In this video I'm going to share with you my 15 best secrets to becoming an outstanding event MC if that is what you want to do. So, number one! Intro Hey, my name is Devon Brown and in this video I'm going to share with you 15 secrets to becoming an outstanding event MC.
Now for those of you who don't know me or don't know my background, I have been an event MC for the past several years. I am the world's number one MC. number one live seminar event MC. I've gotten to share the stage with people like Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi and Les Brown and Brian Tracy and Rachel Hollis and countless others. And I've gotten to work with a number of the world's world's best event organizers and I've gotten to learn a lot and so what I'm gonna do in this video and a few others I'm gonna make is I'm gonna share with you some of the stuff that I've learned and in this video I'm gonna share with you my 15 best secrets to becoming an outstanding event MC if that is what you want to do so because there are 15 secrets let's jump right into them so that this video isn't any longer that it then it has to be event of the secret number one stumble over your words and just roll with it that's not a real secret let's actually jump in into it.
All right. Number one, do your homework on the event. One of the things that impresses event organizers a lot when they talk to me is that if I know I'm going to have a meeting with them beforehand, I will have done homework on their event. Like I will, I'll go and I'll Facebook stalk their event or their tribe or their community to see what the event is about.
One of the things that I love to do is I'll say, Hey, do you have, you know, a website or, or, or. from last year when you did the event or something like that. And more often than not, they do. And then I just go and I read all the testimonials and I read what the event is about or if they have a sales page that's selling people on buying a ticket for that event, I'll check that out.
But between the sales page for the event and maybe a Facebook community that they have, I'm able to do homework on the event. And that does a lot in that it helps me understand if I'm a good fit for them, if they're a good fit for me. And when I ask questions, I'm asking really intelligent questions.
questions and that really impresses people so number one if you want to be a great event MC do your homework on the event all right secret number two remember it's about the event not you one of the things that I see so if we're being honest here as event MCS we love the stage probably more than most like we love the stage more than the speakers because if you think about it the event MC is on the stage more than anybody else else throughout an event, right? Other than maybe like the primary person whose event or seminar it is. We're on stage a lot and we love the stage.
But here's the thing you have to remember as the emcee, it's not about you. It's always, always, always, always, always about the event. So if you come into it just looking to serve and to be of value, then they're going to love you. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an emcee get on stage and self promote.
I'm awesome. No, don't get on stage and self promote. It's not about you.
They're paying you. for it to be about the event. So always remember that it's about the event and it's about the audience, all right?
That's number two. Number three, my third secret for becoming an outstanding event MC, come with more energy than the room, but not so much that you blow them out of the water. Now, this is one of my favorite secrets.
Now, we all know that as an event MC, your job is to bring the energy, right? You have to bring the energy. You have to be high energy. It's like in the job description, but here's the thing. the thing.
You have to be high energy as it relates to the room. I'll give you an actual example of this. There are two events that I do that are on two ends of the spectrum.
One event on one end of the spectrum is an event for a bunch of women in their 20s and 30s who are all on this fitness and weight loss journey together, who know each other, love each other, are like sisters. It's like a sorority. And they are literally all dancing in the aisles.
And the event has a DJ in their dance. and all this crazy stuff like before I even get on stage if I can find footage of it I'll put it in this video um and so that's one end of the spectrum and then the other end of the spectrum which I promise I don't have footage on is this event that I did once for dentists and it was like an event for dentists but it was like a medical event for dentists so here's the thing when I'm emceeing a bunch of an event for a bunch of rowdy women who are dancing to a DJ before I even get on stage get in room, then when I come with the energy, I need to come at a level 10 because they're already at a nine and a half. right?
But if I come with that same level 10 for the dentists who are sitting there at a level two, and I'm not dissing dentists, by the way, I'm just, just what the seminar was. Um, but if I come with that level 10 energy for the dentist, that's going to be like, uh-uh, get the hell off stage, bro. That is way too much. So you can't, you can't do it that way, right?
So come with more energy than the room. But my rule of thumb is that I'll always go two levels above wherever the room is, right? So if the room on a scale of one to 10 is a level four, then I'll come in at a six. And over the course of my time with them, and once they get used to me, I can raise them up higher and higher and higher.
But what I don't do is if the room is at a three or four, I don't come in at a level nine or level 10. That is way too much. All right, so high energy, but just above where they are, don't blow them out of the water. All right.
What are we on? Tip number four, secret number four for becoming an outstanding event MC. MC, dress the part.
This is something that actually took me a little while to get used to, but I was doing an event in Florida several years ago, and I was dressed decently. I had a t-shirt on like this, but I had a blazer on, and I had some really nice jeans, and I had nice shoes, and I looked the part. I looked decent. But there was a guy who had been an event MC for a long time, and he said something to me that always stuck with me.
