EEH Productions - Goudsbloemstraat 2

You are organising an event. Juggling through the myriad of decisions you have to make. Looking for the perfect speakers and working the logistics of getting them to your event. Then there is the venue, promotion, guests, and the list goes on and on. Last minute you realize you need a person to fill in the role of emcee (MC, master of ceremony, or host). It’s just someone that introduces the main speakers-anyone can do that, right? Well, doing that is tantamount to preparing a full-course meal with top grade ingredients and forgetting to season it. It is a missed opportunity. A good emcee is like salt, they are present in the amount of a sprinkle but they make the flavours pop. The flavours being the speakers you so painstakingly researched, selected, and (sometimes) paid dearly for. Selecting an emcee is just as important as finding your perfect keynote speakers.

We have all attended an event where we’ve lost interest and started distracting ourselves with what our neighbors were wearing, what’s on the menu, or how many people would have to get up to let you go to the toilet. It is impossible to command everyone’s attention 100% of the time but a good emcee will ensure your audience is always engaged even through the technical difficulties. They will ensure the energy levels of your audience are at a constant high and ready for the next speaker. When I say “constant high” it does not mean the audience is frenzied as if in a One Direction concert, but sufficiently energized to maintain focus on the stage. The level of energy will vary depending on the type of event it is. An academic conference will likely require a lower energy level than an end of year Christmas business event but regardless there has to be some energy available for focus. 

Energy for focus is affected by many things: hunger, breaks, length of talks, type of talks, time of day, length of event (hours vs. multi-day). Your emcee is responsible to keep this in mind and adjust their role on stage based on all of these parameters. Ultimately, the emcee will interact as little or as much as necessary until they feel the audience is energized and receptive enough to receive the next speaker. They ensure that every speaker has an attentive audience. Sometimes, there are speakers that just put the audience to sleep, that is where the emcee’s job is very important. They revive your audience and prepare them for the next speaker, giving them a fair chance at being listened to attentively. This is very important if you have your big keynote speaker at the end of an afternoon filled with talks.