Mastering the Ceremony: business or social, the aim is the same

The other day I was reflecting on the art of speaking and presenting in public. In the UK we’ve recently witnessed a general election in which various politicians have had to articulate themselves to the voting public and now, after the recently concluded DNC in Chicago, we’ve got to witness politicians in the US similarly hit the lectern to make their cases to the public.

For some reason, my mind went back to April this year, when I had the privilege and pleasure of acting as MC at my very first wedding ceremony (on behalf of one of my closest friends). Now while I did not officiate, of course, I did have to figure out quite quickly how to preside over the order of events without too much time to prepare beforehand. It went very well in the end; in fact I received a number of compliments and people couldn’t believe that it was my first wedding MC role! Upon reflection, it occurred to me that I was able to successfully pull it off because I stuck to some key principles that I learned from my experience hosting business events, which translate just as well in the social event space.

• Professionalism - This is the standard and it is something that cannot be comprised. In some respects this is the bedrock of any speaking role. As much as social functions allow for flexibility and a degree of laxity, one always has to be “on job” as they say. At the end of the day, you’re delivering an experience, not just an event.
• Preparation – as mentioned before, I had little time to prepare for the wedding in full, but I still had to get some basics down. Location, number of guests, demographic profiles, cultural considerations, age and gender considerations. Understanding your crowd is half the battle and will extend you a lot of grace even in moments when you might stumble. The same is the case in professional events.
• Personalised approach – Utilising the information gathered about the guests and the “stars of the show” (client and/or event speakers), get creative in finding ways to connect with them. Being Nigerian, it’s a relatively simple thing to do in a Nigerian event - beyond talking about the superiority of our jollof rice, that is. But in more internationally diverse events, it helps to know a little bit about the folks in attendance and what they care about.

• Humour – On a related note, I have to say that humour is one of the greatest tools in public speaking and can raise your performance from good to unforgettable. Humour as a tool is highly effective, but incredibly sharp. Cracking the wrong joke in the wrong environment can turn off the crowd and make your client incredibly nervous. As with everything, humour has a time and a place and the key is knowing precisely where you are and what time it is!
• Pacing – Be aware of how you speak and utilise pauses to regulate your speaking cadence. Our attention span as human beings is quite interesting: we won’t be able to follow you if you speak too fast, but we could very well fall asleep if you speak too slowly. I find this element to be just as important in business and social events.
• Adaptability – I believe it was Mike Tyson that said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” and in MC-ing, this couldn’t be more accurate. Something will ALWAYS go wrong. The order of events will be messed up, a speech will be added last minute, a microphone will malfunction, and you’ll probably get yelled at by the client for something that has nothing to do with you. Relax and flow with it anyway because there’s always a solution if you choose to adapt.

Naturally there’s a lot more to talk about on this topic as well as additional techniques I apply to deliver the right kinds of outcomes. If you’d like to chat, send me a message!