. Roomtodo lets you visualize your projects clearly, realistically, and quickly, providing you with powerful tools to design and experiment with your interiors.

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Program features

Draw a 2d plan of the apartment.

Original drawing tools, which are not available in other online programs, allow you to create complex configuration plans, including angled walls and walls of uneven thickness. Look what makes Roomtodo better than other floor planning software.

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Upload your apartment plan, draw the outline of the rooms and your apartment is ready for design in 3D.

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A lot of models of windows, doors, as well as arches, columns, and other structural components.

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Experiment with thousands of wall, floor and ceiling finishes. Use wallpaper, laminate, tiles, mosaics, wood and stones – everything you can think of. 

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Hundreds of various pieces of furniture and decorative objects with the possibility of customization. Resize, combine finishing materials. A large number of combinations are available and the initial version can be changed beyond recognition.

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Different view modes in 3D

Switch between different view modes - Drawings - for building walls - 2D and 3D - for placement of furniture and decoration - First-person view - for walking around the room and evaluating the result

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Save as many versions of the project as you need - without any restrictions. Send a link to the project to your friends or post it on Facebook.

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It was surprisingly accessible. I came into it having not so much experience in interior design and was able to figure it out easily. Simply love it!

James Sherman

PHILADELPHIA SEPTEMBER 12-13 PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS IS ALMOST FULL! RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW

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Proper Conference Room Setup Makes Presenting Much Easier

Proper Conference Room Setup Makes Presenting Much Easier

The downside is true as well. Improper conference room setup can actually make you more nervous and make delivering the presentation more difficult.

This post has two parts. Part one is about The Different Conference Room Styles . In that section, I’ll give you different conference room setup options with pros and cons of each. Then, in Part Two, I’ll give you the Best Practices for How to Set Up a Conference Room and how to set up a meeting room. These best practices will help you avoid some of the big mistakes that presenters make when they set up the tables, chairs, and audiovisual for meetings.

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Part One: The Pros and Cons of Different Conference Room Styles.

The Pros and Cons of Different Conference Room Styles

For instance, when I teach a leadership development class, I sometimes change the room set up at each break. This is helpful, because the purpose of the class is to increase the :comfort zone” of the participants. So, changing the way the chairs are set up or the way the tables are set up makes the participants have to move to a new seat each time.

When I teach the group how to remember names, a u-shaped room is ideal. That way, each person is able to view every other participant in the room. (They aren’t looking at the back of anybody’s head.)

However, when I cover a module on presentation skills, a chevron style classroom setup is better. This style allows the presenter to be the center of attention. It also lets every person in the audience have a great view of both the speaker and the speaker’s visual aids.

Then, in the same class on the afternoon of the first day, we cover meeting skills. In that session, I push two classroom tables together to make bigger meeting tables. And I put six to eight chairs around each table. This allows each table to operate as a separate group.

However, unless you are covering multiple topics in the same presentation, you shouldn’t need to do this, by the way. For example, when I teach a regular two-day public speaking class , I keep the same chevron-style class setting throughout the entire class.

The point is to alter the conference room set up to fit the needs of the audience. And when the needs change, alter the conference room set up as well.

List of Different Conference Room Styles:

  • Theater/Auditorium

Boardroom Style: All the Participants Gather Around a Single Long and Skinny Boardroom Table.

Boardroom Style-All the Participants Gather Around a Single Boardroom Table

One major advantage of the boardroom style is that almost every building has some type of conference room. Another is that the table is already set up in the room. Finally, this style is ideal if you want the participants to communicate with each other (from a seated position.) Everyone in the room can see each other face-to-face.

The major disadvantage, though is that the audio and visual components are often built into the room. So you lose a lot of flexibility with this room style. Also, when people design boardrooms, they often make the screen or display the center of attention. As a result, the presenter will often have to deliver the presentation from either side of the screen.

The other major disadvantage of this style is that if you have more than 12 people, the style doesn’t work very well. The room is too crowded and people have a hard time moving around to go to the restroom or get a coffee refill.

Still though, for a small group, a boardroom is often the best option.

U-Shaped Style: Tables Are Set in a Square Shape with One End Opened for the Presenter.

U-Shaped Conference Setup Style

This room setup is also very easy. All you need is a minimum of three tables to set it up. The major advantage of the U-Shaped style is that the entire group can still see everyone in the room face-to-face. So, this setup is ideal for team meeting where you want the audience to communicate with each other and share ideas.

Just like with the boardroom style, though, the major disadvantage is the group size. As the group gets larger, you lose the major advantages. So, if you have 14 or 16 people, you get the same advantages of the boardroom even though the group is a little larger. However, at 18, 20, or 22 people, you begin to lose this advantage. It will be difficult and impractical to get all 22 people to participate in a discussion.

So, since you lose this value, as the group gets bigger, you may want to switch to a classroom setup.

Just as an FYI, there is an alternative style called the “open square” style. It is the same as U-Shaped, but the open end is closed off. Between you and I, I have never really found any value in this style. You lose a lot of the advantages of the U-Shaped style without adding ANY advantages.

Theater Style or Auditorium Style: Chairs Set Side-by-Side as in a Movie Theater.

Theater Style or Auditorium Style Room Setup

The major advantage of the theater style is that you can comfortable seat a large number of people. The entire room will be able see and hear the main speaker (or speakers.) So, if you are organizing an annual meeting for hundreds (or thousands) of people, you might use this style for an opening introduction. Or, if you invite a keynote speaker or comedian to speak, this room style works well.

However, this style has a huge disadvantage. The audience has no place to write or take notes. So, if your audience has handouts or printed content, avoid this conference room style. (Use the classroom style instead.) The other major disadvantage of this room setup is that it will be very difficult to get the audience to interact each other or the speaker. So when organizing a big meeting, this conference style doesn’t have as many uses as other styles.

Classroom Style: A Series of Six foot by One Foot Tables Set Up in Rows.

Classroom Style Room Setup

The advantages are that you can comfortably fit more people using this style and everyone in the room can see the presenter. Also, every audience member has his or her own space. And no one has to sit with their back to the stage. Another huge advantage is that the speaker has more control and authority in the room. It is easier to get and keep the attention of the audience.

The only real disadvantage to this style is that you’ll have difficulty getting groups to interact in teams. If you want to create small groups to discuss items from the meeting, you may need to get a row to turn around. When you do this, you’d need to leave the stage to give instructions.

Still though, this is the conference room style that I use most often when I set up meeting rooms.

Banquet Style: Six to Ten People Gather Around Big Round Tables.

Banquet Style is a Hybrid Between Classroom and Boardroom

Each audience member styles gets adequate space. They also get to see the people at their table face-to-face as with the boardroom style. So, this conference room style is kind of a hybrid between classroom style and boardroom style.

A major disadvantage, though, is that this style takes up a lot of space. So, it is more expensive if you are renting space from a hotel or convention center. The other major disadvantage is that some people at the table with have limited view of the stage. They often have to turn their chairs when speakers are talking. So, they lose the advantage of having the personal space.

Still, though, this style has works well if you want a big group of people to interact with each other. It allows you to have tables discuss items with each other and brainstorm solutions to challenges.

Part Two: Best Practices for Proper Conference Room Set Up for Presentations (How to Set Up a Meeting Room.)

Setting Up the Room Wrong Can Make You a More Boring Speaker!

For instance, if you cram 20 people into a boardroom, they will be uncomfortable. You may be presenting well, but the facial expressions from the audience may be less-than-cordial. If multiple people in the room are giving you negative facial expressions, you might begin to feel a little more self-conscious.

Basically, the way you set up the conference room can either make presenting easier or make it harder. Improper room setup can cause challenges that you just don’t want or need when you present.

Below are some of my favorite ways to set up a conference room for a presentation. These are the “best practices” that I have discovered over 20 years of presenting.

1) Present from the Short-Side of the Conference Room.

Present from the Short-Side of the Conference Room

In the podcast that I did about eye-contact, I gave an example of how this can cause challenges. The analogy that I used there was to think about sitting in a movie theater with only three rows of seats. If you happen to be on either end, your view isn’t great. If you are the speaker, it is even worse. It is difficult for you to keep eye contact with the people on either side of the room.

To fix this, just present from the “short” side of the room. If you are presenting in a rectangular room, you will have two short walls and two long walls. Present from the short wall that is farthest away from the main door to the room.

By the way, a good A/V person can make presenting on the long-side of the room better. They will often set up big screens on both sides of the stage. This allows the audience to be closer to the speaker and still see the visual aids. Still though, this is just fixing a symptom caused by another problem.

2) Make Yourself the Center of Attention, Not the Visual Aid.

Make Yourself the Center of Attention Not the Visual Aid

When presenters violate this room setup tip, it can cause some major problems with delivery. For instance, the speaker will often move to the side of the room and look at the visual aid screen as he or she speaks. Obviously, the audience will look at the screen as well. Now that the visual aid is the center of attention, the speaker will often move behind the audience to continue to speak. Instead of being an interesting dialogue between the speaker and the audience, the presentation will become a monologue.

This room setup for a presentation can lead to the click… talk… click… talk method of delivery. (This is really boring.) So, move your screen to the side.

3) Get Rid of the Lectern.

Get Rid of the Lectern

If you feel like you need to have notes to deliver your presentation, make sure to read How to Memorize Your Speech . This post gives a number of tips that will allow you to deliver your entire presentation without notes.

Just so you know, standing behind a lectern is a technique that presenters sometimes use to feel more comfortable. In reality, though, it often makes people more nervous. Any time we feel threatened, we want to put something between us and the potential threat. In martial arts, students are taught to put their hands (fists) between themselves and the threat. For presenters, we put a lectern between us and the threat. A good example of how the demeanor of a presentation changes with a lectern is political debates. Candidates who feel like they have an advantage connecting with voters on a personal level always favor “town hall” style debates. (Just as an FYI, audiences do too.)

4) Place Whiteboard or Flipchart to the Proper Side When You Set Up Your Room for a Presentation.

Place Whiteboard or Flipchart to the Proper Side When You Set Up Your Room

If I forget and place the board on the wrong side of the room, I will have to cross in front of the board and stand on the opposite side to write. I makes for an awkward transition in the speech.

Also, since I’m left-handed, I pay attention to moving the whiteboard for each presenter. Just before I introduce the next speaker, I will move the stand over for a right-handed person. Obviously, if you are the meeting leader and every speaker is right-handed, this is much easier. But you’ll be surprised at how many speakers are left-handed. So, pay attention.

5) Chevron Style Room Set Up Is My Favorite Conference Room Setup Style.

Chevron Style Room Set Up Is My Favorite Conference Room Setup Style

Basically, you set up your room classroom style. This is rows of six-foot tables straight across. However, put an isle in the middle of the room that is maybe six-foot or so wide. Then, move the edge of the table that is on the isle back about three feet, so that the tables now angle toward the front-center of the room. Instead of the rows being straight across, now, they will be slightly “V” shaped.

When you set up your room for a presentation this way, you are creating a stage to present from. Basically, you can now walk into your isle to be closer to the audience. However, when you do, the folks on the front row don’t have to crank their necks to follow you. They will be looking directly at you.

Best Practices for Room Set Up for a Presentation in a Boardroom

If you are presenting in a boardroom, many of the tips still work. You still want to present from the short-side of the room. If the room has a dropdown screen that is in the center of the room or on the long-side of the room, you can always just project onto a whiteboard. (I do this a lot when I use boardrooms.) It allows me to be able to write on my slides as well, so it is really helpful.

The biggest suggestion I can make about presenting in a boardroom is to stand up when you speak. If everyone is seated in the boardroom (including you) when you start your presentation, just stand up to call attention to your visual aid. (Then don’t ever sit back down.)

Never, ever, ever sit on one side of a boardroom table and use visual aids on the opposite side of the table. This is the HUGE mistake that amateur presenters make that will cause your presentation to be so boring, you will put your audience to sleep. Avoid it at all costs. Stand up and use your visual aid to add to your verbal presentation — not replace it.

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How to Optimize Room Setup for Training and Presentations

If your audience seating arrangement and overall room setup isn’t aligned with the design of your session, you are starting from a position of weakness.

In this article, we describe the core principles that factor into your room setup choices. We then offer an in-depth view of several popular options, and point out the advantages and disadvantages of each. Finally, we end with tips you can use to optimize the room for your audience and set yourself up for success.

Core Principles for Choosing a Seating Setup

Before we dig into the many seating styles available, let’s first review the high-level audience-centric principles which will guide your choices.

  • Comfort  — Are audience members able to participate fully while facing forward? Or do they need to constantly twist around? Is there enough room for them to get to their seat easily? Will they be bumping into one another constantly? If they are comfortable, they can focus on listening to you.
  • Sight lines — Can audience members see the presenter? The slides? Each other? Clear sight lines allow your audience to absorb the visual component of your message, whether it be slides, body language, or anything else.
  • Utility  — Is a surface provided for using a laptop, taking notes, practice exercises, eating, or drinking? You want your audience members to be active learners, so give them space to do it.
  • Proximity  — Are audience members relatively close to the screen, the presenter, and each other? Or is it sparse seating? Too far apart drains energy from the room, but too close can be uncomfortable.
  • Compatibility — Is the layout of the room and the seating arrangement optimal for the style of presentation/training being offered? Does it support slide content? Large-group discussions? Small-group exercises?

These five principles will be our focus as we tour many popular seating styles available for your room.

