How would you like to hear a 100% improvement in the acoustics of your meeting, conference or lecture room? Better meeting-room acoustics will promote better use of participants' time and energy, allow them to participate in constructive, undistracted dialogue, and thus improve the quality of their decisions.

How much priceless time have you wasted waiting for someone to fix a squealing lavaliere microphone while you and other extravagantly-paid Masters of the Universe twiddled your thumbs? Have you noticed that the louder the speaker is amplified, the louder people in the audience chit-chat amongst themselves.

Try this simple experiment.

Start with all the usual mechanical and electrical equipment running-air-conditioning, forced-air heat, fluorescent lights, etc. Have someone standing by who can shut down all the equipment at once.

Have a colleague stand at one end of the room; you stand at the other end. Hold a conversation for a few minutes. Don't use any amplification; just talk. Note the effort required to understand, and make yourself understood.

Then shut of off all the noise-making equipment. Listen to the ensuing silence. Then continue your conversation. Note the difference in conversational effort. If your room is at all typical, you will notice a distinct improvement in clarity and a palpable feeling of relaxation.

"Is that all?" you might say. I told you it was simple. "But we can't hold a meeting without air-conditioning or ventilation. People won't stand for it." True. This was merely an experiment. In a properly designed meeting room, the mechanical systems make as much sound when they are running as when they are off. It is possible to supply cool air to several thousand people without making an audible sound. I have done it.

This experiment was merely to illustrate the marvelous acoustical benefits of silence.

In any room seating less than 500 people, silencing the mechanical and electrical systems entirely removes the need for amplifying voices. You may want amplification for recorded presentations, or for recording. But you do not need amplification for lectures or discussion.

Amplifying sound in a noisy room is like driving your car with the parking brake engaged. There is a better way: silence the room to disinter the dialogue. You will see the results of improved communication on your bottom line.