Sparkling lights. A roaring crowd. Thunderous applause.
If you enjoy these situations and absolutely adore basking in the limelight, then you may be made for the stage.
But, what if you don’t?
Loving the Limelight
Some stars are born to shine bright, while others simply twinkle. Some people are born with the gift of gab, while others may need a little more polishing to bring out their stellar speaking skills.
While some have the innate abilities to be an MC on stage, a host, or a master presenter, there are people who are terrified to even speak up. This is a bit of a conundrum especially when life serves you a challenge where you need to speak in public.
There are inevitable moments when one has to speak to a crowd. Regardless if it is in front of thousands or a simple company presentation, one must learn how to step up to the plate – or in this case, the mic – and deliver a smashing presentation or a rousing speech.
When this happens, you don’t need to lose sleep. All you need to do is follow these terrific tips to make you speak and emcee like a pro:
1. Preparation is Key
When you are tasked to be an emcee, whether for school, a corporate shindig, or a private event, the very first thing you should do is to plan and prepare well.
How do you do this?
First, know everything there is to know about the event. Get basic information, find out the key messages that the client wants you to deliver, coordinate closely with the event organizers. This way, you can talk about the event with more authority. Make sure you also find out who your audience will be. Do your research so you will know how to connect with them.
If possible, try to conduct a run-through. This will give you a chance to test the things that you will be using – audio-visual presentation, devices, lights and sounds – as well as rehearse the timings.
When you make sure that is everything is in place, then you will have more confidence to deliver your lines.
2. Make a Good First Impression
Your entrance can make or break you so make sure that you step in with your best foot forward. You don’t have to be overly grandiose in your entrance (but when the event calls for it, why not?) but make sure that you will catch and hold the audience’s attention the moment you step on stage.
Be on time. Dress properly, be neat and clean, and walk with confident strides. Observe proper posture when standing or walking around. Most of all, avoid fidgeting, mumbling, or making awkward jokes. Your first few minutes will set the stage so you must win the crowd right from the start.
3. Nail the Introductions
Many MC has forgotten the most basic step in hosting – introducing themselves.
Properly introduce who you are and why you were chosen to host the event, moderate a talk, or lead a presentation. When the audience deems you important enough, then they are more likely to be interested in what you’re going to say.
Most importantly, introduce the event in the most flattering way. Highlight why it is so special and ensure that you inject life and verve into the air. For charity events, for instance, you can talk about the cause and why their presence there is very important. Give the audience a brief but interesting backgrounder and they will be paying more attention to the event.
4. Engage the Audience
You may be speaking with golden words but if they fall on deaf ears, then you lose the point.
Engage the audience when you’re on stage. Make eye contact. According to research, a little over three seconds of eye contact is comfortable enough to encourage more audience participation. Avoid just staring someone down for over ten seconds as this is found to be unnerving.
Walk around, make timely gestures, and use appropriate body language. Use a variety of tones when delivering your lines, mind your pitch, and especially be careful about your diction and grammar. Delivered well, your speech will hook the audience and make them hang on to every word that you’re saying.
Interact, ask questions, and get the audience involved. This will prevent them from getting bored.
5. Close Like a Champ
When you’ve made your first impression grand, then make sure you also go out with a bang.
Craft a closing remark or action that will stay in the minds of your audience. Make it pleasingly unforgettable that they will go home with a favorable feeling about you and the event.
Who knows, some members of the audience may be so impressed that they will want to hire you for their own event.
Speak from the Heart
While some events may have a different scriptwriter, make sure that you, as the MC, will speak with authenticity. When you have prepared well and made sure that you have a good handle on the event or the situation where you must speak, then your audience will also trust in your words.
Enjoy the moment. Even if you started out fearful of a speaking engagement, when you have gone through all the preparatory stages carefully, then you can still bet on becoming more confident about your speaking skills. And when you are more at ease, you will surely come out a winner.
You must be logged in to post a comment.