You’re organizing one of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s biggest hotel industry trade shows in Dubai, and you need an MC presenter to moderate your panel discussions, host your dinner and award show, and conduct live interviews of resource persons onstage. Whom do you pick for this role, and how do you even choose from a pool of potential MC candidates?
An Engaging MC
There’s one rule to live by, actually. Choose a presenter who can engage your audience regardless of the occasion, industry, audience demographics, format, and event type. An event is successful if the guests enjoy themselves and find value in their attendance, and a master of ceremonies who can draw the audience’s attention and engage them is a crucial part of ensuring you accomplish just that.
At this point, you’re probably shaking your head, thinking the above advice is easier said than done. After all, there’s really no way to tell if you’ve picked an engaging MC – and, thus, the right one – until the day of the event, right? At that point, moreover, there’s not much you can do even if you realize you’ve made a mistake.
Indeed, saying it is easier than doing it, but you can find the perfect person for the role with a good selection framework or system.
Event MC Selection Criteria
Such a framework is akin to the hiring criteria for recruiting new employees, except there’s more urgency involved in picking an MC. New employees can be trained and shaped until they’re more efficient, more productive, and better at their jobs. They have that luxury of time. MC presenters are only with you for a time, but they hold the fate of your event in their hands and there are no do-overs if they’re wrong for the job.
Therefore, when choosing a presenter in Dubai for your next business event, look for someone with the characteristics listed below. It’s true that the proof has always been in the pudding, and you can tell if you’ve selected the correct MC only when the event is underway. However, assessing potential presenters against these criteria can improve your chances of choosing the right MC.
1. Strong Communication Skills
An MC should be articulate, clear, and confident when speaking to a crowd, but they should have strong communication skills no matter the audience size.
Meet your potential MC candidates. During your meeting, observe how they talk to you and the other people in the room. Can they engage in small talk and keep a lively banter going? They should be personable and able to read the room. You don’t want MCs who are comfortable with dead air or those who cross boundaries and lines that make others uncomfortable.
Ask your MC candidates a lot of questions and watch how they respond. Are their replies concise and direct but not curt and terse, their message clear but not dull, and their way of communicating efficient but captivating? MCs should be able to talk confidently, without tripping or skipping a beat, whatever questions and responses people throw at them.
Strong communication skills are critical. Only those who have it can easily and readily interact with your audience, guests, and speakers, making them feel involved and helping them maintain their energy levels.
2. Experience and Professionalism
There’s a reason seasoned doctors usually do not take as long as inexperienced doctors to diagnose a condition when presented with an array of seemingly unrelated symptoms. In their many years of practice, they’ve seen things newer doctors might have never encountered, even in books, so they’re practically walking encyclopedias of practical, professional knowledge.
Experience tells – and this applies whatever the profession, including event presenting and hosting. Therefore, prioritize MCs with many years of professional experience and hundreds of event-presenting jobs under their belts. They can function on autopilot because they’ve done it many times. Want a unique flow and format? You can trust a veteran presenter to handle it. Little is new to them, so they’ve probably done something similar at a past event.
More importantly, events rarely go exactly as planned. Experienced MCs don’t get flustered when the unexpected music plays, a scheduled speaker doesn’t arrive on time, a member of the audience turns unruly, or an interviewee is taciturn and refuses to cooperate. Even if they feel unsettled, they’ll never show it.
It’s not their first rodeo, so “been there, done that” applies. Even when things are less than ideal, they remain professional instead of acting all frazzled and emotional. They can get through any crisis with flair and aplomb.
3. Understanding of the Event’s Purpose
The MC should grasp the goals of your event so they can adjust their tone and approach as appropriate. You don’t want a super-lively MC giggling and referencing Hollywood celebrities while speaking to an audience of oil and gas executives coming together to discuss machine learning, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and digital twins. Whether it’s a formal award ceremony or a more relaxed gala, MCs should be able to adapt their style accordingly.
4. Research and Preparation
It’s not only their style and tone that MCs should adapt and change as needed and called for by the event and occasion. The subject and topics of discussion must change, too.
This is why domain knowledge is essential. Yes, an accomplished MC can barrel through an oil and gas industry summit attended by upstream producers, but for the best experience and better engagement, you want an MC who actually knows about oil and gas.
This applies to any industry: food, hotel, fashion, crypto, investing, manufacturing, popular culture, etc. How can someone interview Warren Buffet at a live panel discussion of leadership styles at a business leadership conference if they don’t know who Warren Buffet is, what Berkshire Hathaway is, what class of Berkshire Hathaway shares there are, Berkshire Hathaway share prices, etc?
Additionally, they must know about business, investing, finance, leadership, and current events, particularly those relevant to the event participants. They must also come knowing who will be in attendance.
Prepared with relevant knowledge and information, MCs can make tailored remarks and avoid blunders that can mar the participants’ experience.
Choosing Your Next MC
Like grease keeps gears turning, MCs keep guests engaged and events flowing. You’ll get stuck, and your event may flop if you choose the wrong presenter.
Consider the above criteria the next time you must decide on a business event MC. Choose someone who embodies these qualities so your event will run smoothly and leave a positive but memorable impression on your audience.