He said, Devon, the MC should be the best dressed person in the entire event. He's like, that is the rule. MC is the best dressed person in the entire event and that's always stuck with me.
And so if you've ever been to my website or if you look at a lot of my videos you'll notice that what I wear a lot of times is and it's part of my brand as well because I do this so much that I actually have a brand around it where I'm wearing a vest and I'm wearing a tie. And so I'm not saying that you have to do that. What I'm saying is that if you understand the event understand that I believe and something that has worked well for me and my clients is that the MC should be the best dressed person in the room, but that That being said, if your particular client has a certain thing they're going for, a certain look, or wants you to be part of the event and wear, like, the T-shirt that shows you're part of the event, then absolutely, by all means, do that. All right?
All right, I'm going to scroll down now because I've got this on my screen in front of me because I'm not going to remember 15 off the top of my head. All right. Tip number five, or secret number five, or whatever we're calling these things for becoming a great event emcee is to arrive early and make sure you do your sound check and f***. feel the stage and imagine what you're going to be doing with the audience.
So let me explain what I mean by this. Arrive early and make sure you do your sound check and stuff. So if you are emceeing like a wedding or something, I don't emcee weddings, but if you were emceeing a wedding, then my advice to you would be don't show up when the receptions or I said you should you're I should say when you're emceeing a wedding reception, don't show up when the reception starts.
You need to be showing up with the DJ and with the caterers and you need to do do soundcheck and all of that stuff. So I would show up hours before the event. For me personally, most of the events I do are not in the city where I live.
So I have to fly to go to these different events. And so the one thing I always do is I always fly in the day before the event, right? I always fly in the day before the event. And then that way I can meet with the event promoter.
I can meet with the AV team. I can get on stage. And when I get on stage and and I'm doing my soundcheck so that nobody's rushed. I don't even arrive the morning of the event because you never know what's going to happen.
And they love the fact when I show up the day before, they're like, wow, Devon, you're really serious. You can't believe you're here the day before. I'm like, yeah, dude, this is legit.
And so I show up a day before and what happens is that I get on stage and I find myself imagining what it's going to be like. So when I've got my microphone on, I'm speaking on stage, I'm doing it at the level that I would do it. I'm going through my soundcheck. I'm feeling the stage.
stage and stuff like that. I'm really just kind of putting myself in the element and imagining what it's going to be like with them. But the secret to that is that, or the main thing about that, is that you need to arrive early. Always arrive early because stuff happens, right? So, all right, on to number six.
Secret number six, mix with the crowd beforehand. One of the easiest, so the hardest part, in my opinion, of the event is the first time you go on stage. Like, after you've been on stage and if you've been in an event and MC, you probably know what I'm talking about.
After you're a speaker even, right? After you've been on stage the first time, it's usually pretty good, right? But that first time on stage can be a little nerve-wracking. One of the things I do, which is secret number six, to help me do better on stage that first time is I intermingle with the crowd.
I mix in with the crowd and I have fun with them. So I usually have my head on, my microphone on, right? And then I'll have the little, what's it called?
little uh the mic pack and then i'll tell the av team hey let me control the on and off while i'm walking around the room just messing around with people and so if i see people having fun then i'll jump in their conversation i'll high five them i'll introduce myself because remember it's not it's it's about the event and I'm representing the event. And so I'll walk around and intermix with the crowd beforehand and they love it and that gets them endeared to me. And then when I go on stage, I've already got a few friends.
So always intermix with the crowd. And then when you'll have a few familiar faces in the audience, when you're, when you're on stage and when you're looking out at them. All right. What are we on? Tip number seven.
Tip number seven is like one of my most important and favorite tips, and it is to script your opening. The first, for me, the way it works, and again, the events that I do are live seminars. It's like a three-day seminar, and you've got a bunch of speakers and stuff like that.
And my job is I've got to set the tone and the expectations for the event right off the bat. the bat. And so my first, so what happens is they always give me 15 minutes to do my thing right off the bat. And I always script it, right?
I don't mean script in just canned jokes and stuff. I mean, I script it so that I'm not fumbling over and I don't forget anything. And I'm usually studying my script as well.
If you keep it simple, you can memorize a lot of it. But what I do is I go into the event and I want to identify with them. I want to. I want to say, hey guys, welcome to this event.
Here's what you're going to learn from the event. Now, then what I do is I transition into a little backstory because people love story. And I tell them a story.
I'm like, hey guys, so let me quickly tell you how I ended up on stage in front of you. To be honest with you, I know nothing about dentistry. But your event promoter, the person who's putting on the event, and I met at so-and-so. And he asked me to do the event.