Theater Style Seating Setup

Theater style seating is a series of chairs arranged in parallel rows, all facing forward to the front of the room. No tables are provided. Most large lecture theaters and movie theaters are arranged this way.

  • Allows high-density seating; that is, for a given room size, theater style seating maximizes the potential audience size.
  • Because audience members are close to each other and the speaker, this arrangement tends to maximize the energy in the room.

Disadvantages

  • No surface on which to place laptops, writing pads, food, or any other items.
  • Poor sight lines for people sitting near the front corners and, in very large rooms, people sitting toward the back and along the sides.
  • Angle of seats may require some audience members to “twist” their body to face the speaker or screen.
  • May be cumbersome to get to seats, depending on locations of walking aisles.
  • Less overall comfort (i.e. hot, stuffy) due to high density.
  • Audience members have essentially zero eye contact with each other, making discussions inconvenient and unlikely.

Best for…

  • Presentations for large audiences where the information flow is one-way (from speaker to audience) and there is no requirement for taking notes or using laptops.

Classroom Style Seating Setup

Classroom style seating is a series of tables (or desks) and chairs arranged in parallel rows, all facing toward the front of the room.

  • Tables (or desks) provide space for laptops, note-taking, and food.
  • Highest density of any seating arrangement involving tables or desks.
  • Poor sight lines for people sitting near the front corners.
  • Angle of seats and tables requires some audience members to twist their body to face the speaker or screen.
  • Training sessions where most audience members are taking notes or using laptops, and where most of the information flows from the speaker to the audience.

Boardroom Style Seating Setup

Boardroom style seating is a single large table (or several smaller tables butting up against one another) surrounded by chairs on both sides. The most common shape is rectangular (as shown in the diagram), but variations include both circular or square tables.

  • Lots of eye contact between audience members promotes discussion.
  • Tables allow for laptops, note-taking, and food.
  • Terrible sight lines to view slides for many audience members, particularly those at the “far end”.
  • Even worse sight lines from audience members to see the presenter, who must either stand to the side (not good) or sit (worse).
  • Multi-tasking (e.g. using a laptop while viewing slides or the presenter) requires lots of body twisting.
  • Depending on length (and shape) of table(s), audience members at the extreme ends can feel isolated. Tables which are circular or square can mitigate this.
  • Small groups focused on discussion and making decisions where there’s no primary presenter and little reliance on slides.

U-Shaped Style Seating Setup

U-shaped style seating is a series of tables forming three sides of a square or rectangle, with seating arranged around the outside. In this arrangement, all seats face the middle of the “U” shape.

  • Clear sight lines (both audience-to-presenter and audience-to-audience) fosters large group discussions.
  • Presenter can walk into open space within the “U”; this creates a unique dynamic because they are “immersed” within the audience.
  • Tends to lead to very low density seating, and thus requires a larger room for the same size audience.
  • Audience members at the “bottom” of the “U” are seated a large distance from screen, leading to several bad results: [a] readability of slides or flip charts is reduced, [b] participants are more easily distracted, and [c] participants are more likely to lose focus.
  • Audience members in the “corners” can feel relatively isolated.
  • Training sessions which are designed to emphasize large group interactions, with less emphasis on slide content.

Banquet Style Seating Setup

Banquet style seating is when a number of tables are scattered throughout the room, with seating arranged entirely around each table. Tables are often circular, but can be other shapes as well.

  • Tables create focal points which promote small-group discussions.
  • Small group settings create feelings of inclusiveness, and counteract the isolated feeling or anonymity that individual participants may feel within a large group.
  • Many people are naturally facing away from screen, and must turn away from table to see slides or presenter.
  • Tables can promote side chatter among groups unrelated to event goals.
  • Table space can be limited, depending how many people are seated at each table. (i.e. there is less individual space compared to classroom, boardroom, or U-shaped style seating)
  • Moving to/from seats can be cumbersome, depending on overall room size and walking aisles.
  • Training sessions which are designed to emphasize small-group exercises, with less emphasis on slide content.

Cabaret Style Seating Setup

Cabaret style seating is when a number of tables are scattered throughout the room, with seating arranged only partly around each table. This avoids anyone sitting with their back to the front of the room where the speaker or screen are located.

  • Most people are facing screen and presenter with limited twisting.
  • Lower density compared with Banquet style seating. More tables and a larger room are required for the same number of people.
  • Training sessions which are designed to emphasize a balance between small-group exercises and slide content.

Chevron Style Seating Setup

Chevron style seating (or V-shaped seating) is when tables are arranged in a series of angular patterns relative to one another, with seating on one side so that every chair is oriented optimally to face the screen or speaker. In narrow rooms, tables might be arranged in true “V”-shapes (as shown in the diagram); in wider rooms, tables might be arranged with a central “wing” connecting the two ends of the “V”, like this: \_/ .

  • Everyone faces the screen and presenter, so nobody has to twist their chair. Note-taking or using a laptop is thus comfortable for everyone.
  • Many audience members are now able to make full or partial eye contact with each other, promoting group discussion.
  • Relatively high density (similar to Classroom seating).
  • Individual tables support small-group exercises.
  • While some large group discussion is supported, it isn’t ideal because some people are still looking at the backs of other people’s heads.
  • Training sessions which are designed to emphasize slide content, but also want to incorporate some small-group exercises and some large-group discussion.

What is the Best Seating Arrangement?

It depends! There’s no single seating arrangement that works best for all speakers and all settings. I have had productive sessions (both as the speaker and as an audience member) in all of the above arrangements, and I’ve also been in many rooms which were not set up properly to support the goals of the session.

A trainer who trained me several times usually adopts U-shaped style seating, because her courses rely heavily on large-group discussion, and she feels very comfortable sitting in the middle of the “U”.

On the other hand, I generally prefer chevron style seating for the courses that I teach, because I feel it offers the best blend of comfort and flexibility to support the slide content, large-group discussions, and small-group exercises which I design into my courses.

Tips for Optimizing the Room for Your Audience

Regardless of the seating arrangement that you choose for your event, be thoughtful and action-oriented when it comes to setting up your room for success. Every style above can be modified and enhanced to further support your goals.

  • Be proactive. Plan for success. The overall success of the presentation or training session reflects on you. Ask questions about what is possible. Think about the seating arrangement that will best support your format, and make it happen.
  • Show up early and roll up your sleeves. If the room isn’t set up as you requested (and if the furniture isn’t all bolted to the floor), then go ahead and move it. Several times, I’ve asked for chevron-style seating with tables, and discovered that the tables were stacked at the back of the room. Moving them was a small effort to invest in the success of the training session.
  • Pull the seats forward. When your audience is unnecessarily far away from you, it’s harder for them to hear you, harder for them to read your slides, and harder for you to connect with them. I have routinely moved all of the seats forward to improve this situation.
  • Eliminate unnecessary seats. Suppose you know that your audience is going to be 30 people, but the room is set up with 6 rows of 10 chairs each (=60 seats total). Most people tend to choose a seat toward the back. The result is that most of your audience will sit in the back half of the room. This reduces the overall energy in the group, and makes it harder for them to hear you and see you (and your slides). You have several options: [a] push the chairs/tables all the way back so they aren’t an option, [b] tip the chairs on the back rows forward to indicate they are blocked, or [c] “tape” them off.
  • Identify and solve sight line problems. Check the seats in the corners to make sure that someone sitting there can see [a] the screen, [b] you (even as you move around) and [c] any other equipment you’ll be using (e.g. flip charts, white boards, etc.). I recently delivered a training session in a long, narrow room which could only be set up in Boardroom style. The consequence was that most participants would not be able to see both the screen and the flip chart if I left them side by side. So, I decided to pull the flip chart to a central location when I needed it, and then push it away again to support focusing on slides.
  • Plan your movement with room constraints in mind. Remember that your body will block sight lines too. Map out where you can stand to avoid blocking your audience’s view of the screen, whiteboard, or flip chart.
  • Design your slides with room constraints in mind. If you know that the room will be set up in such a way that everyone past the front row can’t see the bottom 10% of your slides (which is the case in many rooms), then don’t place any useful information there.

Which seating arrangements do you prefer?

As a speaker or trainer, which seating style helps you achieve your goals?

As an audience member, which seating style is most conducive to your goals?

Have you ever been in a room which was set up in a way that contradicted the goals of the session?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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Yes – just yes! It always amazes me how many presenters just accept the room as it is when they walk in.

I’ve been known to turn the entire room around to get what I wanted. (Mind you, my team weren’t all that impressed by how hard they had to work 😉 )

Thanks, Simon. Good to hear that others are being proactive with the room setup too.

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Pro Presentation Tips: 7 Secrets to Winning the Room

presentation my room

You've done the work, you've put in your time, you know your stuff—but before you open your mouth to give the presentation you’ve prepared so intently, you've been judged.

It's human nature: Our brains are wired to take in all available information and draw instant conclusions. Which means that everything you do—how you walk into a room, carry yourself, and use gestures—makes an impression that has nothing to do with what you actually know .

So, how do you make sure your actions aren’t a liability—and that you send the right signals that show you know what you’re doing? In our work with hundreds of speakers and our research for Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential ,   we’ve seen that the key to earning the admiration of those around you is balancing strength and warmth.

Here are our seven tips for winning a room by sending the right signals with your nonverbal and verbal cues.

1. Make Yourself Big

The first key to success in a high-stakes situation is to boost your confidence. Try this: Make yourself as big as possible for a minute or two beforehand, with your arms raised high as though you just won the lottery. Take up space! You're huge! Or, try the hands-on-hips superhero stance . It sounds silly—but it works. Your mind will listen to your body's signal, resulting in a hormonal reaction that will increase your comfort level and decrease your fight-or-flight response to the stress.

2. Be Happy to Be There

The best way to project warmth is to feel grateful that you're with the people around you. So, instead of being nervous when you walk into a room, remember that you want to be there. After all, no matter what you’re talking about or who you’re presenting to, it’s likely an honor that you’re being asked to speak.

Then, try to relax and smile. Forcing a smile, even if you don't feel it, has the effect of upping your mood, which in turn makes the smile more natural. Before you know it you actually will be glad to be there. Then the smile will take care of itself.

3. Own the Space

Moving around a room with a sense of destination and purpose as you speak demonstrates confidence and ease. But, there’s a difference between using space comfortably and pacing like a caged animal. Try moving deliberately to a specific spot in the room, making a point or two to the people seated there, and then heading toward a new destination.

Practically, it's helpful to know what kind of space you’ll be presenting in beforehand—if you're at a podium or in a boardroom, free-range movement may not work. (When you have a choice between a fixed mic on a podium and a lapel mic, take the lapel mic and get away from the podium.) Either way, it's more about commanding the room and knowing that the whole thing is your stage.

4. Watch Your Tilt

Lots of people go through life with their heads slightly tilted. This can be very warm if you're listening attentively, flirting, or playing with a puppy, but it comes directly at the expense of strength when you’re trying to command a room.

In most cases, simply being aware of this is enough to self-correct. When you're in front of a mirror, practice tilting your head and then bringing it back to center. Focus on remembering what it feels like in your muscles when you're perfectly straight. When you mean business, this is where you want your head to be.

5. Have a Ball!

Yes, sure, have fun, but we mean an actual ball. Gesturing like you’re holding a ball helps you look natural and poised, providing a balance of warmth and strength.

Start by holding an imaginary volleyball with both hands between your waist and hips. Curl your fingers and hold it with your fingertips. Depending on the point you're making, the ball can grow to a beach ball or shrink to a marble between your thumb and index finger. Practice this in front of a mirror to see how it looks, and then try it in everyday conversation. You will quickly find that it will feel natural—and have the added bonus of giving you something to do with your hands besides pick at your clothes.

6. Keep Your Hands in Hand

On that note, you probably already know that fidgeting detracts from your overall message, but certain gestures can really hurt warmth and trustworthiness—leaning away, crossing your arms, rubbing or grasping your hands together, and touching your neck, face, or stomach, for example. To varying degrees, these demonstrate anxiety, self-protection, and avoidance.

Practice makes perfect, so try recording yourself speaking. It can be uncomfortable to watch yourself, but there is no better way to identify bad habits and begin to break them. And once you’re on stage, keep your hands away from your body. If your neck itches while you're in front of a room, don't scratch it. Wear your hair so you won't have to push it out of your eyes.

7. Trust Your Expertise

Finally, remember that you are the center of attention for a reason: You know something that other people don't, and you have been asked to share it. Don't undermine your credibility with qualifiers like "I think," "I believe," or "I feel" unless you are actually talking about thoughts, beliefs, or feelings.

If someone asks about a topic outside your subject area, it's fine to acknowledge that and offer a quick caveat (a phrase that's often useful is "I haven't looked at that specifically, but what I do know is
"). But when you do know your stuff, don't sell yourself short with language that suggests that you're not quite sure about what you're saying.

Finally, remember that speaking in public is a performance. It is not exactly athletic, but it takes energy. You are “on” the whole time you are at the front of the room, and your energy level will set the dynamic with the audience. Remember, you are giving a presentation—so give your energy to the audience, and they will repay you with their attention.

Photo courtesy of iStock / Thinkstock.

presentation my room

The Throughline Blog

Practical Media Training and Public Speaking Tips

Speaking Environment Part 1: The Room, Setup, and Other Considerations

Speaking environment

Photo credit: Matthew Osborn/Unsplash.com

As a presenter, it’s crucial that you give your speaking environment the same kind of attention you give to the content of your talk . Presentation logistics – including the room, the seating layout, the temperature, your audio and video tools, and more – play a critical role in the success of your presentation.

