👀📎 It looks like you're preparing to MC a conference...
🚨 GIANT DISCLAIMER: This stuff is far from authoritative. But it's what I think works for me, and what I enjoy in an MC when I'm attending a conference.
I find that trying to relax (yeah, easy to say) and remembering that the audience want you to succeed really helps. When you remember that you're not hosting the Oscars, and that people are very happy with you being human and personable, it gives you license to relax and talk to the room as if everyone is your friend.
I have a fear of bodging somebody's name when I introduce them. And I've done it many times despite my best efforts. I like to watch youtube videos of all the speakers that I don't already know to get a sense of what they've spoken about in the past, and also to to listen to how they introduce themselves. I practice them out loud and write them down phonetically if they are tricky.
Often speakers get introduced by someone reading out their bio. I don't think that this gives the impression that you have enthusiasm for, or awareness of them. Both of which are, I think, valuable for creating trust with the audience and comfort for the speaker. I like to look them up and make some notes based on previous talks, the links on their own sites, or whatever else I can scrounge which goes beyond the bio that the attendees all have and will recognise as being read verbatim when they hear it.
As Jake mentions:
...it shouldn't matter if the speaker has published 18 books, or if they're just an intern starting out their career, their talk content is what matters."
Listing their full resume isn't the point at all. I personally just like to convey that I know who this is, and that I'm not encoutering them for the first time as I read the schedule.
It's also worth double-checking that the job title and company details you have for somebody are still correct. It's nice to make sure that you didn't miss a recent role change.
Another good nugget from Jake relates to not surprising the speaker. I've wandered into this territory before where I've enthused about a speaker in their introduction and mentioned a bunch of things that they were planning to say for themselves in their intro. As he says,
make the speaker aware of the kind of intro they'll get, so they can adjust their own intro accordingly.
That's good. Communicating with the speaker ahead of time so that you can tune your own intro is likely to be easier than them adjusting their own content, what with slides and timings etc.
"No surprises" is probably a good summary.
Sometimes when you MC, you might be introducing somebody you know. Perhaps a friend, a colleague, or somebody you shared a nice chat and giggle with at the reception drinks or speakers dinner the night before. While I think it's fine to reference a history or realtionship in an intro for context, It's safer to focus the content of an intro on things that everyone can relate to and not just those who already know you or the speaker.
Private jokes don't mean anything to the vast majority of the audience, and can even alienate you a little by creating a bit of a clique. As Jan thoughtfuly mentions on twitter
"This next speaker needs no introduction" is rarely true. Even if it's likely that a lot of people in the room might already know who a given speaker is, there will be some who don't. As Luke observed:
"don't assume the audience knows who the speaker is"
Each speaker deserves a nice introduction. And there will always be some in the audience thinking "who dis?". So even a little background can be a helpful foundation.
I've been introduced quite a few times in ways that I've not been sure if the intro is over or not! I like to be sure that the final thing I say is the name of the speaker. (Not their talk title, although I'll likely mention that and possibly the themes in my intro) Ending the intro on their name seems obvious, but I do this even if I've used their name earlier in the intro. It makes the handover emphatic and acts as an obvious cue for audience applause. Using an intonation which suggests "it's time to clap right now!" is also helpful. Again, it seems obvious but giving the audience clear cues is really helpful.
If there is Q&A that you'll lead or curate, I like to ask the speakers at the speaker dinner or when they are getting mic'd up (but earlier is better, when they have time to think while relaxed), if there is anything they'd like me to ask. Often there are things people can't include due to time and this can be a chance to squeeze that in and also act as a nice softball question.
Some speakers might not want to do Q&A. I like to make sure about that first and steer the event organisers if somebody prefers not to have it.
At the oprning of the day, I usually jump quickly into the various housekeeping stuff of toilets, exits, code of conduct quite soon after saying my initial hello and being enthusiastic about the day. It doesn't require much imagination and can help you settle in. Don't forget to introduce yourself too!
Along the way, there might be a need to mention sponsors, inform people of food or other things. I like to check in at every break with the organisers to see if there is anything they need me to announce. If there can be a private slack channel or whatsapp group so you can stay in contact with them, all the better. That way you can find our if they need to adjust timings or any other odds and ends as you go.
... most of all though, and to repeat my first point a little, allow yourself to enjoy it. It's so much fun when the speakers and audience are enjoying themselves. Make sure you ride that wave and have fun too!
What have I missed? Got any good tips? I'd love to hear them. Feel free to leave thoughts and suggestions in the comments.
Love this Phil, thanks for writing it! ❤️
The only other tip I can think of the top of my head is a small one for Q&A sessions: remind the audience that they should wait for the microphone before asking their question (assuming one exists! A reminder to speak up if not). We've all been to conferences where people didn't, and then the speaker and half the audience didn't hear and then there's the awkward repeating, etc, etc. A reminder usually makes it clear.