Tips on using lecterns

In the lead-up to Gordon Brown's keynote conference speech last month, the BBC's Daily Politics asked the award-winning  actor Brian Cox what presentation tips he would pass on to the Prime Minister. He replied that he should stand his ground by standing his ground, in other words, speak from one spot instead of roaming around the platform as the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg had done as he spoke at his party's conference the previous week, guided by a number of autocues. Sure enough, Mr Brown spoke from behind a lectern.

Which brings me to the recent discussion among some of my favourite public speaking bloggers concerning the use of lecterns. I suppose it began back in August when my fellow Bournemouth speechwriter Brian Jenner's site displayed the clear, portable, branded model he had just taken delivery of. This drew several comments, positive and negative.

Then Lisa Braithwaite of Speak Schmeak wrote a couple of posts arguing against lecterns, one listing what she feels are the problems with using them and another a few weeks later after she had seen a TV debate featuring the US Presidential candidates where Barack Obama towered over his lectern, leaving the somewhat shorter John McCain seemingly dwarfed by his. The excellent UK blogger Jeremy Jacobs weighed in with comments and a post on his own site Corporate Presenter agreeing with Lisa.

So what are my own feelings about lecterns, having used quite a few myself over 700 speaking engagements?

I think that for a nervous, novice speaker learning to get up in front of an audience and use notes, they can be a something of a labour-saving comfort, especially if the microphone is attached. When a speaker becomes more experienced, it can be a different story.

Much depends upon the nature of the presentation. Roaming around the stage may be expected of a cabaret singer, a comedian and possibly a motivational speaker but when politicians start doing this instead of speaking from the podium then to me it always looks rather manipulative (ok, they're politicians - make that even more manipulative than usual!)

To those who always want to wander around during their presentations I say try after dinner speaking - chance would be a fine thing! Sometimes you can speak from a different part of the room after a luncheon or dinner (I usually try to as it's more comfortable for me and more visible to my audience than my place at the Top Table) but I have sometimes had to perform standing in front of my seat in a dining room so cramped that the waiting staff have barely had enough space to squeeze between the chairs and the walls to serve the food - there hardly seems to be room for a lettuce leaf let alone a lectern!

I don't mind using lecterns but they can have a few drawbacks. My talks are humorous and lively and I often walk away a few feet as I act out certain scenarios - difficult to do if the mic is attached to the lectern. It is also often the case that although they are in theory designed to hold written materials, some cannot actually do this; the shelf may be too narrow to hold a medium-sized book and even a single sheet of paper may slip off the shiny wood unless it's fastened onto it or a clipboard!

My ideal is a small table for my notes, water, props and merchandise. I can stand behind it, beside it or in front of it - and during a typical talk I may do all of these.

Public Speaking Tip #250: Lecterns may be a good focal point and, in the case of eulogies and religious readings, they can add the required dignity to the occasion but for other types of speaking, I would say that, whatever your height, you must be bigger than the lectern: in other words, be lively and animated in your delivery and don't bury your face in your written materials - but then surely these 'rules' apply to all speeches, whatever the setting!