In most cases, you’ll have at least some influence over those considerations, and you should exert it to ensure the audience is as comfortable and receptive to your ideas as possible.

This post begins a four-part series that focuses on how to best prepare for and approach your speaking environment – from the room setup to your timing, as well as other considerations – so that your presentation is heard and experienced exactly as you intended.

We begin with some space-related elements that can affect the way your audience experiences your talk.

4 Ways to Improve Your Speaking Environment

1. choose the right room.

I once saw a band play at New York City’s 21,000-seat Madison Square Garden. The group was past their peak popularity and, unfortunately for them, they performed in an arena that was more than half empty. It was sad to see the one-time radio staple reduced to playing for thousands of empty plastic chairs.

Imagine if they had booked a smaller venue instead? The concert hall would have been sold out, the audience would have felt electrified, and the fans would have left feeling good that their favorite musicians could still pack a room.

That example highlights the decisive factor when selecting a room – you want one that places people as closely together as possible , but with just enough space between each person to ensure their comfort. (We look forward to being able to do that again post-pandemic!) It’s difficult to build an intimate rapport in a vast room with hundreds of square feet of unused space. (If you don’t have any say regarding the room selection, you may be able to influence the seating arrangement, which can help. We’ll say more about that in the next post.)

speaking environment

2. Be Wary of Environmental Factors

You’re probably familiar with the dreaded “war of the thermostat.” You like it cold; your co-worker likes it warm. You crank the heater in the autumn; your roommate throws open the windows to bring in crisp outside air.

While you may not be able to create the ideal room temperature for everyone, your goal is to create a space as conducive to the audience’s ability to receive your message as possible. High temperatures can negatively impact people’s moods, even triggering anger and hostile thoughts . Low temperatures, which multiple studies find are more uncomfortable for women than men, can come at the cost of productivity.

Rooms set to between 71- and 76-degrees Fahrenheit (about 22- to 24-degrees Celsius) are usually right on the money.

3. Head off Distractions

I once gave a talk in a hotel conference room. One room over, the guests were being led in a drum circle (long story). With only a thin wall separating us, it was virtually impossible to stick to my original plan – so we called for a break, migrated into the hallway, and finished our session there.

Hopefully, you won’t face such a massive distraction. But anticipating what could go wrong allows you to help mitigate risks, as the examples below demonstrate:

  • If loud sounds such as construction work or hallway music pose a threat to audience attention, ask the building manager or hotel staff to help halt the noises.
  • If the room in which you’re speaking has a beverage station, ask the catering manager not to refresh or clean it during your talk (I’ve had audiences distracted by banging glasses and poured ice).
  • If you’re speaking in a room that has large glass walls or windows, stand on the opposite side so audience attention remains on you, not the passersby on the other side of the pane.

Finally, avoid standing near the exit or entryway. It’s like being near the kitchen or bathroom in a restaurant. Every time someone arrives late or leaves to take a break, you must reengage your audience’s attention.

4. Adjust the Lighting

In general, avoid putting the audience in the dark or semi-darkness. Doing so makes it easy for them to zone out and makes it difficult for you to encourage interaction or elicit questions.

The lighting should allow the audience to see you clearly and, if appropriate for your event, have enough illumination to take notes or read handouts. If you’re displaying visuals, test your slides before the audience arrives to make sure the lighting isn’t washing out the screen. If necessary, dim the lights near the screen to create a sharper image.

Finally, technology allows most presentations to be displayed without the need for a projector. But if you do need one, ask that it be placed toward the front of the room. If it is too far back, you run the risk of being awash in light, blocking the screen, and having light beaming into your eyes.

Woman speaking before slides

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Presentation Preparation is Key

You may have a greater influence in the way your public speaking environment is organized if you think about the setup you want to create as far in advance as possible.

Questions that will influence your decisions about such elements as seating arrangements, equipment, and timing include:

  • What’s the audience size?
  • Is this a short presentation or an hours-long training?
  • Are you providing a one-way flow of information or seeking regular participation and feedback?
  • Are you a keynote speaker, presenting to a small group, or moderating a discussion?
  • Do you want audience members to interact with one another?
  • Are you doing small-group exercises or breakout sessions?
  • Do you plan on using slides or other visuals?
  • Will your audience need or want to take notes?
  • Do they have space to comfortably rest their notepads, laptops, refreshments, etc.?

We’ll go into more depth on your answers to those preparation questions during this four-part series. But, for now, here are a few high-level pointers:

presentation my room

  • Arrive early on the day of your talk. Doing so gives you time to organize and prepare (and if necessary, clean) the room before you speak. You’ll often find me kneeling on the floor to tape down wires, clearing a conference room table of unnecessary wires, and moving chairs closer to the front of the room.
  • Coordinate with the audiovisual technician. A/V pros, if available to you on site, are crucial allies in getting your presentation up and running. However, their go-to best practices may not match your best practices for your specific talk. You are the person in the front of the room. Consider their ideas – they’re often right – but don’t automatically yield to their expertise.

Ultimately, audience members won’t notice when the setup is just right. They’re unlikely to comment on the crisp sound of a new microphone, for example – but you’ll hear about it if your words are incomprehensible due to reverberating echoes bouncing off the walls of a cavernous ballroom.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this series:

Part Two: Presentation Timing

Part Three: Microphones and Other Tech Considerations

Part Four: The Seating Arrangement

  • presentation logistics
  • presentation skills training
  • public speaking tips
  • speaking environment

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Planning Pod Blog

Fresh insights and best practices for event professionals.

Event setup and layout best practices from Planning Pod

Event Layouts and Room Setups – A Comprehensive Guide

by Jeff Kear | Nov 20, 2019 | Uncategorized

Say you are preparing for a meeting, or a conference, or a class, or a banquet, or a wedding, and you want to optimize the venue or space you are using so that the seating and tables are set up for the best attendee experience.

What type of layout or setup would you choose?

To be honest, determining the best event layouts or event setups isn’t rocket science, as there are basically 10-15 basic event layout designs that you can choose from that will fit the bill for 99% of the events that are produced (and we will discuss these in depth in this article).

However, you do need to consider a few key criteria so that you can more easily identify which of these standard event room setups will best apply to each of your events.

3 Key Criteria When Determining the Optimal Event Setup

Align the setup with your objectives and activities.

Every event has a unique set of objectives when it comes to what you are trying to accomplish. For example, conferences and meetings usually focus on networking and professional development. Galas, banquets and weddings focus on dining and guest interactions. Classes and seminars focus on education. And concerts and plays focus on the performances themselves.

Whatever the type of event, you should first identify the objectives you have for your attendees and the activities that they will be participating in, which can include:

  • Catered food service like sit-down plated meals or buffet dining
  • Cocktail receptions and happy hours
  • Keynote speakers or panel sessions
  • Lounges or quiet areas
  • Musical performances or DJs
  • Open networking
  • Team building or breakout groups
  • Video presentations or movie screenings

Once you have decided on your event objectives and activities, you should consider what the intended attendee experience should be like and, in turn, how that will be expressed through your event setup. Do you want an open, airy feeling about your event? Do you want attendees to walk through your event in a specific route or follow a sequence of steps (seeing A then B then C)? Do you want your event setup to be more modular where certain areas are devoted to certain activities? These are the things to ask yourself upfront to optimize your attendee engagement before you move forward with deciding on the proper event space design.

Event setup designs from Planning Pod

Maximize use of space

Every event planner and professional wants to get the most value out of the event venue rooms and spaces they rent, and as such your event room setup should also make the most of every square foot with regard to your overall event objectives.

In addition, general managers, catering managers and group/event sales managers at restaurants, hotels, banquet halls and other event centers also want to optimize their space usage in order to maximize how many events they can book over a given time period.

The first step in doing this is to consider what kind of and how many chairs and tables you will require as well as other items like stages, podiums, dance floors, food and drink stations, buffet setups, tents, audio visual elements (microphones, loudspeakers, video screens, etc.) and band/DJ setups. Hint: Knowing your estimated headcount is of critical importance at this stage.

Also, the seating arrangements and seat positionings that best align with your event objectives should also be a major factor when looking at your desired event layout diagram. So if a primary event activity includes a keynote speaker or performer, then your seats need to be directed toward the front of the event. However, if your focus is more on networking or brainstorming, your event seating chart should facilitate attendee interactions (say with guests seated at tables or in small groups facing each other).

Look here for more best practices for event layout and design .

Consider the needs of your team, clients, vendors and setup crew

We have said before on this blog that events don’t plan themselves, and this certainly applies when identifying the ideal event setup.

As such, it’s always a good practice at this stage to consult and collaborate with other stakeholders and key decision makers for your event, which can include your staff, clients, contractors, A/V personnel, volunteers and setup team. These people should be on board with your decisions regarding the event setup and be able to easily visualize the layout and the flow of the event.

To assist this collaborative process, you would be wise to develop an event floor plan diagram ahead of time that reflects the type of setup you have selected. These event diagrams should ideally be to-scale and include all elements (tables, chairs, furniture, etc.) that you are considering. There are several cloud-based event layout software tools available that can automate the process of creating these event space designs and ensure you are using the proper dimensions for your diagrams. (And here is a list of the top event design tools on the market.)

With all this said, here are the most popular event setups used by event professionals and planners.

Top 10 Event Layouts for Seating and Table Plans

Banquet setup.

Ideal for: dinners, luncheons, banquets, galas, fundraisers, weddings, presentations, entertainment, workshops, award or recognition ceremonies

This event setup is one of the most heavily relied on primarily because it maximizes your space for seated dining at catered events, whether they be a plated meals or buffet-style dinners.

Traditional Banquet w/ Round Tables

presentation my room

The traditional banquet seating layout has chairs placed all around the circumference of round tables (5’ or 6’ in diameter) to maximize space usage. However, this would require some guests with their back to the stage/podium/presenter to turn their chairs around after the meal is completed.

Wedding setups and reception room setups often follow this round banquet style, but you will also find business events and fundraising galas use this setup because it works great for both dining and presentation or entertainment activities.

Alternative: Cabaret

The cabaret room setup – also called crescent rounds setup – differs from the round table banquet layout by placing chairs in a semicircle around the half of the table facing the stage/podium/presenter. Although this doubles the number of tables you will need, it ensures that all guests can easily view the front of the event without having to turn their chairs. As such, it makes for a great wedding table setup or meeting table setup.

Family-Style Banquet w/ Rectangular Tables

presentation my room

A variation of this entails substituting round tables for long banquet tables (8’ x 2.5’ or 6’ x 2.5’ tables), lining these tables up end-to-end and placing chairs along the long sides. This is often called family-style banquet seating and encourages more interaction among guests.

Cocktail Setup

Ideal for: pre-event cocktail hours, social events, networking, tastings, heavy-appetizer events

presentation my room

If your event is shorter in duration, has minimal presentations or entertainment planned, or is intended to encourage attendee interaction, the cocktail event setup may be a good choice.

This is a very flexible event room setup that maximizes how many people can comfortably fit into your space, and it often includes high-top tables with stools, buffet setups for pre-made cocktails and appetizers, drink stations and seating on the periphery.

Lounge Setup

Ideal for: more relaxed networking, social events, networking, relaxation or break areas, cocktail hours, tastings

presentation my room

If you want attendees to really let down their hair and relax, a lounge setup is a great option for encouraging guests to get comfortable for an hour or two and engage in informal conversations over cocktails or coffee.

Great as a stand-alone event setup for networking events or cocktail hours, the lounge setup also functions well as a secondary area within your event space to allow guests to take a break from your primary activities, especially if those activities involve longer periods of sitting, active listening or learning.

Classroom Setup

Ideal for: classes or courses, seminars, workshops, training, smaller conferences or meetings, presentations, events with computer usage or note-taking

presentation my room

The classroom style room setup is one of the more popular meeting room setups because it allows seated attendees to face the front; gives them tables on which to take notes or use computers; and lets attendees interact in small groups with tablemates.

As such, it is a favored layout among hotels and corporate event centers for setting up for small conferences, seminars, training and test-taking, and it is also probably the most popular workshop room setup for educators as well as a frequently used lecture style room setup.

Alternative: Classroom Chevron

presentation my room

The chevron meeting room setup differs from the classroom style only in the fact that the tables are slanted slightly so attendees are more focused on a central point at the front of the room. This makes the space a bit more intimate and allows attendees to more easily see one another.

Breakout Setup

Ideal for: small group activity, speed networking or dating, classes, team building, brainstorming, training, workshops

presentation my room

For starters, this event setup goes by lots of names, including breakout, cluster or pod style setup. However, the idea and intent for each are the same: to space out tables or pods throughout your event space so small groups or teams can sit or cluster around the tables and collaborate, brainstorm and share ideas freely.

The type of seating and table plan you choose for this layout type really depends on how active or focused you want your participants to be. For instance, if you want attendees to rotate tables or change out group members frequently, you may want to opt for high-top tables with stools or even no seating to facilitate lots of movement.

Conversely, if you want attendees to stay with the same group and be able to focus intently for a longer period of time, small square tables or round tables with chairs may be a better option.

