You only have the first minute to impress

I have learnt this soon enough when I start emceeing.

Just like any news headlines will make people read the news further, as a great emcee, you only have a minute or two to tell people why they need to listen to you. When you are not a reputable emcee yet, and often using the stage as training grounds, you will encounter mistakes and people will not listen anymore. But a great opening will help you gain respect first and when mistakes happen, people tend to accept. If your opening is bad, most of the time people will not listen.

So, how do you make an impressive opening!?

Example 1:

In Malaysia, we have multi culture and language. Learning another language well could be a good opening. I am a bangsa Malaysia but my parents are from Chinese descendants. Being a Chinese, if you can speak very fluent Malay is an added advantage. If you can do even better, it is a great opening.

During my initial emceeing - as I used Malay most of the time due to functions with government and with government officials, I often open with a verse or two of the Malay pantun. What more is self written pantun (poems). The first minute of reciting the poems is already enough to awe the audience and gain consequent respect.

Example 2:

After some time, I want to be really a bangsa Malaysia.... I have learnt and can speak a little Tamil since school days but I do not know what to say as opening for emceeing.

In one of the walkabouts with Dato Sri Ong Tee Keat during the candidate's general election rounds with him, we came to an apartment with almost 80% Indians. I quickly grab a close friend there and asked how to welcome people in Tamil. As I spoke, though not too well at that time (being the first time speaking!!), Dato Sri was quick to ask someone next to him if I have spoken correctly. From then on, I have used three languages to address the people in Pandan in all the walkabouts I was emceeing.

My opening often start with

GREAT morning (not good morning - GREAT morning is my standard greetings and it makes people feel great, too)

Salam sejahtera dan salam perpaduan

各位来宾早上好！

and then I learnt and perfected my Tamil in greeting the welcome remarks.

Now I even add on "Salamat Datai" and "Kopibosian!" - from Sarawak and Sabah respectively.

By the time I speak Tamil, most of the time I will already receive loud applause and I sometimes need to stop speaking for the applause to carry on. Not to boast but once you show respect to everyone in the hall, you are connecting to people and that's the gist of a great emcee.

Indians, being a little marginalised in Malaysia, seems to respect you better if you can speak their language when you are not an Indian. I have an Indian man looking around for me high and low after an event, just to come say, "Thank you for addressing the Indians, too!"

Do sit down and think of a good opening and make it unique to you!

Turning adversities to GOOD

A great emcee is expected to control situations and rectify any errors that the organizers make. A great emcee could turn adversities into opportunities. In fact, there are a lot of opportunities from "misfortunes" and glitches in any event. You cannot make anyone feels bad or put blame on people. You can't revealed, "Oh I am sorry, there is a terrible mistake...." although this could be the last resort - saying sorry and apologize could be the last thing to do if nothing else comes to mind.

Remember that an emcee is representing the organizer. Though a "backdoor figure", a great emcee has VERY VERY IMPORTANT role. Since you are representing the organizer you will need to apologize on behalf of them when things really go wrong. You cannot say it is the organizer's fault and that you are not responsible for it. You are the organizer, the organizer is you, period! This is where you will need to bring yourself to earth and be humble at times. Saying sorry and apologize is the noblest thing and not everyone could do that in front of large audience.

Let me share how I turned adversities into laughters for my audience....

Example 1:

I was emceeing for a seminar and when someone on the floor wanted to ask a question, a runner quickly pass him a microphone. However, he patted again and again and find no sound. The technicians who were just by my side got panic and tried a few buttons but did not work.

As I always love to get my audience to give rounds of applause - I said, "Sometimes not only the speakers on stage needs a round of applause.... A person asking question should also be given encouragements. Let's give him a round of applause!"

The floor clapped; lol and behold, the mic worked! All you need to do in situations of "technical errors" is to DELAY TIME. Eventually if the mic does not work, what you say will allow time for the runner to pass him another mic that work. You may not want to say, "The technician is having a bad mood today" or "I think the mic is spoilt". Never EVER put others down or look bad in front of the public. I do not want to be embarrassed in the public, neither will I do that to another.

Wonderfully, another person asked a question, patted on the mic and did not work again! Guess what my audiences did? The clapped AUTOMATICALLY without me announcing anything! And lol and behold it works and I simply said, "See! Works all the time!!"

Example 2:

The settings of one event were done last minute and they did not think of the possible results during the event. The stage was right at the front and VIPs were all facing the stage. However, during the flow of event was a video presentation. The projector and screen were right at the BACK of the hall! Panicked, the event manager said there was no more time to shift the screen. They thought that the screen was just for viewing of an ongoing video and NOT used during the opening ceremony.

The simple thing to do and it is an opportunity to turn it into something good. It was a spa and health center opening ceremony. So I asked my audience to follow my instructions... "Since today marks the opening of XXX health centre, we encourage our visitors to have some exercise! Please follow me - turn your heads to the left, right, look up... down, left again, right, up and down and now... turn to the back for a video presentation! I wanted to find out if you guys have good necks. If you can't view the presentation from the front, you can always stand because sitting too long, we need to stand and exercise a little."

Immediately, the hall was like an exercise room/ health centre and it matches because it was the opening of a health centre.

No one knew it was the mistake of the event manager. The event manager was so impressed with me and did not feel guilty for his mistakes; the boss respected me for controlling situations and that his guests were all happy; and the audiences find it fun to have an emcee like me. Everyone wins! Guess who they will call next time to emcee for their events?

Example 3:

An organizer did a special surprise for lucky draw of the grand prize. They wanted to show on the screen a phone number and the person who is the first to connect successfully to that phone gets to win the grand prize!

We were all not given any clue about the number and no one knows it except the floor manager. So the floor manager spoke to the person controlling the screen where everyone stared with anticipation and their fingers on the number pads of their handphones.

The number came out... but the floor manager told me, "Wrong number!" He was very angry with the person controlling the screen and I started my sentence, "Ladies and Gentlemen... " Everyone around me was so panicked and afraid that I will say "It's wrong number!" but of course I didn't! If you said is the wrong number, it will make the technician feel guilty and bad, the floor manager failed the audiences and as a great emcee, you are not so great after all.

Again, your role here is to delay time. So I simply said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, that was only a trial. We wanted to test if your fingers are quick enough!" And the floor laughed and of course boo-ed at me. But it added fun.... and the correct number was out again and one winner gracefully walked to the stage to receive the grand prize.

At time, a great emcee is judged by his ability to control situations well especially during times of adversities. Do not fret if you do not know how to handle these situations... yet. APPRECIATE every adversity because it allows you to learn another way to handle such situation in the future. Always evaluate your performance after every emceeing - so you know when you did mistake and think of a few ways to rectify the situation in the future. I record my voice during emceeing and I will listen to them after the event. More about evaluation in later blogs!

Practice makes perfect and start practising now! Take the stage, grab the mic and be the emcee the next time you are given a chance.