When you're planning your next live event - you need to consider how you'll set up your room

 

You need to think carefully about what you want to achieve, what your business objectives are, and how best to achieve it. Your room setup isn't an arbitrary determination. The optimal room setup should be based on how you want your attendees to perceive your event, and how you want to interact with your attendees.

Four main types of room setups can help you achieve different goals.

Theater-Style Setup

Theater-style setup is when you have rows of seating, with no tables, much like a theater. This is a optimal setup when you're trying to get many people in a room. A theater-style setup is appropriate when you plan to speak to your attendees like an audience. Theater-style setups are optimal for presentation-style events and lectures.

Classroom-Style Setup

A classroom-style setup is similar to a theater-style setup, with one major exception: you have rows of tables at which your attendees can sit. Classroom-style setups are good when your attendees need to be able to write or review materials, and you want their focus on you. This gives them tabletop space with which to work, but the focus is toward the front of the room and the speaker. You can't fit as many people in a classroom-style setup, but this setup is optimal for workshops or business training courses.

U-Shape Setup

As an alternative to the classroom-style setup, you can utilize the U-shape setup. In the U-shape setup, the tables are arranged facing a central point in the room; not the front of the room. The tables are assembled into a U, and the speaker stands at the front of the U. With this style of setup, speakers can easily interact with attendees on an individual basis, and attendees can interact more easily with one another. This is a good setup for interactive workshops, and is also typical of a business course.

Cabaret-Style Setup

Cabaret-style setup is when you have clusters of tables or round tables around which attendees sit. The focus in cabaret-style setup is the other people at the table. With this setup, the speaker may occasionally address the attendees, but the focus of the event is typically on interaction between the attendees themselves. The speaker serves more as a facilitator for these interactions. This is a great setup if your event is based around brainstorming or group exercises, where you want your attendees to interact with one another.

Think about the Type of Event You're Running.

Each setup is optimal for a specific type of event. To choose the appropriate room setup for a live event, you must think about what you want to accomplish with your event. Do you want your attendees to interact with each other? Do you want to give a talk? Matching the right room setup with the right event gives your event the atmosphere you want to achieve, and puts you one step closer to running a successful event!

 

About the Author

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs including women business owners become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. Visit her Event Money Machine Blog. You'll learn about an amazing new Telesummit. Tickets to this event are FREE - so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available. http://eventmoneymachineblog.com