Runway Setup

Ideal for: fashion shows, speaking engagements, promotional events, fundraisers (with auctions), performances, concerts, award and recognition ceremonies

presentation my room

This may be the most self-explanatory event room setup included here, as it entails a long and often wide aisle for models, speakers, performers or emcees to walk down and amble around while the audience focuses on them. Attendees are seated either in a single row behind tables or in tiered rows on risers that run parallel to the aisle to afford a close-up view of the action walking by you.

Note that the aisle width will determine how much space you have left over for seating, so make sure the room you select is wide enough to accommodate your expected headcount.

Auditorium Setup

Ideal for: performances, concerts, keynote speakers, presentations, training, galas, conferences, conventions, meetings, seminars, promotional events, trade shows, award and recognition ceremonies

presentation my room

If you’re planning an event where you need to pack em’ in and maximize every square foot/meter of space, the auditorium or theatre style room setup is definitely your best option.

This event setup includes many parallel rows of chairs (with rows at least 2 feet apart from each other and chairs at least 3 inches apart from each other) all facing a stage, dias or central point at the front and aisles that run perpendicular to the chair rows to allow for easy ingress/egress to and from seats.

If you offer different activities (like dining or networking) or need to incorporate a trade show design along with a centralized mass meeting area, you can incorporate a theater setup into your event if you have the space (which is what most larger conference style setups do).

Alternative: Auditorium Chevron

presentation my room

Similar in design to the classroom chevron setup, this also employs angling the chair rows toward a center focal point at the front, making the setting a bit more intimate and allowing attendees to see each other better. For more participatory mass events, the theater chevron setup – also called herringbone setup – would work well.

Boardroom Setup

Ideal for: small meetings or conferences, board of directors meetings, breakouts, committees, small presentations, small classes, working lunches

presentation my room

Finally we will look at some of the more popular smaller meeting room layout designs, and probably the most common is the boardroom or conference room setup.

This can consist of one large table in the middle of the room or, if more participants will be involved, arranging four large square or rectangular tables together. Chairs are arranged around the perimeter of the table(s), encouraging interaction and conversation, with potentially a leader or speaker in front of a whiteboard or screen.

The large table also makes the boardroom style room setup perfect for dining if attendees need to eat lunch between sessions or take coffee breaks.

Hollow Square Setup

Ideal for: small meetings or conferences,, breakouts, committees, small presentations, small classes, working lunches

presentation my room

Very similar to the boardroom meeting design, the hollow square room setup typically allows for more people to be seated around the perimeter and for one or more speakers or presenters in the middle to serve as a focal point.

This event layout plan also encourages participation (and is conducive to lunch-type dining) while opening up the space a bit so attendees don’t feel cramped.

U-Shape Setup

Ideal for: small meetings or conferences, training, breakouts, workshops, small presentations, small classes

presentation my room

This smaller meeting room setup is a great choice if you want your attendees focused on a speaker or presentation at the front of the room while still making the space amenable for discussion and participation.

The U-shaped meeting room setup can include chairs around the outside perimeter of the U or, if you need to fit more people in the room, around the entire circumference of the U (this is sometimes called the imperial setup).

If you choose the latter, just keep in mind that, like the banquet room setup, half your attendees will need to turn their chairs around to face the front when necessary, so you may not want to use this setup if you have lots of presentations planned.

Event setup designs from Planning Pod

Bonus: Chair-Only Setups

Ideal for: brainstorming, networking, training, workshops, retreats, team building, seminars, focus groups

If you want to remove physical barriers between your attendees so they can communicate face-to-face and unimpeded, a seating layout without tables or other furniture is a great idea. 

These chair-only event setups can include the following:

  • Circle setups – Chairs placed facing each other in a full circle with possibly one or a few chairs in the middle for group leaders/presenters.
  • Semicircle setups – Chairs placed facing each other in a half circle with one or a few chairs on the open side of the semicircle for group leaders/presenters.
  • Horseshoe setups – Similar to a semicircle (with an open end and chairs in open area for group leaders/presenters) but with chairs placed in a U-shape so more people can be seated.

Hopefully you have a clearer picture now of the top event layouts and how you can apply them to your events for the best attendee experience. (And if you need additional information besides what is provided in this post, try this article on event layouts and this post on meeting room layouts .)

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cynthia pace

Excellent review of possibilities

Stan

Thanks ! I was trying to find out the best layout for 4 rows of 10 chairs so everybody could see the stage but I learned a lot thanks to you :) Good day ! Stan

Best Florist Sydney

Excellent blog; thanks for sharing this event lay out and room set up comprehensive guide. I enjoyed reading it.

beza

i need more to know about the set up

Robin

Be great to know how much room you need to back chair up to stand up room for service cart and another chair.

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Presentitude

Presentitude creates visual and powerful presentations using effective and visual PowerPoint templates.

Presentation settings for different rooms

August 21, 2014

One presentation really doesn’t fit all situations. Depending on the room, the setting, the purpose of your upcoming presentation, the slides have to be optimized. Your preparation will differ. This is a quick guide to how three different settings effects three aspects of your presentation.

Slides for seminar setting

Contrast – avoid being a shadow.

In a dark conference room, slides with a white background will be really bright and you might appear like a black shadow in front of them (and you do want nice pictures on Twitter from your presentation, don’t you?). Make sure the color of the slide background fits the lighting of the room.

Images in the right size

Images are always important (one picture is worth more than
 you know
 yada yada yada) – but in a seminar setting they will have an even bigger impact. You have to choose images carefully. Use only high resolution images (please, please, don’t take them off Google Images!) Make sure your presentation has the same aspect ratio as the projector (so your pretty 4:3 presentation isn’t stretched and all your great images are being shown in an unplanned 16:9 view).

Speaker notes  and practice

If you’re presenting in a seminar setting, maybe even when your face is up on a side screen, your speaker notes needs to be larger and shorter – probably only keywords. You need to have practiced and practiced again (unless you plan to stand behind a podium and read from a script and getting pictures of your top of your head on Twitter, while they go hard your presentation skills). Every “uhm” and “so” becomes more obvious on a seminar stage.

Tips for making slides for keynote presentations

Slides for workshop setting

Are you ready for improvisation.

Workshops are, if done right, a explorative maze of great conversations. Regardless of your planning, workshops outcome are usually not very linear (workshop attendees have the annoying habit of bringing up subjects you had plan to present on slide 54). You need to be able to improvise live and your slide deck needs to work for improvisation (nice, slow slide transitions might not be the best when you quickly have to move from slide 2 to slide 54).

Intelligent slides

Being able to move around your slide deck quickly also calls for a very different navigation setting of your slides. You might need to connect different decks and move seamlessly between them without losing time – or focus. You might need to move quickly between different parts of your presentation. This is a great time to learn you to utilize the hyperlink function in your presentation software.

Prepared workshop notes

You probably want the participants to have notes from your workshop even though you can’t be sure where the workshop conversations will take your presentation. You might want to prepare ahead and create a practical handout template which will accommodate notes and sketches from your presentation – while still using the carefully crafted outline in your workshop slide.  Or bring along a coworker who continuously through the workshop can make notes directly into a prepared template, ready to be distributed electronically right after the workshop.

Tips for making slides for workshop presentations

Slides for formal setting

The smart intro.

When meeting a prospective client or partner for the first time most people tend to want to divulge into the “About us” slides to legitimize themselves and the reason they have been invited. But most often the prospective client or partner actually knows your company- they might have been the ones to invite you. This is a good time to learn how to do a smart intro – how to connect your “about me”-slides to the “about the client”-reality and keep it short, simple and engaging (an un-smart intro is the ones where the default “About us” slides are all about us, us, us).

Time smart presentations

Even though you did think you had 60 minutes to prepare, the client was late coming in, introductions and chit chat took place and the client has to cut the presentation short and you end up with 15 minutes to present. Is your presentation time smart? Do you know how to cut it short without stressfully clicking away with the clicker (because you did bring one right?), while watching the slides go by faster than a high speed train?

Dual purpose presentation slides

Often the prospective clients want to have your slides and you want to save time – so you’ve crammed a lot of info on your sides (really they’re probably more a document in slide mode than a presentation). This is the time when you have a great handout template with all information and the fine print added, while still presenting nice, pretty, story focused slides and leaving the small text for reading later. You can even save your slides as a pdf from the handout mode and everything will be there when you hand it over to the client (or beam it with your super connected device).

Tips for making slides for formal presentations

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How to use room setup styles to maximize engagement

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Engagement and participation are two key words that every facilitator, event organizer and meeting professional sets as a goal when designing meetings, training sessions or conferences. Room setup plays a big role in making engagement happen.

Room setup is the seating arrangement of participants: the placement by which they receive content and interact with one another. It is a critical aspect of every event because the atmosphere the physical space creates will impact the experience in obvious, and subtle, ways.

As an event begins, there’s always an invisible barrier between a speaker and their audience. In fact, there is also a psychological barrier among participants, especially when they do not know each other well.

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Thoughtful conference setup can minimize these invisible, social barriers to encourage engagement and participation. Different arrangements enable variety both in learning and involvement whether the purpose is for meetings, in-person or video conferences, trainings and presentations, or workshops and interactive learning events.

In this article, we will discuss different meeting room setups and their efficacy and drawbacks to help you choose which is the right one for your meeting, workshop or conference. We will cover:

Why room layout is important

Deciding where to host an event, conference or workshop is an essential step in its planning and design . Room layout and other conditions determined by the location will determine some of your event choices. Let’s review some of the main reasons why room setup is important for event design:

For practical reasons

  • Meeting room setup will determine accessibility. Consider whether your participants require accessible spaces, and how they will reach the space (e.g. steps, elevators). The Youth Disability Advocacy Services has a great infographic you can refer to for more insight on inclusive spaces.
  • Location arrangements will determine what activities you can and cannot lead. Moving around in order, for example, to do Impromptu Networking , a favorite Liberating Structures method to start an event, may be impossible in an auditorium.
  • Timing of breaks will also change based on the location. If participants need to go around the building, down a flight of stairs and across a corridor to reach a cafeteria or toilette, you cannot expect a quick break to last 5 minutes.

For psychological reasons

  • The type of room setup, as we will see in further detail below , will immediately communicate to participants what is expected of them in terms of more or less active participation.
  • A surprising room arrangement is a powerful way of shaking people out of consolidated habits and opening their minds to new experiences , ideas and opportunities.
  • A room setup that echoes the topics of the day is a guaranteed way of making your day memorable. Hosting a conference on water management by the banks of a river, a future scenarios workshop on a theatre stage or an open space day dedicated to the future of work inside an abandoned factory are all true-life examples of exceptional settings for memorable events.

What is the best room setup for workshops?

In her practical manual The Workshop Book , Pamela Hamilton states: “If the workshop is taking place in the same room where you have other meetings, the room itself will keep people in old thinking habits”. Workshops typically involve hands-on activities,  facilitation techniques , group discussions, simulations, and collaborative exercises , which allow participants to explore, ideate, and participate in achieving their desired outcomes. 

Because of their highly participatory nature, workshops deserve extra attention when organizing seating and setting up the space. If you want to know more about what makes a workshop tick, and how these events are different from meetings and conferences, you can read a full introduction here .

Here are some of the things a workshop leader will pay special attention to when it comes to room setup:

  • Will the seating arrangement need to be changed during the session ? If yes, avoid using a place where tables are fixed to the ground.
  • Will participants need to use laptops , or have note taking/sketching space?
  • What type of visuals do you plan to use. Slides? Flipcharts? Video conferencing? Make sure all participants have an unobstructed view of the visuals so that they don’t need to twist and turn to see the visuals.
  • Where will participants go for small-group activities ? Ideally, it should be possible for everyone to work comfortably without going so far that they can no longer see or hear the facilitators!
  • What are the acoustics like in the room? Many conference spaces are not designed to keep in mind the possibility of many participants talking at the same time. This is even more true in case of hybrid workshops, where you expect interaction between online and in-real-life participants. For more on the specific requirements of hybrid events, see our dedicated guide .
  • Is it ok to hang posters on the walls? Check that the masking tape you’ll be using doesn’t ruin the plaster, nor your markers leave blue and red splotches on the walls if someone decides to write directly on a poster rather than on the sticky-notes!

Facilitators typically ask for access to a workshop space at least one hour before the start time. What will participants see when they walk into the room?

Overall, you are looking for a clean and welcoming space , with materials ready to use as well as for a surprise effect that will jostle people out of their daily routine (putting chairs in a semi-circle or around working tables is usually all that is needed to achieve this).

As the workshop progresses, don’t forget to keep the space clean of any clutter and re-arrange materials as needed.

Particularly for workshops that last more than one day, it is very satisfying to see walls fill up with posters, canvases, and other artifacts created by participants. This gives everyone a feeling of progress and achievement and can do wonders to anchor learning through visual memory.

