Most people in Singapore (and maybe other parts of Asia) would refer to emcees as the guy or lady up on the stage with the mic talking away. Colloquially speaking, a person holding the microphone crying father crying mother (kao-peh-kao-bu) on stage. Funny isn't it?
The key objective here is to try to differentiate a Singapore emcee from a speaker, auctioneer, radio DJ, newscaster or even a toastmaster. All these latter roles have specific skills set and while many of the skills may be similar and beneficial to an emcee, there are some skills that an emcee requires that are unique. I have highlighted some of these below and hopefully that will help clarify why being an emcee in Singapore is not just about holding the mic and talking away.
1. Crowd Reader
Whether using Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques, sales techniques, or understanding different personality types, the emcee has to be prolific at connecting with his audience. He assesses the audience at every moment, right from their entrance, at his opening introduction or when he goes down to the floor to interact with the audience throughout the entire event. The emcee reads the body language, energy level, voice, words or any possible visual or subtle cue of his audience while executing his emcee craft at the same time. All these information will be used to allow the emcee to better understand his audience. At the same time, an emcee is quick to react when he sense a programme segment is wearing down the audience's energy.
2. Crowd Influencer
From getting shoppers traffic at a roadshow to getting thousands of audience off their seats into a game segment, a professional emcee knows how to influence. Influencing on the surface may seem to be focusing on the emcee's choice of words, but if you dive deeper, he knows how to work the emotion aspects of his audience and their psychology. Navigating the terrain at a shopping mall roadshow, tactical promotional mechanics, gathering attention and call for buying action are some of the tools in the roadshow emcee's arsenal. For a dinner emcee, his expertise in using music, games, comedy, speaking their lingo and crowd interaction will help him find favour with the audience for the night.
3. The 3 e's in Emcee - Ensure, Execute, Entertain (or Engage)
An emcee is the CEO, well, a different CEO - Chief Event Officer. A good emcee doesn't just run the programme and keep it on time. An emcee has to ensure he balances meeting the objectives and goals set by the organiser, execute it as well as he can (despite challenges and problems of dealing with a live audience with no chance of a NG and retake) and also engage or entertain the audience. Using a simple illustration, being an emcee is like going on a road trip. You have your GPS and maps to get to your destination. But changing road conditions, traffic situations, weather and other factors will require your alertness and ability to cope without showing any expression of frantic or stress (to the audience. Well we aren't driving on stage. There's actually hundreds of pairs of eyes looking at us.)
These are the 3 key areas I have found that distinguish a true professional emcee. If you would like me to discuss a specific area or topic about being an emcee in Singapore, feel free to drop me a comment on the Contact page or email me at style.emcee.sg@gmail.com.
For all articles on emceeing, please refer to my link 'Emcee Resource' on the lower right side of my blog.
Stay tuned for my next post on Cracking The Code on The Singapore Audience. We are a small country with a population of 5 million, how difficult can it be? You be surprised.