How to Become a Professional Emcee

Professional emcee work can be incredibly satisfying both personally and financially. Heading the wheel of an event is an honor and a job that is often taken with pride and care by most professional emcees. However, training on how to be an emcee takes a bit more than just picking up a microphone and learning how to work a sound board. Following are some easy to follow steps to help you become a professional emcee and become part of this fun and interesting business.

Instructions

1. Determine if you are cut out for emcee work. Asses positive emcee character qualities in yourself such as extroversion, a good speaking voice, a sense of fun and adventure, a knowledge of technical equipment, a sense of social graces, and adaptability. Start fishing around for early work (parties and bachelor/bachelorette parties are a good start).

2. Take a public speaking seminar or course as this will come in handy when overseeing events. Work on your presentation by practicing public speaking at family functions or outings with friends. As an emcee you will often be in charge of leading events and ensuring smooth, natural transitions in event festivities.

3. Learn the audience with which you are going to be emceeing for, this includes pertinent program information (order of affairs, songs preferences, acoustical limitations, etc). Become well versed with various audio equipment such as microphones, speaker set up, turntables and music systems. Determine whether you will rent equipment to utilize for your services or whether you will purchase it.

4. Set a price table that is comparable to what other emcees in your area charge; consider your pricing for events according to the difficulty in emceeing; (weddings, banquets, and large festivities typically have the highest price tag whereas school dances, family reunions, and birthday parties are at the lower end of the spectrum. Decide whether your fees include set up fees and equipment rental or if you will provide those services free of charge.

5. Advertise your services through word of mouth, great emcees earn a reputation by doing great work at their functions. Consider taking out an add in the yellow pages or other printed advertising venues so you can become more accessible to a wider audience.

Tips & Warnings

• Always schedule a meeting with the organizers of an event beforehand and develop a questionnaire or interview structure that will help you determine what they want out of an emcee (some people merely want someone to direct the event, others want someone to oversee all social aspects)

• When renting audio/visual equipment tell the company you are an emcee and you will often get a discount.

• Learn to pronounce names properly, this is often a mistake that emcees make that gives them a poor reputation.