And when I said to him, I said, can you tell me a little bit about the people who are going to be at this event? And he went on to describe you to me. And here's how he described you and da-na-na-na-na. So are you in the right place? And I'll do a little call and response with them.
And I'll get them endeared to me, right? And the other thing I always do during my opening is I'll always set the expectation of how they're supposed to be when I bring somebody to the stage. Because one of the things that sucks at an event is when there's no energy, especially for the speakers.
And the speaker comes on stage and the people are like... I'm like no so what I do during my opening is I also let people know hey when I bring somebody to the stage here's how we're going to welcome them to the stage and I make them stand up and I have fun with them and and that kind of stuff as well but always script your opening script the first time you go on stage to do your housekeeping, your bullet points, all the stuff that you need to do to set the right expectation for the rest of the event. All right, what are we on? Tip number eight, as I'm scrolling down because this is overpressure at all.
Tip number eight, talk to to the speakers beforehand if possible. One thing that happens often is like events will give me bios of speakers and then expect me to just go out there. And I'm like, no, I am not doing that. I go and I talk to the speakers beforehand because at the absolute least, I need to make sure I'm pronouncing your name correctly.
That right. The other thing is I want to make sure that what they're actually talking about is what I have in my notes to ensure. introduce them. Also, if they've given me a giant bio, then I need to trim that out and focus on the most important things.
And so one of the things that I almost always do 99% of the time is that before I introduce somebody on stage, like speaker, speaker number one is on stage and I'm backstage and I see speaker number two. I'm like speaker number two, come here. We need to talk for a second. Hi, my name is Devon. I'm the MC.
I'm going to be introducing you a couple of quick questions for you. Right. And then I'll go over that and I'll make sure that I can give them the best intro and I make sure that I tee them up well with the crowd so that the crowd is excited to hear what they're going to be talking about. All right. What's that?
Number eight. So number nine, tip number nine for becoming or for being an outstanding event MC is be confident with your mess ups. You need to understand that confidence and fun are going to go further with a crowd than perfection ever will.
Right. So. if you even look right now as I reach over to scroll down on this stuff, like, do you hate me for that?
You're like, no, he's human. That's what he does. I'll tell you a real quick story.
One time I was at an event in front of about 3000 people and the phrase I meant to say, or the line I meant to say was something to the effect of, and what you're going to learn over the course of the next three days is going to accelerate your success. And what I said was, what you're going to learn over the. the next three days is going to accelerate. your sex and they died laughing I just sat there with this look on my face like right like and they loved it and I sat there and I owned it and I had fun with it and after they laughed I'm like you're welcome see you didn't even know you're gonna get here for that it's a bonus right so I own my mess ups I own my flubs this is not about being perfectly, especially if you're just starting out as an MC.
Don't try to be something you're not. Just focus on having fun. And if you mess up, own the mess up. Have fun with it.
When I'm doing medical conferences and stuff like that, and I can't pronounce any of the words, I roll with that. It's total. okay all right so be confident have fun and own your mess ups number 10 remember you're an MC not a comedian right there's a difference between being humorous and being funny and there's a difference between or let me not say that way let me say this way you're not there to do a set comedians are there to do a set that's not what you're there to do you're there to add value to the event so add value to the event and if something humorous comes up or if you have some stuff that you know always works well with always works well with crowds do it high five all day long But don't think that your job as the MC is that you have to be funny and that you have to tell jokes You don't you can be humorous and you can be jovial and you have a good time with them Absolutely, but remember you're an MC not a comedian. That was number 10 number 11 as I'm scrolling down here When you're not on stage Stage, study, or interact with the audience. So let me give you two examples, and let me say that again.
Secret number 11, when you're not on stage, either study or interact with the audience. So what'll happen often is let's say I just finished introducing a speaker, and now I'm backstage. What I'm doing is one of a handful of things. I'm not just twiddling my thumbs, right?
What I'm probably doing is I'm prepping for the next speaker. That's one thing I might be doing, going over my notes for them, making sure I can introduce them, because if I can introduce them, and introduce them without my cue card, then even better. I'm also paying attention to kind of what's going on in the event, and I'm studying what's going on in the event and the energy in the event, and I'm kind of keeping my ear out for the speaker who's on stage right now because if that speaker is bombing and brings the energy down, then my job is going to be to bring it back up. So I'm always studying either the event itself or for whatever I have to do next or whatever my notes are next. Maybe we're about to go to lunch and I have to study my notes to make sure I don't miss anything, and I'm always jotting down notes.
Now, that's it. the event is in session. If the event is not in session, then what I'm always doing when I'm not on stage is I'm interacting with the crowd. Your job is to make the audience feel like they have a friend.
