There are several ways to set up a room in theater style and the most popular approaches may not be the best for your audience. For example, in the "Not Preferred" setups notice how the best seats (those directly in front of the speaker) are wasted in a large empty aisle, forcing the speaker to address a "divided" audience. In addition, most participants will be positioned at an uncomfortable viewing angle, or be too far from the speaker to see.

The "Preferred" setup creates the best room dynamics by using two smaller aisles on either side. In addition, curving the rows around the stage area increases the number of seats you can place near the front. Also, studies show that audience responses to humor increase when people can see each other! [Note: If the presentation involves a lot of note taking or references to handout material, classroom style may be a better choice as it provides a writing surface.]

Calculating space requirements

To determine the number of people your room will accommodate when using theater style seating, divide the "attendee" seating area (square feet) by 6 (six). This calculation allows for chair and passage aisles. It does not allow for problems caused by wide traffic aisles, location of columns, service doors or unique room shapes. It is very useful, however, for a quick, general approximation.

Additional recommendations:

• Keep the front row as close to the stage as is comfortable. The distance from the first row of seats to the stage should be no more than 10 feet.
• Platforms or risers give presenters greater visibility. The ideal stage/riser height for audiences up to 200 people is 6-12 inches. For audiences over 200 people, increase the height to 12-24 inches.
• If a lectern is being used for introductions, set it back a few feet, and to the right or left on the stage/riser.
• Stagger the chairs. Don’t put one chair directly behind the other. If you stagger each row, audience members won’t have someone’s head right in front of them to block the view.
• Do not overset the room. If you are planning for 300 people, set the room for 275 instead of 350. Stack extra chairs at the back of the room. It is much better to have every seat taken than large empty spots throughout the audience.
• Rope off the last 5-10 rows until the presentation is about to start. Also, don't put handouts on the seats in the roped area. This will encourage people to sit near the front.

Accommodations for people who have disabilities

Be sensitive to people who have disabilities:

• Blind/Visual impairment: Guide dogs are well-trained, accustomed to being around people, and need to stay with their owner, so make sure that a chair is provided with enough space on the floor for this working companion. Many people who have a visual impairment use computer technology to "read" information to them. If you can determine in advance of the conference that some attendees will be using this type of equipment, ask presenters to provide you with any electronic presentation files they plan to use in a format that can be read by this technology (e.g., .doc, .xls, .ppt).
• Deaf/Hearing impairment: If some of the attendees have a hearing impairment and you are providing a sign-language interpreter, seat them in the front off to one side. An interpreter will normally stand in front of the group with his/her back to the stage.
• Mobility impairments (i.e., wheelchairs or crutches): Remove a few chairs at the ends of the rows near the front to provide space for people using wheelchairs to sit in a comfortable position with a good view. People using crutches may have a need for greater space so the front row is usually the best recommendation. If any of the presenters are using wheelchairs and you are using any form of riser or stage, ramp access must rise no more than 3 (three) inches per foot of run.

Make sure that any accommodations are in place prior to the arrival of the attendees because no one likes to be the cause of a disruption (i.e., moving people out of their chairs and re-locating them to accommodate a wheelchair).