Highlights

• Adam was booked 7 years straight as the corporate event MC for the National Outreach Convention in San Diego, California.
• As an inspiring, funny event emcee, Adam has hosted more than 500 fundraising events that have generated more than $100 million dollars for various non-profit groups.
• “Laugh Makers” magazine featured Adam in a cover story about positive humor.
• Ranked among the Top 5 After-Dinner Speakers in the U.S.
• Featured on 100+ Radio & TV shows including PBS, FOX News, and “Entertainment Tonight”

7 Mistakes Amateur Emcees Make and How YOU Can Avoid Them

1. A Professional Emcee With Bad Beginnings

When you hire a corporate emcee whether for virtual events or in-person events, his corporate event emcee or virtual event host services include the ability and skills to introduce speakers and other key presenters at your conference.

An amateur host or corporate event emcee may try to act funny while making these speaker introductions, bringing strange energy to the room.

But Wait – Why Is This A Problem?

This is a problem because you want the attendees at your event organization and corporate conferences to know that your speakers are important and have something valuable to say during panel discussions. At other times, a weak corporate emcee will read a way-too-long biography of the speaker at a live event.

Note: An intro is not the same as a bio. And an event emcee with a plethora of huge success from emcee gigs and corporate hosting experience will know that difference well.

Solution:

The Corporate Emcee should prepare a brief yet engaging 3-point introduction for your keynote speaker or motivational speaker that sets him/her up in a super positive way.

This Intro should tell the audience: WHO the keynote speaker is. WHY the speaker has credibility. And, WHAT the speaker will be sharing.

And, of course, all of this information should be delivered with enthusiasm! Nobody likes a boring corporate MC.

2. You Hire An Emcee Who Hogs the Spotlight and Doesn’t Keep The Audience Engaged

You definitely want to hire a Master of Ceremonies (MC) with personality, skills, and humor. But be careful.

Your event host or MC should not be event hosting the live-streamed or pre-recorded program just to talk about how wonderful he/she is in a speech to the audience.

An MC is hired to talk about how great your company, organization, leaders, event organizers, and corporate events are and perhaps even conduct interviews. They’re not the center of the world!

But Wait – Why Is This A Problem?

If the event starts with little crowd engagement and no recognition of the special guests of the evening, the tone and voice of your virtual business event will be completely skewed. And it will create confusion among the guests at your party, making the crowd question the rest of the event the whole time.

Besides, bragging isn’t entertainment or a way to make people laugh. It’s simply not a part of the job.

Instead, the services offered by the right MC you hire should be focused on engagement at your live-streaming party instead. A professional MC acts as not just entertainment, but as your company’s values.

Solution:

Work with a professional Host or Master of Ceremonies who “gets it” and keeps the spotlight on one topic: your keynote speaker and corporate event success.

Give your event M specific additional information about your company, organization, and employees, like their demographics, age group, professional success, and more so they can come to the party prepared.

Example: “This group is unstoppable when it comes to winning sales awards.” You may find this is the event emcee you want for your next event ceremony too. One who acts with the company’s best interests in mind and exhibits their hard work through an awesome presentation.

3. An Event Emcee Allows For A Naked Stage – Even At A Virtual Event

Your Corporate Emcee plays an important role in the daunting task to keep things m-o-v-i-n-g. So no, I’m not talking about whether somebody decided to ignore the dress code or not.

The official host or Master of Ceremonies you hire for the night is responsible for transitions between speakers, videos, and other segments at your corporate event, all while keeping your audience’s attention.

They may engage the audience during these transition times with talking points or fun activities inspired by game shows, or perhaps even shout out to the venue for their excellent service. Either way, they’ll make sure there is no dead air on the stage.

An amateur Master of Ceremonies will run a slow-paced event program, introducing guests with far too many words, and your audience members will see dead spots. If the crowd was interested before, they won’t be after this kind of messaging.

Solution:

Hire an emcee or event host with professional entertainment experience and high energy, and seat them close to the steps of the stage. Invite your speakers to be “on deck” and near the platform before they go up so they’re ready for their next play.

