The mark of a good MC
Jan 30, 2009
LAST week we talked about people you should not invite to your function as guest of honour because, by virtue of their status in society, they might want to hijack the occasion.
Timothy Bukumunhe
LAST week we talked about people you should not invite to your function as guest of honour because, by virtue of their status in society, they might want to hijack the occasion.
And when it comes to the Master of Ceremonies, one needs to think hard as to whom they should pick.
The Master of Ceremonies (MC) is one of the most important people at a function.
Their job brief is to hold the whole show together – to dispense information, to make sure the event is running on time, to cover up on the glitches and of course to provide some humour as well as entertaining the guests.
However, there are some MCs who get it all wrong. Here are a couple of examples of things not to do if you have been asked to MC.
At a wedding reception
One thing you must remember while officiating at a wedding reception is that the reception is not yours! It belongs to the couple sitting up at the high table. So never in the process of your duty should you feel the need to introduce your wife or girlfriend and ask her to stand up for recognition as so often happens at wedding receptions today. Give the bride some respect because none of the guests really want to know who your wife or girlfriend is.
At an album launch
At an album launch, the artiste who is launching usually has other acts as curtain raisers. However good the curtain raisers may be, it is not their night. And because of that, do not go harping on about how brilliant their performances were. If anything, all the hype and praise should be directed to the artiste who is doing the launch.
At a corporate function
You have to remember that you are being paid for your services. With that in mind, you have to do some reading on the company – for example, who the CEO is and what the company does. At one bank function, the MC had no clue as to how many branches the bank had. To get out of his predicament, he just said, “...they have many branches in Kampala as well as many branches in Jinja, Arua, Kabale, Mbale, Mbarara, Masaka and Gulu.â€
This was embarrassing for the bank as they did not have branches in Kabale, Gulu or Masaka. Even worse, in the towns that the bank did have branches, it was only one branch per town and not the many as the MC claimed!
LAST week we talked about people you should not invite to your function as guest of honour because, by virtue of their status in society, they might want to hijack the occasion.
And when it comes to the Master of Ceremonies, one needs to think hard as to whom they should pick.
The Master of Ceremonies (MC) is one of the most important people at a function.
Their job brief is to hold the whole show together – to dispense information, to make sure the event is running on time, to cover up on the glitches and of course to provide some humour as well as entertaining the guests.
However, there are some MCs who get it all wrong. Here are a couple of examples of things not to do if you have been asked to MC.
At a wedding reception
One thing you must remember while officiating at a wedding reception is that the reception is not yours! It belongs to the couple sitting up at the high table. So never in the process of your duty should you feel the need to introduce your wife or girlfriend and ask her to stand up for recognition as so often happens at wedding receptions today. Give the bride some respect because none of the guests really want to know who your wife or girlfriend is.
At an album launch
At an album launch, the artiste who is launching usually has other acts as curtain raisers. However good the curtain raisers may be, it is not their night. And because of that, do not go harping on about how brilliant their performances were. If anything, all the hype and praise should be directed to the artiste who is doing the launch.
At a corporate function
You have to remember that you are being paid for your services. With that in mind, you have to do some reading on the company – for example, who the CEO is and what the company does. At one bank function, the MC had no clue as to how many branches the bank had. To get out of his predicament, he just said, “...they have many branches in Kampala as well as many branches in Jinja, Arua, Kabale, Mbale, Mbarara, Masaka and Gulu.â€
This was embarrassing for the bank as they did not have branches in Kabale, Gulu or Masaka. Even worse, in the towns that the bank did have branches, it was only one branch per town and not the many as the MC claimed!