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Using Sound in Your Presentation
By Neil Buckland, Senior Business Manager
of The Presentation Team

Visual elements and graphics have long been used to add impact to presentations. And yet, most presenters have long neglected the powerful role that sound can play in making a presentation more dynamic. By adding sound- whether it's narration, sound effects, or music- you can make your presentation far more memorable and compelling.

Narration
Though it is generally more effective to deliver a presentation live, the practice, timing, and logistical challenges can be daunting to many presenters. A recorded narration may relieve most of this pressure and can actually improve the overall quality of the presentation.

• Consider a professional voiceover artist to deliver narration with a clear and clean diction.
• Narration helps support your presentation content without overloading it with dense blocks text.
• Text bullets should merely emphasize key points stated in the narration.

Sound Effects
Click. Pop. Fizz. Sound effects have long been a favorite for presenters. Though it's easy to use PowerPoint's included sound effects, you should be careful to avoid over-doing it. Nearly all sound effects can become annoying when repeated often, no matter how appropriate they may be.

• Use sound effects only to emphasize the most important points in a presentation.
• Don't use the same effect over and over again
• Make sure that whatever effects you are using are specifically appropriate to the style and content of the presentation as well as the specific bullet it is being applied to.

Music
Just as a background image establishes the visual mood of a presentation, background music has a special power to set a mood that helps capture your audience's attention. It is important to choose the style of music carefully. The music you choose should be appropriate for your content as well as your audience. For example, Soft New Age music would not be a good choice for a presentation created to empower a sales staff. Also remember that background music is exactly that…background.

One excellent source of presentation music is Digital Juice's BackTraxx, a two-volume CD Library of over 900 tracks of musical selections to complement any presentation. It's online at www.presentationteam.com/Products.

• Do not choose music that is going distract your audience and draw attention away from the message you are trying to convey.
• Keep the volume low and avoid excessive repetition; looping music often creates annoyance.
• Background music should be used sparingly in presentation, and works best when the presenter has a rehearsed script or message.

Playback System
All three elements of sound can be used individually or in combination. If your presentation contains a lot of audio, make sure the playback system will give it justice. Wonderful background music can sound tinny and irritating on laptop speakers. The same applies to vocal narration. For important presentations, consider bringing along some high quality external speakers.