As an emcee, hosts will expect you to write your own script although they should provide you a short draft. There are events which are very well prepared so the hosts will give well-prepared scripts and all you need to do is to follow the script.
However, very often, you are required to write your own script.
First thing first, you will need an event flow or a program for the day. This is the most important ingredient for good script writing. Without it, you will not be able to write a script because you do not know what will happen. Do take note that the program flow normally comes very late - reasons being VIPs were not confirmed, guest of honour may not have confirmed their attendance or last minute changes making everything changed or a prize giving ceremony awaiting confirmed list of recipients.
With a program flow, go through what is in the list and close your eyes to IMAGINE what will happen at every instance of the program. Example, a program flow may queue this way:
8.00am - Arrival of guests and registration
8.30am - Arrival of Guest of Honour
9.00am - Welcoming Guest of Honour
9.05am - Opening speech by Chairman of XXX Association
9.20am - Keynote Address by Guest of Honour
9.50am - Launching of XXX Products
10.00am - Award Presentation ceremony
10.30am - Token of Appreciation to Guest of Honour
10.40am - Photo moment
11.00am - Event ends
The above can be considered a very good flow of event - giving information of every flow to minute accuracy. There are a lot of questions to ask if you just close your eyes to imagine the event.
8.00am - Arrival of guests and registration
Are the guests given any goodie bags? (I will explain why you need this)
Are the guests given name tags and do these tags have security purposes? (ie only those with tags will be allowed entrance to restaurant for lunch)
Who are the guests? College students, corporate, association heads?
8.30am - Arrival of Guest of Honour
Who? Exact title? Minister or Head of Organization?
9.00am - Welcoming Guest of Honour
A standing ovation to welcome or just a stand up or just an applause?
9.05am - Opening speech by Chairman of XXX Association
Who? Full name? Full title? Any introduction needed?
9.20am - Keynote Address by Guest of Honour
What is the theme of the event and any introduction needed?
9.50am - Launching of XXX Products
What products? Explanation?
Is the event meant for the launching of products? What gimmicks or significance used?
Are all the music, products, items ready?
WHO will launch the product, accompanied by who?
10.00am - Award Presentation ceremony
Who present, accompanied by who?
Who are the award recipients?
What are the awards given? (Must explain so that audiences will not feel blank or left out)
10.30am - Token of Appreciation to Guest of Honour
What gifts?
Who will give the token?
10.40am - Photo moment
Who will be on stage and who will the organizers want to be in the photo?
11.00am - Event ends
Any refreshments prepared? If yes, where will it be served?
DO NOT assume anything. Some may just say, "Oh! Of course it will be the chairman giving the token of appreciation to the Guest of Honour. Why should I ask?" Remember, you are going to be a great emcee. A great emcee finds out things - some organizers may want to give the honour of presenting the token to sponsors.
(Will write on a topic on script writing but for now, imagine the flow and what to speak during the flow of event)
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One book I would recommend is an easy step-by-step guide on emceeing The Art of Emceeing (Emcee-ing): an Easy to Follow Step-by-step Guide for the Aspiring Hip-hop Artist
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At times things may not go as flow and you may need to speak a little longer or a little slower to allow preparations. One example was when one of the speakers next in line had a wrong powerpoint slide. I have to speak or explain things before his session to drag time for his preparation.
Remember, a great emcee will not blame others for things went wrong. Remember, a great emcee is a conductor and you control the event. A great emcee is always in control and never panic when things went wrong. So you can't say, "The speaker is so not well-prepared and he brought the wrong slides. So let me tell some jokes while we wait for him."
A great emcee always say speakers are great, organizers are great and everyone is great! If you put the blame on the speaker and pull a sour face just because he screwed up, just imagine how will he face the audience when he comes out to speak later. You will not want to be in that position so make a good backup.
Example, is there anything given as goodie bags? Or door gifts? Explain the significance of these. Most often people throw or not appreciate these free gifts. They are free anyway but if explained, the items could be valuable. In one occasion, an organizer gave out table calendars as door gifts - nothing special. But upon asking, the organizer actually have gotten the calendars from overseas just for the significance of the event - if not explained, I bet most of the audiences will leave them behind or just throw them away.
If your eyes could look around, it does not take long for you to notice more things. Are the curtains red - could it be connected to the event? ie. curtains red for a Chinese New Year event will make me say, "Look around you - for the sake of Chinese New Year, we even have red curtains to surround you. Red is a significance of luck and Chinese like red and often decorate their houses with red colour to welcome the festive season." And then I will go on to say things about red packets, red fire crackers, red used in dumplings....
..... to be continued
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