Choosing presentation music for Maximum Effect

There is a lot more to giving a presentation than simply words. Both verbal and nonverbal content needs to have an equal balance. The proper presentation music can provide an atmosphere for your creation that helps to express your message. Choosing the right music is an important decision that every presentation producer faces. Many production designers tend to select music in sort of an offhand manner. This is a very common mistake. Designers should never select presentation graphics randomly. Visual elements that are included in a project should also be carefully chosen to strengthen and enhance the message of each particular slide and contribute to the entire work. Adding a track randomly onto a design that has taken weeks to create is very risky, unprofessional, and defeats the purpose of the work. Selecting the right music is just as important as any other element that creates a desired 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. Many production designers tend to select music in sort of an offhand manner. This is a very common mistake. Designers should never select presentation graphics randomly. Visual elements that are included in a project should also be carefully chosen to strengthen and enhance the message of each particular slide and contribute to the entire work. Adding a track randomly onto a design that has taken weeks to create is very risky, unprofessional, and defeats the purpose of the work. Selecting the right music is just as important as any other element that creates a desired overall effect. One important thing to consider in presentation music selection is the responsiveness of the target audience. You do not want your audience to think that your project was done poorly. Work targeted at specific religious or academic venues do not mix well with anything that refers to rap or rock music. A funeral home salesman would never use upbeat music to sell his products. Just as images must be selected well so as to not offend anyone, music should be treated in the same respect. This is by far the safest route as far as the law goes. If pre-recorded tracks are used for a presentation, the next question is where to get them. Commercial music is likely way beyond the budget, and amateur work probably will not achieve any desirable effect. Appropriate affordable music is widely available for download from specialty websites. The free stuff may be of questionable quality, but the many composers working in the field can supply anything from a single loop to an entire CD or music to dovetail precisely with your needs. Ideally every presentation should have its own soundtrack, composed to emphasize the points it makes and evoke the mood its designers envision. While commissioned music is not practical for most applications, the use of carefully selected tracks can provide a very close substitute.