What to keep in mind when choosing locations

Next to these considerations that are tightly related to workshop design, there are other logistical matters you’ll need to keep in mind when choosing locations and setting up rooms. Let’s quickly see what to check:

  • Do you need to inform people on how to reach the venue ? You might want to set up arrows or signs or send participants detailed instructions. If you are hosting a public participation event, for example, can it be reached by public transport?
  • Consider where snacks and meals will be served . You might want to dedicate some extra tables to coffee break supplies when a break room is unavailable.
  • Check the location of restrooms and water fountains and make sure these are easy to find and access for participants. And while you are at it, make sure recycling bins are available and clearly marked. More ideas for greener events are in this useful list from the European Commission .
  • Usually, the number of chairs should match with the number of participants, allowing a few extra chairs in case you have extra participants.
  • Power supply and outlets . There should be enough to accommodate charging of laptops and other electronic devices needed for training and exercises, placed accessible but strategically so not to hinder the speakers, trainers and participants. You don’t want people tripping over power cords.
  • Internet access . Do you want/need your participants to have internet access? If yes, make sure that the WiFi code is easily visible to everyone upon arriving. And if you need to use the internet during the session for any task, make sure that the bandwidth is enough to accommodate everyone.
  • Heating and cooling . The venue must be warm or cool enough. For larger groups, expect that the temperature will rise over time with more people in the room.
  • Additional furniture . Aside from tables and chairs, what other furnishing should be added or removed from the room to provide better comfort and utility to both facilitators and participants?
  • Lighting . The venue must have enough lighting for speakers and participants to be able to see clearly but without being too bright. Natural lighting is preferable as people tend to get less tired , and attention spans last longer.

As you can tell, there is a lot to keep in mind to plan excellent events! Checklists are a great way to keep track of everything you need for room setup and preparation. In SessionLab’s planner , you can add a checklist to the top of your agenda for the day, and make sure you get those boxes ticked before you start.

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An in-depth look into meeting room options

Each seating arrangement fulfills different purposes and matches different types of event style and size. Here are the 11 most popular kinds of seating arrangement setups for different types of events:

Theater or auditorium style seating

Theater-style seating is a classic one: participants are seated in rows of chairs, much like in a theater or cinema, to watch and listen to a speaker or several speakers as well as visual and auditory aids. There’s generally a gap in the middle to allow easy access for central seats and a large stage to accommodate speakers, visuals and auditory aids. This style, thus, is typical for events with a large number of attendees where content is delivered as a lecture.

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  • Theater-style seating allows for a large number of participants.
  • Maximum seating capacity of the venue can be achieved.
  • Since every chair is facing the stage, the focus is on the speaker.
  • Since the focus of the audience is directed on the speaker and not on each other, participants are hindered from interacting with one another.
  • There are often no provisioned spaces for participants to take notes, bring out their devices and record notes.
  • Audience members tend to be too close to each other for comfort, and there’s a tendency for pushing past other people to enter or exit from seats.
  • Spaces for aisles are needed to ensure access to seats

This type of seating arrangement is best for conferences, annual board meetings, product launches, lectures and performances . These events call for less interaction and focus more on visuals and listening to speakers and presenters.

U Shape Style

A U-shaped seating arrangement is just what the name describes; a letter U setup of tables and chairs arranged in an open-ended shape with the participants facing inwards. It is a classic boardroom setup that enables members to both face each other and the speaker.

Removing the tables and only having chairs in a u shape style allows for open interaction between the trainers and participants. This version is often used for skills development trainings and workshops.

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  • A u shape setup enables the presenter to closely engage with each participant.
  • Participants can interact with one another.
  • The open area can be set up as a presentation area or as a focal point.
  • The seating capacity of the room is not maximized since floor space is not fully utilized.
  • A majority of the participants view the front (speaker and visual aids) in a sideway position. This can become uncomfortable as the session progresses.

As described earlier, this type of seating arrangement is ideal for boardroom meetings and video conferences with a limited number of participants, but it is also good for training sessions or interactive workshops if you remove the tables .

If you keep the tables, then this setup allows for note-taking with laptops and other digital devices that aid in writing and learning.

Circle Style

Arranging seats in a circle immediately sends a strong message. It conveys the idea that time and power will be shared equally among participants, and everyone will have their say. If you expect all participants to take part equally in a sharing round (it’s in the very word!) a circle of chairs is the way to go.

A simple circle can be a very powerful space, conducive to deeper listening and calm discussions in turns. As with the U-space above, there are no tables or other objects in the middle (except sometimes a focusing object such as a nice carpet or a bouquet of flowers) to distract people from one another. A circle leads itself naturally to opening and closing moments in workshops.

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  • All participants can see and hear one another equally;
  • Creates a sense of shared participation and power;
  • Facilitates open conversations in turns.
  • Can be quite off-putting and is not comfortable for everyone at first, depending on the setting and culture;
  • It can be disingenuous to use a circle to mask power dynamics and hierarchies (it’s a beginner’s mistake to assume that facilitation is all about flattening power relations: it’s not, if anything it’s about making them clearer);

A circle works best in small groups of up to 20 people, especially for opening and closing sections such as introductions, debrief and feedback rounds. It’s an ideal room arrangement for workshops covering more personal topics or expecting to go deeper into emotional aspects.

Banquet Style Setup

The banquet style room arrangement is a round table setup with participants facing each other like at a dinner table. This encourages full interaction between people sitting at one table. It is often used for interactive workshops with group discussions and exercises.

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  • Full potential for interaction between participants as they face each other.
  • Allows for more members to get to know each other; useful for networking purposes.
  • It maximizes the use of the space in the room.
  • Although it’s easy to interact with other members at the table, it’s not easy to mingle with other participants at other tables.
  • It has the tendency to isolate groups and form cliques.

The banquet-style setup is good for formal and informal gatherings such as weddings , galas , sit-down dinners , music and entertainment – parties where there’s no need to constantly focus attention toward a stage/central platform.

It can also be suitable for large group workshops where teams are expected to work together over the course of the event.

Boardroom Setup or Conference Style Seating

Conference or boardroom style has one large table that fits around 7 to 20 people with room for their various equipment such as laptops, mobile devices and video conferencing devices. All participants face the middle to enable discussion and interaction from all directions. The boardroom or conference room style can also be adjusted to include many tables that form a hollow square/rectangle.

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  • Conference room layout allows for direct interaction between participants from any direction
  • Table space allows for the use of laptops and other gadgets, paperwork and consumption of food and drinks.
  • There are spots from where some participants may not be able to view slides or other visual presentations clearly.
  • Because participants are able to use their laptops and other devices, they can easily shift their attention away from the meeting.
  • The people at the far end of the table may feel isolated. Using circular or even square type conference tables can diminish this isolation.

This type of seating setup is ideal for business meetings , video conferencing, brainstorming and open discussions .

Classroom Style Seating

It is a classic classroom style setup where tables and chairs are arranged in parallel rows facing the front of the room. It is common for lectures and primarily supports interaction between the speaker and the audience and less among meeting participants. Participants sharing a table can do small group exercises or share their work with one another.

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  • Tables or desks are provisioned for taking notes and use of devices.
  • It maximizes the space and seating plan with tables/desks.
  • Line of vision for participants seated near the front corners or back corners is compromised
  • Because of the angles of certain seats and tables, several participants may have to twist or turn to have a good view of the speaker or visual aid.
  • Interaction and eye contact is unlikely in this setup and group discussions can be difficult.

The classroom style seating is ideal for instructive types of training sessions and workshops where the members need to take notes or use laptops and the flow of discussion is mostly from trainer/speaker to the audience. However, choosing this room setup requires a thoughtful agenda design in order to get participants properly engaged with the content; the room setup itself does not support interactive learning experiences.

Crescent Rounds Seating or Cabaret Style Seating

As the name suggests, members of the audience are seated at a round table but leaving empty space towards the stage or the location of the speaker. Tables are either scattered or strategically placed to maximize engagement as well as line of vision. The setup is conducive to small group exercises or discussions while keeping a focus on centrally displayed information or a speaker.

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  • The half crescent shape creates a focal point towards the stage to instruct and brief group work.
  • Because there’s no hindrance to line of sight of the speaker and visuals, participants do not have to move to uncomfortable positions or twist around to see the front.
  • Table setup encourages chatter within the group that’s irrelevant to the content or event objectives.
  • It is not as compact as banquet style seating. More tables are used without maximizing seating.

The cabaret arrangement is useful for training sessions that aim for small group discussions and exercises combined with visual presentations . It is also popularly used for awards and gala nights .

Reception Style Seating

A reception style arrangement is similar to a banquet one but with extra cocktail tables in between group tables. The cocktail or high tables with no chairs are for mingling or networking. They are also good for breakout discussions and collaboration between members of the audience belonging to different groups.

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  • Allows for focused group exercises at the main tables, while the cocktail tables provide convenient opportunities for breakout conversations or engaging with other group/table members.
  • A dynamic setup which encourages participation and prevents boredom.
  • Room space may not be fully utilized compared to more traditional training setups.
  • Not all members of the audience might appreciate a dynamic setup.

It is best applied to dynamic and creative training sessions with collaborative exercises . The reception style is also great for team building events .

Chevron Setup

The chevron or V-shaped setup is actually similar to a classroom arrangement but tables and chairs are angled for better line of vision and engagement between participants themselves as well as with the speaker.

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  • It basically mimics the classroom setup but with improved view from outer ends to give participants better line of vision.
  • Tables give members the space to take notes and user their devices.
  • It can maximize seating capacity and is good for large groups.
  • It allows for small group exercises for people sitting at the same table.
  • Participants are not facing each other and some will be behind others; this does not encourage active listening, and can still hinder line of vision in this way.

Similarly to the classroom setup, the chevron shape is suitable for training sessions and workshops where instructions and individual work dominate.

Fishbowl format

The fishbowl setup is used for dialogue type events. Four to five chairs are arranged in an inner circle – the fishbowl – while the remaining chairs are arranged in concentric circles around the middle area.

Speakers take the inner seats and start discussing the topic introduced by the moderator. In an open fishbowl , one seat is left free, and anyone from the outer circles can join the conversation. At the same time, then, another member from the fishbowl must give up his place in the inner circle.

This style is often used for forums or large group discussions where participants can openly discuss topics covered with the speakers or experts. It enables the whole group, or all members, to actively participate and be involved with the content, i.e. ask questions, make suggestions or give their own conclusions.

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  • Encourages participation in larger groups.
  • Speakers are put at a position of equal distinction with participants, meaning they are among the group instead of at the head of the room or on a stage.
  • This setup may be a problem for shy and introverted members of the audience who are afraid to participate. It may be harder to get their opinions or know what they think.
  • It is hard to divide the large group into smaller sets for more intimate discussions of the topics.
  • No tables or room for taking notes or using laptops.

Fishbowl is best for forums, conferences and large group meetings where there is a high expectation of participation.

Cluster setup or team table seating

Team tables, or clusters, is a similar setup to the banquet style but it is more for informal type of events. You can choose between cocktail style or high top tables and seating. The tables and chairs depend on the volume of people at the event. A sit-down table setup is for training in groups with a lot of group discussions and exercises, such as in team building, yet with an informal vibe and tendency for mingling or changing places.

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  • An informal setup is always good for building rapport among participating members.
  • People can move around and still be comfortable in the training or event.
  • Tables can be arranged to maximize lines of sight.
  • Depending on the size of the room or the arrangement of the tables, line of vision can still be hindered.

Clusters are used for training with a lot of group discussions or exercises . It is best for team building and networking events where there’s still room to mingle and move around.

What is the best room setup for your conference, event or meeting?

The room design for your event should be determined by the goals you want to achieve and the number of participants you have. See some examples below:

  • Have a large audience? Consider one of the room arrangements that can effectively be scaled up, even to hundreds of participants. For example: Auditorium, Banquet, Crescent or Reception
  • Want to facilitate networking? Reception or rotating banquet tables can be a useful room design.
  • Need participants to actively work together during the event? Choose a setup that fosters teamwork: U-Shape, Banquet
  • Want to combine effective content delivery and participants working on their own devices? Classroom or Chevron can be a great fit.
  • Do you have a group of 5-10 people that need to make a decision about a project? Choose a setup that supports open communication, such as U-Shape, Circle, Boardroom or Hollow Square.
  • Looking to facilitate a deeper conversation or share personal stories? Fishbowls and Circles are made for that.
  • Are you planning for an interactive soft skills development training session? You may choose a u-shape without tables that allows you to present information and facilitate group conversation, then allow the group to break up into smaller circles by rearranging the chairs.

Knowing the answer for these two factors – interactivity and group size – will help you pick from these room setups:

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If you have a longer, more complex event that spans over multiple days or if the session has different tracks, you should be prepared to arrange the room differently for different segments/days, if necessary.

How to get your meeting room style properly implemented

So, you have designed the meeting, you have a plan, and you have figured out which room arrangements will get you through your session. This means you are done with the planning work!

What can you do to ensure that your plan will be properly put into practice? Here are some tips to follow to have your planned room arrangement set up for you:

  • Most of the time, the venue will take care of the complete set up of your desired room arrangements and other related logistics requirements. In order to minimise the chance of miscommunication, it is best if you can show examples of what you want. (For instance, show what a u-shape seating looks like and clearly specify whether you want or don’t want tables in front of the seats.)
  • If you ask for different room arrangements over the course of your meeting, make sure to communicate this in terms of your agenda timing . If you need different room setups, you may want to ask for multiple rooms so you can flexibly move from one room to another.
  • Even with the best communication from your side and a great venue, the initial setup you will find at the venue might need adjustments. Make sure you have time to do this before participants start to arrive.
  • Don’t place participants too far away from yourself (the speaker/trainer/facilitator).
  • Remove unnecessary seats
  • Check if visuals (presentation screen, flipcharts) can be seen by all participants.
  • If you like to move around while you speak, do a check from different seats to see which spots in the room might be blind to some. Make sure everyone can see you at all times.
  • Don’t use fonts that are small and hard to read Mind that, if you have multiple rows, not everyone might be able to see the bottoms of your slides.
  • Lastly, have a checklist of equipment and materials you need, so you don’t forget to bring any of the tools and props you might need during your session.

