Last week, I talked about the seven reasons for hiring a professional MC - I now highlight seven things that he or she will do in preparation to ensure a top-notch event.
1. Many event problems boil down to timings - particularly speakers, who turn up late and talk too long (always leave the audience wanting more is a good public speaking adage). As a MC, I shall liaise with speakers, discussing timings as a priority - and it does not matter if that person is a celebrity or well known - ten minutes is ten minutes and not fifteen minutes or twenty minutes. I shall also ask them how they want to be introduced.
2. Technology issues are often a problem - sound systems that do not work are too many. Hence, checking microphones beforehand and rehearsing with speakers is essential.
3. Then there are slides - I am sure you will agree that preparing good slides is an art - too many slides are so cluttered, the audience can not read the words - and any speaker that uses slides as an autocue should be told not to do so.
4. “Lectern” or “No Lectern” - some people think that a lectern puts a barrier between the speaker and the audience - I agree. But if required to rest one’s notes - then so be it. If you don’t require notes, standing alongside the lectern is always an option.
5. When warming up an audience, a good MC will often introduce a topical subject (the 3 Ps - Place, People and Personality). For example, I was recently in the audience when David Kurk, who is a MC I admire, started his speech with about five pages of notes - he was shuffling them and for a few seconds I thought he was unprepared - not at all, it was a “take off” of Boris problems when he was speaking at a recent CBI event. Of course, the audience loved it - and he was off to a good start.
6. Some people do not want to be recorded - hence, there must be a process to ensure that this happens - over to you MC.
7. Running an event properly entails scores of issues - it is never a simple as it looks - but with the right preparation and the right MC, it will be worth it.
And next week, I’ll tell you seven things that can go wrong.