Episode #385: Big Venue, Big Results: Practical Techniques for Large Crowds

Presenting to a very large audience demands a different approach because distance changes what people can see, hear, and feel. The core problem is not your content — it is visibility and connection at scale. When the venue grows, you shrink. The solution is to deliberately “big up” your delivery so the people seated at the far extremes still experience your presence and message.

### What changes when you move from a normal room to a large venue?

Large venues create the tyranny of distance. Because the back rows sit so far away, the speaker looks “quite small” from those seats, which means subtle gestures and normal stage behaviour lose impact. Therefore you must scale up what you do on stage so you do not look like “a peanut” to people at the far extremes. When you accept that the room makes you smaller, you stop relying on nuance and start designing for the cheap seats at the back.

Mini-summary: Because distance reduces your visibility, you must deliberately enlarge your delivery so your message still lands.

### How do you diagnose what the back row experiences?

Arrive early and sit in the most far flung locations: the last row at the back or the rear seats on an elevated tier. Because you see the stage from the hardest viewpoint, you learn how small a speaker looks from there and you adjust accordingly. This is a practical, reality-based check: instead of guessing, you confirm what the audience will actually see. Then you can design your presence for the far extremes, not only for those close to the stage.

Mini-summary: Because you cannot improve what you have not observed, sit in the back and design for what you see.

### How do you avoid stage-edge mistakes in big venues?

Big venues often have a defined space between the front row and the stage, sometimes with an orchestra pit. Because you will stand very close to the apron to be more easily seen, you must know where “far enough forward” is before you begin. The risk increases once you start scanning for faces high up on the back tiers, because your eyes go up and you stop looking down where you are walking. Curved stages make it easier to forget the edge is not straight. Therefore, check the front of the stage beforehand so you can move with confidence and stay safe.

Mini-summary: Because large stages include hidden hazards, you must inspect the front edge early and set your safe boundary.

### What microphone choice and gesture size works best at scale?

Use a pin microphone so your hands stay free for gestures. Because you are effectively “a peanut” to the people in the cheap seats at the back, your gestures must become much larger than anything you have used before. Therefore, use double-handed gestures to fill up more of the stage with your presence. When you use open palms to signal trust, spread your hands far wider than the boundaries of your body. When you indicate something “high”, raise your hand as high above your head as possible so it has impact.

Mini-summary: Because the audience sits far away, you need free hands and much larger gestures for visibility.

### How do you use audience participation to create energy in a massive room?

Ask the audience to raise their hands for a common experience, but do not overdo it. Because many people do the same thing at the same time, crowd dynamics and crowd psychology kick in: the room becomes “infected” with energy and agreement. This shared movement also feeds back into you on stage, giving you a serious energy lift. When a big audience leans in, the connection feels electric, so use that surge to reinforce your message and build momentum.

Mini-summary: Because synchronised audience action amplifies energy, a simple show of hands can lift the entire room.

### How do you project ki, voice, and eye contact to the back wall?

Marshal your ki or chi for the task and mentally push your energy to the very back wall of the hall. Because you are miked up, you do not need to yell; yelling will distort the sound. Instead, direct your voice strength to the last rows without forcing volume. Then use your eyes to reach the whole space. Break the audience into a baseball diamond: left, centre, right field, plus inner and outer field. Work those six sectors by picking out individuals and looking straight at their faces. Even if they are blurry outlines to you, people around them will feel seen because they believe you are looking at them.

Mini-summary: Because a large hall demands deliberate reach, project energy and voice to the back while distributing eye contact by sectors.

### How should you move on a big stage without distracting people?

Avoid nervous wandering, where a speaker goes up and down continuously and distracts from the key message. Because constant movement draws attention to itself, it pulls focus away from what you are saying. Instead, use controlled movement with purpose. Walk slowly to the extreme left edge, stop, settle, and speak to that side. Return to centre, stop, settle, and speak. Then move to the right and repeat. Keep cycling through walk-and-settle so each section feels included, and do not forget the front row because your presence has the strongest immediate impact there.

Mini-summary: Because pacing distracts, move with intention: walk, stop, settle, and speak to each section of the room.