Using a microphone is not as easy as it appears to be but it’s a great skill to acquire. We were all able to practice our mic skills at our meeting on 23rd Oct 2025 – whether speaking or singing! Our surprise warm-up activity was to sing the first line of a favourite song using the mic – we quickly realised we are better speakers than singers!

The key take-aways of the evening were…

• Keeping your mobile away from the mic to avoid unwanted buzzing and distortion.
• Judging the distance to hold the mic away from your mouth – it’s closer than you think at around 5cm.
• Remembering that although you need to keep the mic still whilst speaking this doesn’t mean limiting your gestures. It’s a good idea to hold the mic in your less dominant hand leaving your dominant hand free for more natural gesturing.
• Realising the mic can be used to great effect to enhance changes in volume and tone – and – as Richard showed us during his speech – used to deliver ‘special sound effects’.