OK, I'm at an outdoor venue, under a tent without sides. 125+ adults. The event is a commeration of a passage of a bill 40 years ago and I was commissioned to create a story and put some fun into the event.

The mic. malfunctions. It isn't totally broken, if I eat the mic. it kind of sort of works. The speakers before me are very difficult to hear. The folks who are paying me, tell me to eat the mic.

Since it was an outdoor venue, with a pretty large, somewhat spread out crowd (sitting at tables) I don't know how far I could have projected my voice and still speak the next day.

I ate the mic, interacted a bit with the audience without the mic, but I still feel there may have been a better way.

Any suggestions?

Rivka
SimplyExtraordinayTales.com

Apart from always carrying your own backup sound system, it seems like you would just have to roll with a less-than-mediocre situation.

_________________
Tim E
http://www.storyteller.net/tellers/tereneta
http://www.myspace.com/storiesbytim
http://storytelling.blogspot.com
http://storytellersunplugged.wordpress.com

Anybody carry backup systems with them? If so which kind and about how much are they?

At ETSU we recently got ourselves a little Fender Passport PD-150 for traveling to schools and other one-off gigs. It's very light and compact and works well for a solo speaker or musician. It costs $400-500 with all the accessories--mike, mike stand, speaker stands, cables. There are other options out there but the Fenders are well-designed and widely available. It's easy enough to carry that we don't resent it to much if we bring it along and don't need it. And when we get some place and the sound system they assured us would be fine isn't, we're really grateful to have it as backup.
Joseph

_________________
Joseph Sobol, Ph.D.
Professor, East Tennessee State University
Storytelling Graduate Program Coordinator
www.etsu.edu/stories

_________________
K. Sean Buvala
http://www.seantells.com
http://www.fulltimestorytelling.com
http://www.storytellingproducts.com