Despite all the best planning though, in real life sometimes things escape control completely. The location manager loses the keys at the last minute (this is a real story). Communication before the event is insufficient. Your train is late. So before we close this review of room setups, let’s see what happens when all the planning goes out the window.

Facilitating in weird locations: what can you do?

A delightful conversation recently took place in SessionLab’s Community space around the question: What is the strangest place you have facilitated in? From churches to parking lots, outdoor gardens to heavily guarded intelligence facilities, it seems that any place large enough to accommodate a group can ultimately work out for facilitation.

Reading those stories, two top tips emerge to help you face the situation with poise and style in case you are asked to work in a less-than-ideal location yourself:

  • Acknowledge what is going on and get participants on your side. Facilitators are often encouraged to model vulnerability and honesty in their stance, and finding yourself in a weird location is a great opportunity to do just that. Don’t pretend the space is ideal if it is not: explain what is going on and ask for participants’ support in making it work.
  • Deploy extra creativity and make the best of it. If columns block the view in the middle of the room, turn the columns into symbols of an important value or topic for the day. If the doors are locked and you have to work outside, take it as an opportunity for an outdoor practice or impromptu interviews with passers-by. Weird locations are a great playground for improvisation.
  • But make sure participants are comfortable. If the location makes it impossible for people to sit, see, or hear, they are not going to have the focus they need to work well together. Call for a break and renegotiate options with your client, including moving the workshop to a later date!

Now over to you…

We hope you have found useful tips above on how to design a room setup for your next event.

What is your number one tip for getting room arrangements right? And what is the strangest place you have facilitated in?

Let us know about your experience in the comments or join the conversation in our friendly Community space .

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Robert took his first facilitation training in 2009, and since then immersed himself in designing and delivering experiential learning experiences, group workshop, and train-the-trainer/facilitator programs. His passion for facilitation led him to co-found SessionLab, the online platform that helps people design and facilitate better workshops.

13 Comments

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What a Resource! You guys are soooo helpful, and giving!????????????

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You’re welcome, Franklin – I’m happy to see that you like the article!

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THANK YOU! I have been asked to step in for a collegue who has gone sick, and needed some thoughts as it is several years since I taught TtT. A browse through your blog has given me confidence to deliver the first few days this using his notes until he is well again.

That’s fantastic to hear, David, wishing you a great delivery! By the way, if you want see more tips on what to include in a train-the-trainer programme, you might find some useful ideas in this post: https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/train-the-trainer/

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Thank you, Robert, for a wonderful insight on a room set up for any event.

You’re welcome, Vandana!

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Hey, apart form room based conferences, have you guys used online conferencing tools like Webex, R-HUB HD video conferencing etc? If yes, kindly share the feedback.

Thank you for the question, Barbara. We mostly focused on live sessions so far, but remote facilitation is getting to be more frequent. Sounds like an interesting topics to cover in the future :-)

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Thank you so much Robert for this helpful figures, cheers.

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Wow…thanks now I have an idea about room setting

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Which room set up can accommodate 250 guests?

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Thanks for sharing all of the options for setting up training sessions. Several of them were unfamiliar. Great resource!

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We teach an advanced facilitation skills course and we’ve started a hybrid seating style. We have the students in either small groups around tables or the chevron for group work. When it comes to actual engagement I have everyone sit in a circle and I as the facilitator sit with my side to the screen so that I’m not in the power position. I’ve found that without the tables the students are more likely to engage in a guided discussion during the lesson since we remove the barriers (the tables).

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Rooms Of The House PPT

Download this rooms-of-the-house PPT and use it in class today. This rooms of the house PowerPoint lesson includes rooms of the house vocabulary and expressions such as ‘Where’s mom?’ – ‘She’s in the living room.’ Rooms of the house include living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, garden, and laundry room. See below to preview and download this ppt, and check the bottom of the page for related resources.

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5 Simple Ways To Own The Room

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To own the room: is to command your audience’s attention, respect, and action from beginning to the end of your presentation.

It’s a great thing to accomplish, and with some training, tips, and awareness of you can do it.

In this article, you will find five simple ways you can own any room.

What does it mean to “own the room?”

Owning the room is an expression that means commanding the attention, respect, and action of others in a situation. The term is gaining popularity but has been around for a while. Here is a quote from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Volume 68 published in 1904

How To Own The Room Origin

How to own the room:

Below are five ways to own a room. Each one can stand on its own, but the magic happens when you combine them all.

1. Confidence

It’s hard to command your audience’s attention if you lack confidence. A study published by the University of Wolverhampton demonstrated that confident speakers are viewed as more credible and more likable than less confident speakers.

Confidence and influence go hand in hand. If you encounter someone with confidence, you will tend to believe, trust, and follow him/her. It breaks my heart when I see smart and capable professionals not able to get a word in a meeting because of their lack of assertiveness.

“I felt invisible in company meeting before dong the public speaking training with your organization” this is a quote I keep etched in my memory bank from a client or ours. Before owning any room, you have to feel that you are visible. Visibility comes from having the confidence to stand out and participate in meetings.

Here are a couple of resources to build your confidence:

  • The Seven Ingredients of Self Confidence
  • How To Build Confidence In Less Than 5 Minutes A Day

2. Delivery

The second way to own a room is with your delivery skills. Your movement, your gestures, and vocal modulation will either attract the audience or repel them. During executive coaching sessions , there are five delivery attributes that we focus on initially with clients. All are easy to adjust yet will have a significant impact on your ability to command a room.

Energy:  The audience wants a speaker who is energetic. It does not mean you need to be a crazy clown on the stage. It just means you have to have a little bit more energy than your audience. People are attracted to energy.

Interactivity:  People like you to interact them with a little when you present. Your audience does not like it if you speak “at” them; They want you to talk “with” them.

Same as with energy, you don’t want to go overboard with this. You want to have just enough interactivity to serve your presentation’s purpose and not do interactivity for the sake of interactivity.

Eye contact:  Your audience wants you to connect with them. Looking at individuals will make people more engaged in your presentation. To make good eye contact, just make sure you connect with as many people as possible while you present.

Movement:  Some speakers get planted like a tree, and others do the “wild monkey dance” by moving all over the stage. One is boring to the audience, and the other is distracting. To attract your audience, you need to move on stage with purpose. Move and position ideas on stage with purpose.

For example, if you want to talk about internet security in the past, present, and future. Then speak of the past in one spot, about the present in a different spot, and the future in a different spot.

Dressing the part:  The way you dress matters! One time I worked with a client who got feedback from his manager to develop his executive presence. The first thing I noticed was that he is not dressing the part. I knew that right away because I worked with other executives from his organization, and I knew the dress code. His tennis shoes and the wrinkly shirt are not helping him in the more formal and conservative culture of his organization. By just putting on nice polished shoes and an ironed shirt, he started getting the attention and recognition he deserved. Of course, the dressing the part is not the only thing needed to own a room, but it helps start you on the right foot.

3. Storytelling

The third way to own any room is to tell good stories. The reason people are obsessed with shows like Game of Thrones, Vikings, House of Cards, and Breaking Bad is that they capture our imagination with their storylines. You can do the same when you communicate with your audience.

In business, there are only seven storylines that you need to know.

  • Your personal story: How do you talk about yourself when you present
  • Your company story: How do you talk about your organization
  • Customer Success Story: How do you share the stories of your successful customers
  • Objection destroyer: How to tell a story to negate an objection your audience might have.
  • Lessons Learned Story: How to package your lessons in the form of stories to make them more memorable
  • Hope Story: How to tell a story that inspires and lifts up your audience
  • Study Story: How to take a technical study and turn it into an engaging story
  • You can learn about these stories and how to construct and utilize them in the Magnetic Storytelling Bootcamp .

4. Structure

The fourth way to own a room is through the structure of your narrative. No one is attracted to a rambly and confusing presentation. To get people on your side and have them in the palm of your hand, you need to be clear with your messaging.

Clarity comes from structure. Make sure you map out the narrative of your presentation and make sure it flows and makes logical sense.

4 Tested and proven structures for your presentation

  • Chronological pattern:  a time-based narrative with events organized based on when they happened
  • Sequential pattern:  an event-based narrative with events organized based on previous events
  • Spatial pattern:  a space-based narrative with events laid out on different spots on stage
  • Climactic pattern: Importance-based narrative with events organized from least important to most important

For more structures check out this article: 

8 Time Tested Patterns To Organize your Presentations

5. Improvise well

The fifth way to own a room is to improvise well. Charming with your spontaneity and wit is a great way to get and hold people’s attention. This is the hardest way because it takes a lot of practice to be a good improviser. However, working in this area will help all the other areas.

One of the fastest ways to build your ability to own any room is to take a  public speaking training . You can randomly pick up techniques here and there, but if you want to learn how to attract and keep attention systematically, then you need to train for it.

Take training on delivery, storytelling, presentation structure, and impromptu speaking, and start building your skills.

To own the room is to command your audience’s attention and action from beginning to end.

It’s a great thing to accomplish, and with some training , tips, and awareness of you can do it. There are five main ways to own any room: Confidence, delivery, structure, storytelling, impromptu speaking. However, if you want magic to happen, you want to combine all of the five ways.

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8 Tips to Power-Up Your Classroom Presentations

Last month, I attended a Back to School Night for parents, sitting through presentation after presentation by teachers, some with slides that helped make their presentation a delight to listen to, and others . . . well, that's why I'm writing this blog post.

The goal of a classroom presentation is to aid you in effectively conveying information in a way that allows students (or their parents) to remember what you said. Unfortunately, for some, the presentation becomes a crutch, and they begin to rely on the slides to tell their story, rather than to help them tell the story.

I've been creating presentations using software like PowerPoint and KeyNote for 20 years, and I've learned a lot about how to most effectively communicate. Here's what I've found.

1. Use as Many Slides as You Need

It's a common myth that better presentations use fewer slides. This is simply not the case. I once sent an education conference presentation to the organizers so they could preview it in advance of my speaking. They wrote back, concerned that my 45-minute presentation had 116 slides. I looked it over and realized they were right! I revised it and sent a presentation with 135 slides back to them. I finished my talk with 5 minutes to spare -- just enough time to take questions -- and the presentation was a huge success.

The number of slides in your presentation is irrelevant. What matters is how well your slides communicate and how much time you spend talking about each slide. Spending five minutes on five slides will almost always be more engaging to your students than spending five minutes on a single slide, even when the information is exactly the same.

In the movie Amadeus , the Emperor of Austria complains to Mozart that his music has "too many notes." Mozart responds, "There are just as many notes as are required. Neither more nor less." Use as many slides as you need to make your point. No more. No less.

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2. Minimize Verbosity

Your slides are there to support what you are saying, not to say it for you. Keep your word count low, and only place one main point on a slide, plus three to five sub-points if absolutely needed. Remember tip #1 above -- don't be afraid to use more slides. They're free! Also, the language in your slides doesn't need to be in complete sentences. Pare the text to as few words as possible, using what's there only to emphasize and reinforce -- not replace -- the words coming out of your mouth.

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3. Maximize Visuals

Photos, figures and icons work as visual memory triggers. They help your students remember what it is you're saying. Any time you can add a visual that helps illustrate or reinforce the points you're making in your slides, you should use it. One great way to do this on the cheap is to use public domain or creative commons photos you can find on Flickr or Google .

4. Reduce Noise

Many teachers like to add banners, headers, footers, page numbers and more noise to their slides. Unless the information needs to be on every slide for a vital reason (which is rare), you should remove it. All these redundant elements do is create distractions from the content of your slides. I find this to be especially true of page numbers. Imagine if a movie included a time code at the bottom, constantly reminding you how long you had been watching. All this does is serve to take the viewer out of the moment. Page numbers in slides really don't provide any useful information -- they just remind your students how long they've been watching.

Pursuant to tips #1 and #2, you're not going to win awards by cramming the most content on the fewest slides. Make text and visuals as large as you can. Not only does this make them easier to see and read, but larger images and text make a greater impact to aid memory. There's nothing wrong with filling an entire slide with a photo, and then placing text right on top. You may have to use a transparent background immediately behind the text so that it's clearly readable, but the overall effect is almost always more memorable than just some text beside an image.

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6. Highlight What You Are Talking About

While you are presenting, your students may be momentarily distracted taking notes, thinking about what you are saying, glancing out the window, possibly even daydreaming. When they refocus on your slides, though, they need to quickly pick back up where you are, or you risk losing them again.

  • Use contrast or call-outs to clearly show the area of the slide you are talking about.
  • Reveal bullet points or table rows one at a time so that the last one visible is the one you are talking about.
  • Use arrows, circles or other pointers to show what you are referencing in specific parts of an illustration, photo or graph.
  • Animate and reveal parts of illustrations and graphs (where possible) to build your story rather than showing everything at once.
  • Use bold type or different colors to highlight the keywords in any lengthy text.

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7. Transition Changes

Humans suffer from an affliction called change blindness -- we have a hard time seeing changes unless there is a clear transition between the states. This is especially a problem in presentations where slides may look very much alike. Most programs include transitions that can be used between slides or on elements in the slides themselves.

