Expeditious & Elegant

Tips and tricks for building ceremonies to honor your awardees or graduates without putting the stage party and your audience to sleep.

It’s that time of year when we recognize excellence in many fields and celebrate accomplishments in traditional rites of passage like graduation ceremonies. As a graduate, a plus-one, an aunt, and a live-events producer, I have found that, with a little preparation, anyone can craft a ceremony that is meaningful for the honorees AND interesting, maybe even exciting, for the audience. Try some of these tips to make your award ceremony or graduation both awesome and speedy!

1. Remember why you’re here, and who you’re here for. Stay focused on your graduates,?awardees, honorees and guests. Let their experience be the arbiter of decisions whenever possible. Will an additional speaker make the guest experience richer? Will closed-captioning help the entire audience understand the message? Lean into what your guests will remember, and away from extra or irrelevant content.
2. Help your speakers reach your audience and fit in your ceremony. Give your speakers more guidance and help, not less. Every time I have provided clear guardrails, it has been welcomed with open arms. Tell your speakers your theme, what kind of tone and content will resonate with your audience, and what emotions you hope to evoke in this ceremony. Let them know what your other speakers will be saying to avoid unintended repetition. Ask your speakers to provide their remarks in advance for many reasons, including accessibility. Even an outline in advance will help your sign language interpreters and your captioners feel confident, and ensure they don’t misspell the speaker’s most important proper noun in the speech (which could be their mother or favorite coach).
3. Protocol is more flexible than you think. I love protocol. The method behind this madness is to create a level playing field for maximum understanding. We can interpret protocol for the 21st century. For example, introducing the on-stage party, ‘the platform’, to the audience is only logical. How you do it can save time or waste it:Instead of waiting until everyone is seated, introduce the party as they process to the stage. Consider a live or recorded voice over while playing processional music.Introduce the party on-screen with images, names and titles. Why not do this while they process? Introduce the party by grouping rather than by individual. I’m not a fan of this option, but I can see the value!
4. Voice overs are not just for the Oscars. That voice in the wings saying, “here to present the award for best picture are famous actors number one and two” not only lets us know what’s happening, but it covers all that otherwise dead time the presenters are walking to their spots, the potentially jarring camera switching, and even allows for a little applause. Try pre-recording your introductions, transitions between speakers or sections, any repeat as well as emergency announcements. But don’t stop there: ask your VO artist to sit in the booth with headset and mic for any unforeseen needs. This is especially important if someone gets lost on-stage (it happens), or for weather challenges, or even for unexpected mascot sightings.
5. Bios need not be boring. The people you are honoring are generally pretty spectacular, or you wouldn’t be celebrating them. The same is true of any speakers you have invited. Some have very long careers and the list of their accomplishments is daunting, full of acronyms, and will create a chasm between them and the audience. To ensure the honoree feels seen and special, try scripting their bios differently: Instead of their resume, find out what the nominators or judges had to say about the awardee. Generally, this information is kept quiet, but I have found some of the most joyous quotes that humanized both the honoree and the presenter here. And, this is new information that you can’t find on the internet, so the honoree is as pleasantly surprised as the audience. When you can’t dig into the nomination packets, ask people surrounding the honoree how they would characterize this person’s excellence – and what it means to your organization. Ask the person who suggested this speaker why they are inspiring. Find common threads that are not in resumes and highlight them. Tie the honoree, speaker, etc., to the theme of the ceremony or the institution. If one of your university’s values is compassion, find the thread of compassion in the awardee’s or speaker’s work, and pull it into the bio or introduction. Put the details on the website, not in the script. This way you can keep it short: under 90 seconds, 60 seconds preferred for speaker intros. After all, for speakers at least, we want to hear their message. We can look up their details later online.
6. Tap your feet to the music. If subtle music underscores those walkup and awardee moments, the platform party will move along with the music, and presenters will be able to pace themselves better. Subtle music will feel invisible, but can help if a speaker should ramble at the end and need a reason to say “thank you, and good night.” Your audience will also appreciate the immediate lack of dead space. Music fills the awkward pauses, the, “oh wait, I was supposed to go back to the microphone” moments.
7. Give your ceremony a time limit, and push for it. Work with stakeholders at the beginning of planning to set a length, and use it and your purpose (see #1 above) to edit out repetitive and over the top content. Let all players know in advance the time limit and work with them to keep the ceremony focused. An after-event reception, game or other engagement for VIPs really helps!
8. Say it out loud around your kitchen table. Table reads are the most wonderful tools for bringing a ceremony together. Ask your writers, your friends, your random colleague from down the hall to each read a few parts aloud when there is no pressure.?Time each part and add it up. Add :30 each time someone has to move from a seat to a podium – or more if the stage is large. Stop after each section and encourage critique. How might we say this better? What was hard to say? What makes sense written but would never be said aloud? How can we make this friendlier, more meaningful, or more approachable for the audience?
9. Rehearse. Need I say more? Not just a mic check. Everyone who has to move or speak on-stage should have stepped on that stage prior to the ceremony, and walked through their part.?If at all possible, do your rehearsals in order of the show. Your production team will thank you by giving you a much smoother show.

It’s such a joy to see graduates and honorees getting their due, and to see their families take part! By implementing a few of the tips and tricks above, ceremony planners can keep that good feeling going. Your guests and honorees alike will appreciate the thoughtful, coordinated, smooth-running stage show you produce, and will sing your praises for respecting their time. Speakers will feed off the spirit of an audience that is attentive and energized.

Theatre producers will tell you there are many more tricks to make a show smoother and help bring the audience closer into the action. I hope some of the above is useful for you, and I would love to hear what you have implemented to make your awards or graduation ceremonies richer, more connected, and yes, speedier.