Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, recently walked onto the stage at his party's Spring conference to a piece of "walk-on" music so excruciating it managed to upstage him before he'd opened his mouth. He then closed the proceedings by carnival-dancing with the audience. Of course we don't know if he sought out any walk-on music tips for speakers beforehand.
Follow these Tips for the Best Use of Walk-on Music
He's not alone with his penchant for walk-on music. Donald Trump has turned his post-rally shuffle to the Village People's "YMCA" into a personal brand. Theresa May ambushed her own conference in 2018 by walking on to ABBA's "Dancing Queen". Liz Truss arrived in 2022 to M People's "Moving On Up"—a choice the band's Mike Pickering reportedly objected to in print.
Yes, the conference stage now borrows openly from the boxing ring, the WWE entrance ramp and the American megachurch. Whether you welcome the trend or wince at it, you may well have to handle it. Here are five walk-on music tips for speakers to help you manage your walk-on music.
Five Tips for Speakers
- 1Fit. Choose music that genuinely matches you and your message. Conor McGregor's "Foggy Dew" works because it is him—the song and the man are the same idea. A politician shimmying out to a track an advisor picked the night before always looks like a politician shimmying out to a track an advisor picked the night before. If the song doesn't fit you, silence is better.
- 2Cue. Brief the AV operator down to the second. The fade should reach zero by the time you take your breath at the lectern; music still playing as you start to speak sounds amateurish, and music that cuts dead with no fade sounds worse. As we said in Boss Your Multimedia Presentation, every cue must be rehearsed—and the walk-on is no exception. Walk it through with the operator before doors open, not in the green room with a script.
- 3Restrain. The entrance must not upstage the speech. If the song, the lighting and the dance steps are doing more work than your opening line, you have a problem. The rule in boxing is that the music sets the room; the fight settles it. The same applies on a conference stage: if the only clip that travels is you dancing afterwards, your message hasn't.
- 4Frame. Remember there are two audiences, not one. The people in the room have been warmed up, given permission to clap, and swept along by the volume. The people watching a twenty-second clip on social media the next morning have none of that — and they will judge the moment harshly. Always ask yourself how the entrance will look on mute, on a phone, with a sceptical caption underneath.
- 5Pace. For conference organisers, the most useful music is rarely the walk-on track. It's the music that moves people—the gentle nudge between sessions, the rising volume that hurries delegates out for coffee, the soft bed under the housekeeping notices. Years ago we used Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World" to clear the theatre between sessions, raising the volume a notch each time until conversations quietly became impossible. That kind of music is invisible and effective. Walk-on music is the opposite—visible, risky and frequently regrettable.
The trend isn't going away. It came out of sport and entertainment, was amplified by American political conventions and televangelism, and has been turbo-charged by an economy that rewards the twenty-second clip over the twenty-minute speech. Used well, music can settle a room and lift a speaker. Used badly, it eats the speech whole. And Ed Davey has come far in the years since his dodgy CBI energy speech.
Make the Most of Your Conference Entrance with these Walk-on Music Tips for Speakers
Make sure that your walk-on music enhances your stage presence in your favour, ready for a great speech.
For more public speaking and presentation tips, you'll find our full series of presentation tips and tips for speakers on this site. And when you're ready to sharpen your own presentation skills, please don't hesitate to enroll on your own online public speaking course.
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