All right. Your job is to make the audience feel like they have a friend. So always be interacting with the crowd when you're not on stage.
And especially by like day two of the event, they've known me and they're comfortable with me. And now I'm their best friend and we're high fiving and all that other fun stuff. All right.
Only three more to go. This video is long. Um, Uh, tip number 12, secret number 12, have fillers and be able to kill time.
Um, this is something that you're going to get better at the more you do it. The more you do it, the more you'll get better at it. But one of the things that you're, that you're going to absolutely have to do as an MC is learn how to have fillers and learn how to kill time when the next speaker isn't ready. Or if there's something wrong with the AV, you're going to have to, uh, um, learn how to kill time.
Probably the best and the easiest way to kill time is to ask questions, is to go in the audience and to ask them questions. Like what did you think about the last speaker or what was your biggest takeaway from the thing that recently happened? Me personally, I actually dance with the audience. I actually have a background in hip hop.
I used to be in a hip hop crew. And one of the things that I do and that I'm known for is dancing with the audience. You don't have to do that. If that's not natural, if that's not real, if that's not authentic to you, don't do it. But whatever is authentic to you, it's always nice to have some things that you can do as fillers.
Stories you can tell that are applicable, that put people in a good mood or that are personal. development-y, are always good as well. So always just be on the lookout for fillers.
And if you're ever at an event and you notice an MC looking like they're killing time, then always jot down what they're doing and you can use that for yourself as well. All right. Number 13, secret number 13 to being an awesome event MC, be there for the event host or the event promoter, whatever verbiage we're using, right? So whoever's putting on the event, your job is to be of service to them.
I have a lot of people who will say to me, Devon, I hate to ask. And I'm like, I stop right there. You don't hate to ask while I'm here. I'm here for you. So how can I help serve the event?
Right. Sometimes that's like me having to cut short. Sometimes it's me having to go long.
Sometimes it's me having to stay a little bit extra to help them with something. Whatever I got to do to be of service to the event, I'm going to do. And that's why I keep getting called back is because when I'm there, I'm in full service mode.
All right. I don't ever say, well, it's not in my job description. No, no, no. And that's just. It's good business is that I'm always just there for the event host.
I'm like, what can I do to be of service to you to help make the event better? Come at it from that perspective. All right. Only two more to go. All right.
Hopefully you're getting something out of this. Leave a comment or chat or something. Let me know if you are.
Number 14, end as strong as you started. Remember how I said to script the opening so that you start on a strong note? Well, you want to end just as strong. End with something uplifting. End with something inspirational.
Thank them. If the event organizer or the person putting on the event didn't do this, the host didn't do this, then thank them. Thank the AB team.
Thank the audience. Thank everybody and end on an uplifting note. And now we've sandwiched awesome at the beginning and at the end.
Alright? Tip number 14. And so tip number 14, end as strong as you started. And last but not least, finally, we made it to the last tip. Be authentic. Tip number 15 for being an outstanding event MC is to be authentic.
You need to do you. If you've ever seen the movie Cool Runnings, then you know, and if you haven't, go watch it. Cool Runnings is one of top movies of all time. Alright? Then what happens is the Jamaican bobsled team, big ups to Jamaica.
The Jamaican bobsled, my mom is Jamaican, that's why I'm saying that. Anyway, the Jamaican bobsled team is trying to find their mojo. And what they do is they try to copy the Swiss bobsled team. And one of the guys in the Jamaican bobsled team says to his leaders like, yo, if I'm Jamaican, I got to be Jamaican. I can't be acting all Swiss, right?
I have to bobsled Jamaican and you need to MC like whoever you are, right? Like I said, I'm a former hip hop dancer. And one of the things that I found works for me is dancing on stage. If you suck at dancing, don't dance. I'm not saying don't dance, but right.
But, but you teaching hip hop on stage, is not going to be a thing for you if that's not your jam. But whatever your jam is, do that. Because authenticity and confidence in being authentically you is going to shine through. And that's what people are going to love. Because when you are authentically you, remember, you're the person they see the most at the event.
And when you are authentically you, you're giving them permission to be authentically themselves too. So again, my name is Devon Brown. Wow, this is a longer video than I had intended, but I hope it's helpful. helpful for all of you who are looking to become an event MC who are interested in emceeing events.
If you found this video helpful, like it, comment on it, share it, depending on what platform you're watching it on. That's all I got. Have a great day.
Go be awesome and authentic and be sexy and all that good stuff. All right. Bye-bye. Hey, Devon here. Thanks so much for taking the time to watch this video.
Make sure to like, subscribe, and connect with me on social media. And if you enjoyed this content, be sure to share it with your friends.