Tell your virtual event emcee and all of your program participants that you want to fill the stage, not drain it empty. And this will help to keep the audience energized and engaged.

4. Time Overruns At Your Corporate Event Because Of Your Event Host

Your attendees, companies, and organizations in the audience will be pleased if your good MC starts and ends your event program on time and according to the event schedule.

A weak emcee will allow the program to run long and will often insert too much of his/her own material into the agenda, which you absolutely should not stand for.

Solution:

Work with a professional Emcee who runs a tight ship. If a previous speaker runs over, an effective emcee will begin to move toward the platform and be ready to artfully interrupt the long-winded presenter to keep the event running in time for the next speaker.

5. Your Emcee Skips the Details of Your In-Person Event, Leaving Audience Members Confused And Uninformed

Your audiences are silently hoping your virtual event emcee or host will tell them what to expect, where to go, and what to do next. Many amateur Emcees forget to give attendees the event facts:

Where is breakfast? What time are the break-out sessions? How do I get the event app?

Solution:

Shortly after hiring, give your professional emcee or host the conference details. Remind your MC or host to share all of the announcements regarding Who? What? Where? Whens? with your group.

A good emcee should also be able to speak on behalf of emergency protocols. If a medical emergency occurs, the MC should be able to direct people through what should happen next.

You may think this isn’t a required part of the job, but every great MC will have these important qualities inherently.

6. The Audience’s Attention Is Overrun With Room Gloom

Your event guests want to feel entertained and energized at your event or business meeting. Many emcees – namely weak emcees who require more emcee experience – will forget or fail to bring the “fun factor” that makes for a memorable and entertaining session for your audiences.

But allowing their stage fright to get in the way of making proper eye contact, instigating audience interaction, and being able to bring life to the event is a surefire way to confuse the crowd and convince you that you went with the wrong MC.

Solution:

Most clients and C-level executives feel drained during long business meetings and general sessions. Make sure you have an experienced emcee who knows how to keep the audience engaged with fruitful entertainment.

After all, that’s what you’re hiring them for, isn’t it?

Whether that’s through tasteful humor that keeps the audience laughing, stretching throughout the event ceremony, ice breakers for your in-person or virtual conferences, and more.

7. Your Corporate Emcee Fails To Communicate During the Planning Process

Your meeting, conference, gala, charity events, live events, or virtual events have many moving parts. It’s best to talk about the flow of your event program ahead of time with your virtual emcee or host.

Otherwise, the host speaking will come across as a bit nervous, lacking stage presence, and ultimately making for a painful experience altogether. But all of that could be avoided if you plan the event ahead of time, making sure that your emcee knows how to remain calm while introducing speakers and other acts.

If you hire a Master of Ceremonies that’s an amateur, he will try to “wing it” and present your corporate events on the fly without discussing/rehearsing each piece of your presentations first.

And let’s be honest – this just does a disservice to the people organizing the event. With a proper running order, those doing the public speaking as well as those attending will feel much more at ease and get a better sense of the night as a whole.

Solution:

Communicate with your corporate emcee long before your next event. Provide your host with a “Run Sheet” document that breaks down every part of your business meeting, including the timing for each of the events.

And lay out some event goals that you have in mind. Talk about what components will make this a successful event ceremony.

And create a tone of professionalism amongst your virtual emcee, speakers, event planner or event planners, and attendees. Having this focus from the very beginning will help you formulate your ideas and keep everyone on track.

Final thoughts

Key: Have all of your presenters and hosts, including the virtual emcee, meet for a talk-through one hour before the events begin on-site. This way, speakers, virtual emcees, and speakers can have the opportunity to make contact and hear out the goals for the event.

Ultimately, it is every emcee’s absolute pleasure to serve your company best. Even their final words should reflect that they had a great time on the job!

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Adam Christing is a popular Event MC and Speaker with over two decades of world-class experience. He is the author of Your Life is a Joke: 12 Ways to Go from Ha Ha to AHA! (For more information, including contact details, go to AdamChristing.com)