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There is more to a presentation than words, and the nonverbal content needs as much consideration as the verbal. The right presentation music can create an atmosphere for your piece that helps convey your message. Deciding which music to use is one of the most important decisions facing a presentation producer. Some production designers choose their music in an almost offhand manner. This is usually a mistake. The same designer would never choose presentation graphics at random; the visual elements of a project as carefully selected to enhance and elaborate on the message of each slide and of the work as a whole. Slapping a random track onto the result of weeks of design is risky and unprofessional at best and self-defeating at worst. Music, like every other part of the endeavour, should be chosen as part of the overall effect.

One important consideration in presentation music selection is the sensibilities of your target audience. You never want people to think your project is in poor taste. Work aimed at certain religious or educational venues should not be accompanied by anything that alludes to rap or rock music. Just as image files should be selected so as not to offend, so should music be carefully screened. People react to different music in different ways. Make sure the music chosen will have the effect desired. If the idea is to entice viewers to a trade show booth, the style will be bright and happy. It should not, however, make listeners want to move, or they may move right on past the booth and defeat the whole purpose. Similarly, an educational video on conflict resolution probably should not feature music with overtones of aggression. The loops have to be part of the total package.

Music search must be begun early immaterial of the loops that you choose. Finding the right track can take quite a long time, and it may even take more time to acquire the rights to the music. There are times when you can use music specially recorded for the presentation if you are making the video for use in a school or church setting where musicians can be hired for a reasonable cost. Never use copyrighted material when you are selecting presentation music. Copyright does not confine itself to the use of a record and quite often even the tune and lyrics have a copyright for which a fee may require to be paid, unless the circumstances are unusual. So whenever you are looking at such music as a designer make sure that the copyright on the tune has expired or specifically ask for original music. There are original performances that are pre-recorded and meant to be sold specifically as presentation music and this avoids the issue of copyright.

If the piece is not composed by the person selling it then they will supply the purchaser with the required documentation required for the usage. This is one of the safest legal ways of getting the music. If you want to use presentation tracks which are pre-recorded, you should know where they can be found. Music which is available commercially could prove to be quite expensive, whereas work which is amateurish will not get you the effect which is required. Appropriate music is available for download at affordable rates from certain websites which specialize in such music. Some of the free stuff may not be so great, but there are composers who have created great music from single loops to entire music CDs which can fit ideally to your requirements. Each presentation should have an appropriate soundtrack which brings out the emphasis on the topic and sets the mood that the designers intended. Presentation music available online is great to create an impact and will be well within your budget. For great music loop go to: http://www.musicalvibe.net.

Do you watch Dancing with the Stars? One of the three judges is Bruno Tonioli. Usually, I have a problem with him. Particularly when he addresses the contestants. It is at that time that he will usually express himself in a manner such as “You need to work on your rhythm. You looked like Shrek lumbering about for your dinner!”

PU-LEASE! Is that type of comment necessary? I hope you will agree it is not. Perhaps, in the style of Simon Cowell, they hope to boost ratings. But let’s take a look at it from a public speaking standpoint.

Tonight, Bruno said to one of the worst dancers, “You were on, you were off, your were on… You had a section in the middle where you were with the music, but you need to work on that. Work on staying with the music.”

Don’t you think that is better than, “You look like a broken juke box! Skipping and jumping and not keeping the rhythm.”

As a presenter, you can learn two things from this. First, connect with your audience. Don’t alienate them. If you can connect with your audience, they are more likely to listen, to consider, and maybe to see it your way. That is true whether you are evaluating them, or whether your are presenting a new business proposal or donation request.

Second, learn from evaluations. Learn from others’ evaluations wherever you find them. And if you can’t find them, do them yourselves. Evaluate people. Do it in your head if necessary. Get used to noticing the things that you yourself need to work on. Maybe even by noticing mistakes in others, you will notice that you have the same problem which you didn’t notice before.

It is similar to when you purchase a new car. Before you bought that car, whatever make or model, you didn’t notice that particular car on the road. But once you bought it, you notice every one on the road. The same goes with any type of expertise. The more you watch for it, the more you notice it, the more easily you pick it up in the future. This can be used to your advantage. Look for good and bad presentation techniques in others and you will start to notice them in yourself.

By the way, there is a term for that sensitivity. I heard it on the radio last month. Do you know what it is?