Testing, 1, 2, can you hear me?

"Nah, I don’t need a mic." These words have been said all over – in regards to presentations/speeches, Q&A forums, church worship services, etc….but let’s take a look at whether that’s true.

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When you speak to one other person, you generally project loud enough for your voice to travel from your mouth to the other person’s ears – though most have us have encountered situations where we need to speak a bit louder in order for that to work (the listener has difficulty hearing well, there are other noises nearby, etc.). When you speak to a small room with perhaps a dozen people located near you, you’ll generally project loud enough for your voice to reach them as well. In these situations, sure, a microphone [mic] is not strictly necessary.

But what about when you have more than a few people, or people are more than a few feet away from you, how can you ensure that they easily hear you? Not everyone has perfect hearing, and no one should have to struggle to hear. Even for people who have great hearing, the acoustics of the space, room noise (including running HVAC systems, whispers in the crowd), distance from the speaker, direction to the speaker (is there a clear line from the listener’s ears to the speaker’s mouth?) and other other sensory inputs can make it difficult to hear an unamplified speaker.

Also consider a scenario where there are multiple speakers, and only some of them are using a mic. Even if unmic’d speakers could possibly speak loud enough and project well enough to cover the entire room, the juxtaposition of their unmic’d voices with amplified sound [the other speakers who are using microphones, or pre-recorded music/voices that are piped into the sound system] will make the unmic’d speakers seem quieter by comparison… which brings us right back to the same scenario: always use a mic. (Note: this same imbalance in sound levels can also occur with a poor mix, so it’s important to have someone keeping an eye on the live sound, or at the very least doing a full sound check beforehand.)

Additionally, if the event is being recorded, streamed live over the internet, or even streamed to other parts of the facility, sound will not be transmitted to the recording/livestream unless it is picked up by a microphone.

When you consider the implications, it’s easy to see that a speaker who refuses to use a mic is excluding everyone who is not:
(1) there in the same room
(2) at that very moment
(3) with excellent hearing
(4) and no other auditory distractions or hindrances.

To put it bluntly, whether a speaker intends it this way or not, refusing to use a microphone in these types of settings is a selfish and/or ableist act. A speaker’s own inconvenience or discomfort is not more valuable than accomodating the entire audience.

So please: always use a mic.

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Related tips / best practices / FAQs:

– Questions/comments from the crowd:
Sometimes it’s appropriate to take questions or comments from the crowd/audience/congregation. Whenever possible, a handheld wireless mic is great for these situations. When one is not available, the mic’d speaker can simply repeat the question/comment for the benefit of everyone else, summarizing when necessary. This ensures that everyone else stay engaged overall, and not reduced to simply visual witnesses to a private conversation in a public setting.

– “But I don’t like hearing my own voice.”
This is a common complaint among those who are not accustomed to hearing themselves speak, and the solution is simple: get accustomed. Practice speaking with a mic until it is no longer strange and uncomfortable for you – your comfort will increase the more you speak with a mic. If you’ve allowed yourself to be in a position where you are speaking to a large number of people, you must allow them to be able to hear you.

– “But why can’t people just tell me if they need me to use a mic?”
Many people don’t want to feel like they are singled out or inconveniencing someone else (regardless of whether that is true); many people will also assume that a microphone would be used if one were available. Please don’t wait until someone speaks up [pun intended] and asks you to use a microphone – just use one from the get-go. The risk of alienating someone because you do not use a mic is far greater than the risk of alienating someone because you do.

– Live sound team and sound check:
It is certainly best practice to have someone running live sound during an event, and this is a goal we should work towards whenever possible. A sound person/team can make sure sound levels are appropriate [remember the point above about some speakers being louder than others], that microphones are muted when not in active use to prevent feedback, and can troubleshoot any issues that pop up. When it’s not possible to have a sound team in place during the event (and even when it is), a thorough sound check shortly before the event will be a big help to preventing major issues.

– Other sound while one person is speaking:
Some hearing aids may switch into a music mode when there is music playing, and some people have trouble separating multiple auditory inputs – so if, for example, you are speaking while a band or piano plays, some listeners may struggle to focus on what you are saying.

– Common microphones, and picking up your voice:
The first thing to remember when speaking is that you need to project, even when using a microphone. After all, a microphone can only amplify sound that it picks up – so if you quietly whisper towards the general direction, your whispers won’t reach the mic. But if you speak strongly from your chest, your voice will project to the microphone, and all will be well.

A good lavalier mic with proper placement should pick up and amplify your voice well with its proximity pattern, so you shouldn’t have to talk to your shoulder or into your chest. Generally speaking, a lavalier mic should be pinned closer to center, around the height where you’d put a name tag – but confirm with your sound engineer, who should be knowledgeable about that specific mic model’s pattern and should be able to help you place it optimally for the best sound. You’ll also want to confirm that the microphone part of the lavalier is facing your mouth; if it’s pointed down, for example, it will amplify your feet more than your voice.

Similarly, a good podium mic will pick up and amplify your voice well with its pattern, so you shouldn’t need to yank the mic toward you or crane your neck to put your face right next to the microphone.

A handheld microphone will generally require you to speak closer into the mic itself, so that the input into the microphone is your voice and not the noise around you.

And, with every type of microphone and with every sound system, a quick sound check before the event will help a great deal toward ensuring everyone’s (including the speaker’s) comfort.


- Salty Consulting