My favorite transition is the cross-dissolve -- where the first slide fades down while the next slide fades up -- but different transitions can help illustrate points in your presentation. Are you talking about combustion or the fire of London? Use a flame transition. Talking about photography or Hollywood movies? Use the flashbulb transition. Even "cheesy" transitions help overcome change blindness and aid student memory at the same time.

8. Repeat Yourself Redundantly

It’s OK to repeat the same slide more than once -- especially when using images -- if you are reminding students of an earlier point. Obviously, this is not a license to be monotonous. However, if you want to tie separate ideas together, emphasize a point or splash in a little comic relief, it's perfectly fine to repeat a slide.

Bonus Tip: Make it Funny!

There's little doubt that emotional responses can aid memory. While it can be difficult to apply this power in a classroom slide presentation, humor is easy enough, and adding a bit of levity to your presentations at the right points can work to give students vital memory hooks.

Remember, the point of presentation slides is not to replace you as the teacher, but to help your students understand and remember what you are teaching. Overwhelming them with too much information can be just as harmful as underwhelming them with too little.

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Empower users to control IP devices like lighting, shades, etc, directly from the Zoom Rooms controller.

Tips to enhance your training space

Multiple camera support.

Multiple USB camera support provides more angles to capture the presenters or people in the room. You can find some great conference room camera solutions here .

Multiple Controller Support

Having more than one Zoom Rooms Controller gives you more flexibility on where and how you can control the meeting. It also reduces shared touchpoints.

Divisible Spaces

Zoom Rooms supports divisible spaces too (or combining them) with automation and scale. These spaces can be designed with a number of different configurations.

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Designing the Perfect Presentation Room

Defining the purpose of a presentation room is the best way to achieve the acoustic and AV elements your client needs. In the case of a presentation room, generally, the purpose is to facilitate the communication of the presenter’s thoughts and supporting media to the intended audience. This mission of the room should be considered at every point of the design phase.

The raw shape of the presentation room dictates its acoustic signature. Parallel surfaces reflect sound back and forth. When this happens, it’s called echo and reverberation. (An echo is the simple repetition of sound. Reverberation includes multiple reflections at a much closer interval of time.) The ability to hear something clearly has very much to do with reverberation in a presentation room.

Reverb is the main factor that degrades intelligibility (when the brain has to interpret the timing or reverb between three parallel surfaces). You can fix reverb by applying specific types of wall, floor, and ceiling treatments. If you apply acoustic treatment to one of each pair of parallel surfaces, you effectively control reverb. Treating the ceiling with acoustic ceiling pads or the floor with carpet takes care of those two surfaces. In terms of walls, there are many types of wall coverings – most of which are 0.5- to 1-inch-thick, fabric-covered panels. You can’t cover the treated wall with any hard surfaces, such as white boards, etc.

Media Focus

It’s important for a presenter to interact with his or her media while presenting. There are many different approaches to conference room, training room, and videoconference room layouts. A room that focuses the audience on the presenter and their media simultaneously is always effective. 

For the correct screen size, follow the 6:1 ratio (divide the distance between the media screen and the farthest viewer by 6). The resulting number should equal the ideal screen height. (This is based on general design principles for the display of PowerPoint type media.) High-definition utilizes a screen aspect of 16:9 vs. the traditional 4:3. Using the 6:1 ratio, you realize that it doesn’t take a very big room to require a significant screen.

You must also consider the ceiling height. People sitting around a conference table will have limited viewing ability to see a screen. Images less than 42 inches are generally hidden from view for anyone other than those closest to the screen. Bulkheads can be used to create interesting visual appeal and hide elements like HVAC, but when they narrow the space available for a screen, they effectively limit the distance to the farthest viewer.

Any noise in the room (other than noise generated by the presenter) is unwanted. An unaided presenter’s voice, speaking in a normal tone, is about 72 dB; you need at least 20 dB of clear sound bandwidth over the general noise level in the room to properly hear. Based on this, the ambient noise in a presentation room should be no greater than 52 dB. This infers that the sound of the HVAC system at full load, lighting ballasts, and AV equipment all need to be sound controlled. Keep in mind that refrigerators, coffee pots, and PCs add to the noise.

Lighting is a major factor in a presentation environment. It can enhance or, if improperly designed, completely defeat the purpose of the room. If the size and ratio of the room dictate the use of a projection screen, then it will also predict the type of lighting that will support presentations. When designing around projection systems, don’t block the light path between the projector and the screen with pendant fixtures. You must also consider the horizontal light spread from the fixture that can show up on the screen. 

When designing a room that will support video conferencing, lighting for the camera is a bigger challenge. Video cameras require bright, even lighting with soft falloff – just the opposite for projection systems. Cameras also perform much better with color-controlled lighting (that means no mixed color temperatures in the environment).

Windows are another big challenge. Natural sunlight constantly changes color temperature, depending on time of day and cloud cover. When a camera is used, avoid any non-diffused incandescent fixtures, which will cause shadowing. By employing highly diffused lighting, you can make all meeting participants in a videoconference look their best.

To achieve the best acoustics, take room size, shape, acoustic treatments, the presenter’s focus, ambient noise, and lighting design all into consideration when designing a presentation room. Success will be achieved when all of these design elements focus on the mission of supporting the presenter, which creates an effective presentation environment.

Kirk Grimshaw is founder and CEO of Intaglio .

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A presentation room

Three room layouts for presentations

I’ve been working in more cities than there are days in the week recently. I’ve seen more training rooms than friends 🙂   (Fortunately that’s changed this week in case you cared! 🙂 ). That got me thinking however, about how the different rooms affect presentations.

Room layout: Example 1

Initial presentation se-up with a "Presenters' Table" at the front

Let’s start north of the border with this bunker-like monstrosity! 😉 The caption kind of gives it away, to be honest. The expectation was that I’d sit at the table with my slides appearing on the wall behind me. My concerns were that this created a very clear barrier between me and the audience and (because I was sitting down) it sucked the energy out of what was going to happen. Fortunately it’s not hard to shuffle things like that around, and ten minutes later it looked a bit different.

I moved the table out of the way, turning it 90 degrees as I pushed it to the wall. That way I not only got it out of the way, I had:

  • got somewhere to put my laptop so that I can see my slides as I present, without looking over my shoulder at the big display;
  • create a big space for me to stand/perform in; and
  • removed the psychological barrier between me and the audience.

The almost finished set-up for the presentation, withe desk moved to the side

All I had to do at this point was move the flip chart to the side of the screen and sort out the last two random chairs at the front.

Note the picture on the screen.  I always use that one. I know exactly what it should look like, so it’s a great tester for the set up. As you can see, it didn’t quite fill the screen, so I needed to spend a few minutes looking at the zoom (and then the focus) of the projector to have things as big as they could be.

After that, job done and I was ready. It took about 15 minutes in all, but was very much worthwhile from the audience’s perspective.

(By the way, the pic is of my daughters. I don’t just use it as a set-up image, it’s a great way to stay rooted when I’m not able to get home, but that’s just a personal thing… 😉 )

The way the audience’s chairs were laid out gave a very specific feel to the room and the audience’s expectations, too. By putting them in ‘theatre’ layout it gave the immediate impression (as you entered at the back of a long, thin room) of row after row of the backs of seats. Not only is that an uninviting first impression, visually, it also sets up in people’s heads the idea that they’re there to be (passive) receivers of stuff from the front.

Different layouts such as a horseshoe have a more ‘interactive’ feel.

Room layout: Example 2

Room layout for the presentation before I sorted it out

Firstly that starts to feel to people that they’re in some kind of competition, staring down the opposition team on the other side of the room… but just as importantly, it left no room for me to get in and mix in with the participants. I had no choice but to deliver from the front. At least this room had space for me to do that (and natural daylight, thank heavens!) but as people weren’t facing me, twisted necks were bit of a problem!

Ten minutes of sweating later and things are a lot better as I’d moved things about six feet apart by putting a table’s depth between them. I’m not claiming this is rocket science, just that it’s not something that unconfident presenters often think of, as all too often nerves get the better of them and they take what they’re given.

Your room layout might not be as fixed as you think! If there’s a better way to do what your presentation is supposed to do, don’t be afraid to get sweaty!

Room layout: Example 3

Newcastle University - presentations are a bit easier with two projectors!

Some venues are just an absolute joy!

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CANCELED: Jonathan Dickinson State Park Public Meeting

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DATE AND TIME: This meeting is canceled. The public can continue to submit comments to the agency through this portal and  [email protected] .

PLACE: The Flagler of Stuart - 201 SW Flagler Ave, River Room, Stuart, FL 34994

GENERAL SUBJECT MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Presentation of a proposed amendment to the unit management plan for Jonathan Dickinson State Park followed by public comments.

MEETING MATERIALS:

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The meeting agenda is available  online  and can also be obtained by contacting: Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks, Office of Park Planning, 3800 Commonwealth Blvd., MS#525, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, or by email at [email protected] . 

Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. Persons who require special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or persons who require translation services (free of charge) are asked to contact DEP's Limited English Proficiency Coordinator at (850)245-2118 or [email protected] at least forty-eight (48) hours before the meeting. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, (800)955-8771 (TDD) or (800)955-8770 (voice).

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I moved with my kids to a hotel room. It's cheaper than renting an apartment and has many amenities.

  • I was on a month-to-month lease at our previous place when the owner gave me 30 days' notice.
  • I looked for other places to rent, but the rent was beyond what I could pay.
  • I found a hotel room for $2,200 a month, which is cheaper than other places and has amenities.

Insider Today

"I am not sure what I am asking for exactly, but I need some sense of ease." I prayed the words as I walked into my bedroom and confronted the piles of clothes on the floor.

It wasn't just the clothes that had me feeling overwhelmed — it was everything. The bills, the upkeep of the house I had been living in for six years, the laundry, and the load of doing it all as a single mom of three. My plate was full, and I was so damn close to giving up —whatever that meant.

I loved my house. It had a charm of its own and was within walking distance to both my ex's house and the kids' schools, and my landlord never increased the rent.

I was, however, on a month-to-month lease , and with that came a sense of unease. In other ways, too, the house contributed to my sense of unease. The yard required an infinite amount of work, the oil tank and furnace were constantly malfunctioning, and don't even get me started on the mice issue.

I was drowning and needed to find a way out, though I didn't know what that was, so I prayed.

The house was put up for sale, and we had to move

Imagine my surprise when I read the email from my landlord that said, "We are putting the house up for sale and need you out by March 1." That was only 30 days away. Where would we go? How would I afford it? I didn't have savings to rely on ; hell, I didn't even have a credit card.

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I had prayed for a solution, for a sense of ease. This couldn't be my answer. This was more stress.

So, I hit Zillow. Two bedrooms, 1,000 square feet, $2,700 a month. Three bedrooms, 1,200 square feet, $3,000 a month. The prices were outrageous and well beyond my budget. When I finally found a place that left me feeling positive, my application was denied because my credit was subpar.

I was defeated. My plate was not just full. It was breaking and leaving a mess all around me. My mom generously offered that we could stay with her until I found something. I was grateful, but at 46 years old I was desperate for a solution that would honor my need for independence, privacy, and affordability. It was time to get creative.

I found a hotel room that rents for long-term stays

I frantically searched Airbnb and Vrbo, but the few long-term options were already booked. As a last-ditch effort, I reached out to local hotels and inquired about rates for long-term stays. That's when I received surprise email No. 2. Only this one was from Avon Old Farms Hotel , and, with it, I felt as if I had won the lottery.

"We have a two-bedroom apartment on-site that we rent out for longer stays. It's $2200 a month and includes all utilities and hotel amenities," the email said.

Sure, this was only a temporary solution — the apartment was on the small side, and the location was not perfect. But it was a place my kids and I could call our own, even if only for a few months.

After taking a look at the apartment, I signed on the dotted line. Quickly after moving in, I was told the cleaning team would be coming every Tuesday to do a deep clean, change the bedding, and swap out our used towels with clean ones. The gift of having towels laundered and stocked on top of the weekly cleaning was going to be the greatest gift in the world for me.

I still had to tell my kids, though, whom I assumed would be less than thrilled with a small temporary arrangement further from their father. But they found the adventure in our setup right away as they explored the beautiful hotel grounds. Their eyes lit up when I showed them the pool, the game room, the sauna, and the gym. They quickly discovered that the hotel restaurant hosted trivia every Thursday night, and it has since become our favorite weekly activity. We swim on hot days, cook s'mores at the firepits on the weekends, and enjoy continental breakfast in the mornings.

This is not an apartment I would've ever looked for, and I would not have known to look at a hotel for my housing needs. On paper, it is not a great fit for me and my kids. But the amenities are the answer to my prayers. They have offered me the gift of ease, and that, after all, is exactly what I prayed for.

Watch: Was Italy's $1 home scheme worth it?

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“Sat There In My Dressing Room & Performed An Hour Of Songs” – Carrot Top On His Unlikely Friendship With Toby Keith

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Red solo cups and famous red-headed comedians apparently go together pretty well.

There were a lot of highlights from NBC’s “Toby Keith: American Icon” special that ran last night. The event itself actually took place back in July, and was recorded and edited to air as a tribute concert. Some of country music’s biggest names, including Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson and Eric Church, showed up to pay their respects to the “Big Dog Daddy.”

We’re coming up on half a year since we lost Toby Keith , which is hard to believe. When the news of his passing after a long battle with stomach cancer broke, the country music world and anyone who ever listened to Toby Keith’s catalogue was rightfully devastated. The NBC special was rightfully and accurately named: Toby was an American icon.

