A rehearsal with the audience in the room is not a rehearsal, it’s a show.

Fred White is a Senior Technical Director at AVFX who shares his experience planning for perfect events. You’ve invested so much in the event yet your preparation isn’t complete until you have rehearsed. This video will give you have a different perspective on our next rehearsal.

First, let’s start off by saying that a rehearsal with the audience in the room is not a rehearsal, it’s a show.

Rehearsals serve many, many purposes. We get to confirm show materials, slides, video, lighting cues, walk-in, walk-out, and stings. Music can make all the difference in the feel of a show. You want to know what you’re playing. It gives the crew a working knowledge of the show. The show flow only gives them what and when the rehearsal gives them the ability to string things together to make all those transitions work perfectly.

Then we have the stage blocking, where the podium is, where the furniture for the panel is, where are the entrances and exits? How are people coming on and off the stage? It allows the presenter to get more comfortable with the stage. Again, back to entrances and exits, it allows us to tell them what the technology they have available is and how they’re going to use it.

And then last but not least, there are many types of rehearsals. You’ve got online rehearsals, you’ve got technical rehearsals, walk-throughs, talk-throughs. It depends on the show what you’re gonna need. The bigger the show, the more rehearsals. I spent about an hour and a half rehearsing this, and it’s worked wonders.