Is Background Music Good for a Business Presentation?
Using music to make a better business presentation? It’s tricky. There are huge advantages when it comes to using music in business, but also some significant drawbacks if you don’t know how to use it correctly.
Why use music for a business presentation?
Music aims to be an explosion of emotions. It means that you can either use it to lift someone’s spirits or to enhance sadness. But if you want to play some music in the background during your business presentation, and during it or after it, if you would like, there are some things you may consider. If you’re not sure this is going to work, or never had a business presentation, these examples will help you make the right choices, while enchanting your listeners!
There are a couple of days left until your presentation, but you haven’t decided yet what to wear, how to do your hair, and of course, how to make your guests feel as welcome as possible? Well, catering food is already in place, the bottles of a champagne wait to pop up, but you feel like something is missing. Exactly, you need upbeat music to enhance the atmosphere. Wait, is this appropriate? How would investors hear you speak with all the noise around? If you want your audience to be absorbed by you, use gentle, slower background music. It’s just as simple as that!
Given that, the best music for your audience might be something emotional and relaxing.
The atmosphere before the presentation
As your audience arrives, they might feel as nervous as you are, in front of everyone! However, if you play some appropriate music, people may feel more welcome and avoid all the buzz before starting your presentation. It’s probably known that chatty people already create a buzzy atmosphere, but sometimes, music can help warm up everyone before you start your presentation, making them feel more relaxed and prepared. Play the background music with nothing too obvious, and as the presentation gets closer, the music volume should get lower. It’s a widely used technique, very much loved by the average audience, and with good reason – it works! You can even build more confidence and be more relaxed with what you’re going to say during your presentation.
Some people aren’t pretentious, so they don’t use any type of music. However, everyone loves to hear relaxing background music. It’s obvious that people’s music tastes may differ, but slideshow music always puts an audience in a good mood, ready to assimilate information. It’s light and peaceful ambient music with piano, strings, and electric guitar features. It’s the most perfect music for slow-motion videos, presentations, meditation, worship, philosophical quotes, and many more.
A hopeful, inspirational, and modern background music will always ensure a successful business presentation, but not only – but it’s also great for real estate slideshow, tutorials, inspiring visualization, marketing, TV, science, etc. Download the inspiring and motivating track to provide a strong motivational, uplifting feeling to your audience. This type of music will definitely bring the spirit of success, excitement, and joy to any business presentation!
Also, you can select positive, motivational, and uplifting pop music that would perfectly match your business presentation. Feature melodic electric guitars and soft piano sounds – the perfect combination for success!
What could go wrong with music in your business presentations?
Well, a lot can go wrong, obviously. If you can’t choose the right type of music for your business presentation, you will waste your time playing music. Bad-sounding music will upset your public, make them feel frustrated, annoyed, and incapable of directing their attention to you. It’s worse than this; it may actively annoy people into thinking that you’re not enthusiastic about your business presentation and that you aren’t technically competent. Unfortunately, bad sounding music can kill your business presentation.
All you need is a laptop, good music to play it, the right cables (figure out how to use them, obviously), and great sounding. Although a lot of people may say that the sound of the music isn’t necessarily important to your presentation, it’s actually the contrary. Of course, a lot of basses will stress people, but something tiny and with a clear sound is just perfect.
The most critical thing to do is to get there in advance before every else! Not just before you start your presentation, but well in advance to test the sound. Do not place the speaker right next to your computer – there might be other free spaces to place your small, portable Bluetooth speaker. This way, you will avoid the sounds disturbing the people in front of you, and not allow the ones in the back to hear you well.
The most obvious presentation matter – psychology
The point of playing music during your business presentation is to hit your audience’s emotions. You know you’ve got your favorite song on the playlist, but it’s probably different to everyone else. You must create that balance; your favorite song might be the song that another person would play at their grandparent’s funeral – you get the idea. Music with such emotional impact causes a lot of pain, and would pretty much stop a person to concentrate on what you have to say. Here’s the solution: don’t use obscure, unclear music.
In an ideal world, everyone would listen to the same song and name it their favorite! Pro tip: choose instrumental music and play it during your business presentation. It’s less confusing and intrusive for your audience. Plus, you won’t risk being embarrassed because of some sort of inappropriate lyrics. It might not be rude lyrics, but someone could just take it very personally. Finally, the reason why not a lot of people use music in their presentation in most businesses is that it’s a really complex thing sometimes to choose the right type of music!
So, what do you think? Should you use music in your next business presentation?