Throughout the two hour special, there were plenty of cool reveals and stories that some might not have known about Keith. That included the fact that Keith and recognizable comedian Carrot Top (whose real name is Scott Thompson) were good friends, as Carrot Top explained when his pre-recorded excerpt aired during the show:

“Toby Keith was a patriot, a family man, and an incredible songwriter. One thing that would surprise people about Toby is that we were friends. He’d always say, ‘I don’t know why people think it’s weird that me and Carrot are hanging out.’ We would hang out.”

Man, would it be cool to say that you used to hang out with the “Big Dog Daddy” himself.

Carrot Top went on to provide a small example of the big country artist that Keith was, and like many of the stories that have come out since his passing, it showcases how Toby made everyone around him feel special:

“He would come to my shows with his family and his wife and his friends, and he sat there in my dressing room and performed an hour of acoustic songs and storytelling. (He) had everyone laughing. He was a good man… Big Dog, love you man.”

Selfless, welcoming, and funny as could be. That sounds exactly like the Toby Keith we all came to know and love over the years. Those like Carrot Top who were able to share a friendship with the man know how lucky they were to have Keith in their lives.

You can hear more from Carrot Top in the clip below:

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presentation my room

Poster Samples

Looking at samples of real student posters can help you generate ideas and define your goals. As you get started, it may be helpful to look at examples of finished posters.

Below are a number of sample posters created by UT undergraduates. There is a brief discussion of each poster highlighting its greatest strengths and areas where there is room for improvement.

Poster Sample 1

  • More than one type of visual aid
  • Logical order for sections
  • Acknowledgments

Room for improvement

  • Background may be distracting, or detract from content
  • Sections and images are not aligned
  • Too many visual components clutter poster

Poster Sample 2

  • White space
  • Legible text and graphics
  • Reports preliminary results
  • All participants listed as authors, with affiliations provided
  • Lacks Citations and Acknowledgements
  • Labeling of images/graphics
  • Inconsistent text alignment
  • Color-saturated background

Poster Sample 3

  • Clearly defined research questions
  • Effective use of visual aids
  • Clear organizational structure
  • Bullets break up text
  • Technical language/undefined acronyms (accessible to limited audience)
  • Narrow margins within text boxes
  • Too many thick borders around boxes
  • Uses UT seal instead of college or university wordmark

Poster Sample 3

  • Clear introductory material
  • Use of bullet points
  • Logical flow
  • Color-coding in graphics
  • Lacks references section
  • May not be accessible to all audiences (some technical language)
  • No need for borders around sections (the blue headers are sufficient)

Poster Sample 4

  • Compelling visual aids
  • Strategic use of color
  • Clear sections
  • Inconsistent fonts in body text
  • Abstract section mislabeled
  • Bullet points are great, but only if they’re used judiciously

Poster Sample 5

  • Parameters of study well defined
  • Clearly defined research question
  • Simple color scheme
  • Use of white space
  • Discussion of Results
  • Minor formatting misalignments
  • Unauthorized use of UT seal (use wordmark instead)

Poster Sample 6

  • Venn diagram in discussion
  • Consistent graphics
  • Multiple types of visual aids
  • Light text on dark background
  • Color backgrounds should be avoided, especially dark ones
  • Unlabeled, non-credited photos

Poster Sample 7

  • Easy to read
  • Use of shapes, figures, and bullets to break up text
  • Compelling title (and title font size)
  • Clean overall visual impression
  • Many sections without a clear flow between them
  • Lacks acknowledgements

Poster Sample 8

  • Use of images/graphics
  • Clear title
  • Accessible but professional tone
  • Length/density of text blocks
  • Tiny photo citations
  • Connections between images and descriptive text
  • Vertical boxes unnecessary

Poster Sample 9

  • Compelling title
  • Font sizes throughout (hierarchy of text)
  • Simple graphics
  • Lacks clear Background section
  • Relationship of Findings and Conclusion to Research questions

Poster Sample 10

  • Use of visual aids
  • Uneven column width
  • Center-justfied body text
  • Lacks “Methods” section

Poster Sample 11

  • Use of bullets
  • Too many different font styles (serif and sans serif, bold and normal)
  • Concise interpretation of graphics

Poster Sample 12

  • Accessible visual structure
  • Clear, simple graphics
  • Fonts and font sizes
  • Analysis of graphic data
  • Discussion of significance
  • Lacks author’s affiliation and contact information

Poster Sample 13

  • Balance among visuals, text and white space
  • Data presented in visual format (SmartArt)
  • Accesible to many audiences (simple enough for general audience, but enough methodological detail for experts)
  • Some more editing needed
  • When targeting an expert audience (as in the methodology section), should also report statistics ( r, p, t, F, etc.)

Poster Sample 14

  • Large, clear title
  • Creative adaptation of sections
  • Use of lists (rather than paragraphs)
  • Accessible to diverse audience
  • Connection between visuals (sheet music) and content

Poster Sample 14

  • Strategic use of color for section headers
  • Labeling and citation of images
  • Accessible to a broad audience
  • Wide margins around poster edges
  • Slightly text-heavy
  • Data referenced (“Methodology”) but not discussed

What is my next step?

Begin working on the content for your poster at Create Your Message .

IMAGES

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VIDEO

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  6. Presentation my new website in my college

COMMENTS

  1. Free interior and decorating home design in 3D Online

    Look what makes Roomtodo better than other floor planning software. Upload your apartment plan, draw the outline of the rooms and your apartment is ready for design in 3D. A lot of models of windows, doors, as well as arches, columns, and other structural components. Experiment with thousands of wall, floor and ceiling finishes.

  2. Have a Better Presenation When Your Room is Set Up Properly

    A Boardroom Style Room Setup is ideal for small groups (usually fewer than 12 people) where different speakers will present. This room style works best for staff meetings, project briefings, or problem-solving meetings. If the meeting is going to be fairly short and you will only have a single main speaker, this may be your ideal conference room setup.

  3. Online Room Planner

    Welcome to the Room Planner! Browse our tips on how to best use the tool or close this to get started designing. Adding Items to Room Plan. Drag & drop any product icon from the left side menu. Resizing & Rotating. Click & drag the resize and rotate icons to manipulate an item. Item Info.

  4. How to Optimize Room Setup for Training and Presentations

    Eliminate unnecessary seats. Suppose you know that your audience is going to be 30 people, but the room is set up with 6 rows of 10 chairs each (=60 seats total). Most people tend to choose a seat toward the back. The result is that most of your audience will sit in the back half of the room.

  5. Pro Presentation Tips: 7 Secrets to Winning the Room

    Here are our seven tips for winning a room by sending the right signals with your nonverbal and verbal cues. 1. Make Yourself Big. The first key to success in a high-stakes situation is to boost your confidence. Try this: Make yourself as big as possible for a minute or two beforehand, with your arms raised high as though you just won the lottery.

  6. Speaking Environment Part 1: The Room, Setup, and Other Considerations

    Finally, avoid standing near the exit or entryway. It's like being near the kitchen or bathroom in a restaurant. Every time someone arrives late or leaves to take a break, you must reengage your audience's attention. 4. Adjust the Lighting. In general, avoid putting the audience in the dark or semi-darkness.

  7. how to lay out the room for your presentation

    Pro tip: use a remote control so that you can move around the room and make a point of presenting from the side of the table rather than being stuck at one end. That way you can work more easily with different people and you're not too far from anyone. What's more, it gives you the advantage of distancing you from your slides and puts you ...

  8. A Guide to Event Layouts & Room Setups + Table & Seating Plans

    Family-Style Banquet w/ Rectangular Tables. A variation of this entails substituting round tables for long banquet tables (8' x 2.5' or 6' x 2.5' tables), lining these tables up end-to-end and placing chairs along the long sides. This is often called family-style banquet seating and encourages more interaction among guests.

  9. Living Room Design in Microsoft PowerPoint 2019

    PowerPoint Training - How to Create a Living Room Design in Microsoft PowerPoint 2019. Includes: how to make a sofa, table, frame, custom wall clocks. Visit ...

  10. Presentation settings for different rooms

    Presentation settings for different rooms. One presentation really doesn't fit all situations. Depending on the room, the setting, the purpose of your upcoming presentation, the slides have to be optimized. Your preparation will differ. This is a quick guide to how three different settings effects three aspects of your presentation.

  11. How to Present A Client's Interior Design Mood Board

    Step #2 Lay Out Your Room. In our opinion, it is important for a board to include the layout of the room. A layout provides the container for your creativity and allows for accurate furniture placement and scaling. Creating your room layout can be completed in several ways, and your method should be dictated by your own preferences and skills.

  12. Room Setup for your Presentation

    In this video we will take a look at setting up the room for your presentation. Key point: when you are presenting, get rid of all visual distractions separa...

  13. What is the best room setup for your workshop?

    The banquet style room arrangement is a round table setup with participants facing each other like at a dinner table. This encourages full interaction between people sitting at one table. It is often used for interactive workshops with group discussions and exercises. Banquet Style Seating Arrangement.

  14. Rooms Of The House PPT

    Download this rooms-of-the-house PPT and use it in class today. This rooms of the house PowerPoint lesson includes rooms of the house vocabulary and expressions such as 'Where's mom?' - 'She's in the living room.'. Rooms of the house include living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, garden, and laundry room.

  15. 5 Simple Ways To Own The Room

    5. Improvise well. The fifth way to own a room is to improvise well. Charming with your spontaneity and wit is a great way to get and hold people's attention. This is the hardest way because it takes a lot of practice to be a good improviser. However, working in this area will help all the other areas.

  16. How to Do a Presentation

    5 Steps to dazzle your audience. https://ruletheroompublicspeaking.com/public-speaking-video-library/Be better by tomorrow. Discover the secrets to giving a ...

  17. 8 Tips to Power-Up Your Classroom Presentations

    2. Minimize Verbosity. Your slides are there to support what you are saying, not to say it for you. Keep your word count low, and only place one main point on a slide, plus three to five sub-points if absolutely needed. Remember tip #1 above -- don't be afraid to use more slides.

  18. Large Training & Presentation Space

    A flexible presentation space for large groups of 25 people or more. Empower multiple users to share their content at the same in a Zoom Room. Allow participants to view and co-annotate on a blank whiteboard or over shared content. Empower users to control IP devices like lighting, shades, etc, directly from the Zoom Rooms controller.

  19. Designing the Perfect Presentation Room

    An unaided presenter's voice, speaking in a normal tone, is about 72 dB; you need at least 20 dB of clear sound bandwidth over the general noise level in the room to properly hear. Based on this, the ambient noise in a presentation room should be no greater than 52 dB. This infers that the sound of the HVAC system at full load, lighting ...

  20. My Bedroom: PowerPoint Presentation

    My Bedroom: PowerPoint Presentation. Found a mistake? This fully animated PowerPoint presentation focuses on vocabulary related to bedroom furniture and prepositions of place. Students are asked to put the furniture pieces and objects into the room as instructed. Recommended for beginners.

  21. 139 Rooms English ESL powerpoints

    A selection of English ESL rooms ppt slides. rooms. Worksheets. Powerpoints. Video Lessons. Search. Filters. 139 Rooms English ESL powerpoints. ... 2256 uses. gvaquer1. Describing Rooms. Just a set of pictur. 215 uses. Katharina1. My room. Describing of a room. 354 uses. seredushka94. Rooms and furniture. In this presentation. 3743 uses ...

  22. Three room layouts for presentations

    Room layout: Example 1. Initial presentation se-up with a "Presenters' Table" at the front. Let's start north of the border with this bunker-like monstrosity! 😉 The caption kind of gives it away, to be honest. The expectation was that I'd sit at the table with my slides appearing on the wall behind me. My concerns were that this ...

  23. RESCHEDULED: Jonathan Dickinson State Park Public Meeting

    PLACE: The Flagler of Stuart - 201 SW Flagler Ave, River Room, Stuart, FL 34994. GENERAL SUBJECT MATTER TO BE CONSIDERED: Presentation of a proposed amendment to the unit management plan for Jonathan Dickinson State Park followed by public comments. MEETING MATERIALS: Jonathan Dickinson State Park Draft UMP Amendment; Reference Map; Conceptual ...

  24. I moved with my kids to a hotel room. It's cheaper than renting an

    I found a hotel room for $2,200 a month, which is cheaper than other places and has amenities. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today's biggest stories in markets, tech, and business ...

  25. "Sat There In My Dressing Room & Performed An Hour Of Songs"

    Red solo cups and famous red-headed comedians apparently go together pretty well. There were a lot of highlights from NBC's "Toby Keith: American Icon" special that ran last night. The event itself actually took place back in July, and was recorded and edited to air as a tribute concert. Some of country music's biggest names,

  26. NBC Sports' Presentation of Premier League's Opening Weekend is Most

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  27. Work Smarter: Copilot Productivity Tips

    Tip 3: Add images to your presentations. Copilot in PowerPoint can make your presentations more visually compelling as well. Use it to suggest stock images for your presentation by using the Copilot prompt to "Add an image" related to your topic, and it will go through the stock images and select an image to add from that collection.

  28. Poster Samples

    Find Us. Undergraduate Research Peter T. Flawn Academic Center (FAC) Room 33 2304 Whitis Ave. Austin, Texas 78712 512-471-7152

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