By Stacy Zemon, Publisher & Chief Scribe
Here are my Top 10 suggestions for effective emceeing:
1. Open with a surprise, a shock…an interaction, something that makes connection, entertains, exposes, etc.
2. Use palm up instead of finger for pointing. Sometimes the finger looks like a gun and is rude in some cultures. Palm up serves up the floor to them in a more gracious way.
3. People say “Yes” when we’ve affected them intellectually, emotionally or physically.
4. Keep your energy and speech moving forward. Never let the energy drop.
5. Audiences like to think that events on the stage are happening spontaneously. They like to be surprised. The great actor does this brilliantly. The emcee needs to as well.
6. Be very conscientious about connecting the dots or you’ll lose your audience.
7. Remember they don’t know what you know. It’s the first time they’ve heard your info.
8. Endings: get everything in before audiences clap. Then get off the stage. Don’t let them see you doing housekeeping. It breaks the theatrical experience.
9. What you feel doesn’t matter. The job is to effect the audience.
10. Never turn your back to the audience unless it’s intentional to make a point or convey an emotion. When you need to move upstage (that’s toward the back of the stage, away from the audience) you do it backwards while speaking to the audience.
