'Game-changing aspect of emceeing is when you add your own value to it'

Being an emcee (master of ceremonies) can be a rewarding but challenging role. Emcees are responsible for hosting and facilitating events, keeping the audience engaged, and ensuring the smooth flow of the program.

At the e4m Red Carpet Awards and Summit 2023, India’s well-known emcees Bhavna Bhatia, Global Emcee, Influencer and Content Creator; Aditya Malik, Emcee (Anchor), Impresario, Actor & VO Artist; Zinia Fernandes, Presenter & Anchor; Rahul Manjal, RJ, Event Host & Creative Head, Kromosphere; Siddharth Kannan, Content Creator, YouTuber, Podcaster, Voiceover Artist & Angel Investor and Ravin Kundu, TV Host, Sports Presenter & Anchor got in a conversation with Chehneet Kaur, Senior Correspondent, exchange4media on how they tackle challenges while hosting.

From adapting to different audiences to even handling unpredictable situations, emcees face numerous challenges in order to weave a show together. The amount of mental preparedness it requires is unfathomable.

Bhatia said that she studies the industry she is catering to before the event. She said, “If I know the key people who I am going to be calling upon the stage my eloquence and introduction will be way easier. The person also relates more if I add a nuance or a line from my side to the script. Because the script has one line but the emcee adds 10 lines from their side and hence, a lot of improvisation is required.”

Malik practices lines, pauses, and questions whenever he gets the script and when the event is about to begin he wanders around the stage, listening to songs.

Fernandes shared, “I go with the mindset of complete co-creation, be it the client or the agency and most importantly, the audience. Secondly, one thing that I am still a learner of is to be 100 percent and fully present.”

Kannan said, “I enjoy myself a lot before an event so I am very light. But I also get my alter ego out because you may get a brief from the client, you may get the approach too, all of that is great but the one game-changing aspect is when you do your own value-add to it.”

“If it was about just reading lines, someone else could do it tomorrow replacing me. So, I think of my brand equity and the brand’s equity as well, to another level,” he added.

Manjal shared an anecdote where he was asked once by the CEO of a company about how much of his emceeing will be planned and how much would be spontaneous. Manjal said that he responded by saying, “100 percent planned and 100 percent spontaneous sir." Because life doesn't prepare you for the end-moment hiccups or speed breakers, he noted.

Kundu believes the moment you get on stage is where the magic happens. “I personally go with a couple of deep breaths that help me focus. So, consciously when you’re ready, you also need to be ready subconsciously to be organic. At the end of the day, it's the human to human connect where the emcee needs to understand when they’re needed, how much they are needed.”

When it comes to real time audience engagement, the time management may go out of hands. Bhatia shared, “If the event planner shows me the ticking clock, it's my cue to ensure that we move on with the show’s schedule. It's all about maintaining the right balance of understanding and connecting with the audience, while managing the time.”

Kannan added, “It's important to be attentive. The moment the speaker takes a pause while speaking, the host should be able to grab the opportunity and hit it off in the right direction. It's important to be on your toes.”

An emcee caters to varying events from a serious corporate audience to a fun awards night or even a new year bash. Amidst all this how do they manage to modify their choice of words, energy and tonality?

Manjal opines that even though people say the moment you get on stage you should exude energy and shout it out, but all of it really depends on the audience’s mood. It's also important to stand out. If everyone’s wearing white, be that black person.“

Kundu added, “It’s about reading the room no matter what event you are doing and bringing on your charm accordingly.”

If at all, the interviewee does not share a great chemistry with the host/interviewer, it may reflect on stage or camera too. Fernandes shared, in that case she tries to know that person better in that moment on stage or will try to change the chemistry before they get on stage because, “You just can't lie on stage and to your audience. You can still fake it on a camera but never on a live stage”.

“You need to do your research because the improvisations on stage can either hit off well or fall flat. It's always a whole lot of hardwork on stage but it should seem effortless on stage,” highlighted Manjal.