Just picture this. You're the Master of Ceremonies for
a high-level corporate function. You've arrived at the venue an hour
early. You've introduced yourself to the event organizer, the venue
manager and the caterer. The hall is tastefully decorated and the DJ is
filling the room with smooth jazz. You glance at your watch.
Everything is going to plan. The show starts in ten minutes.
Then the organizer comes rushing in to give you bad news. The guest
speaker was on his way but had to attend an urgent unscheduled meeting before
coming here. Looks like he definitely will be late. The question
is, when will he arrive? Nobody knows for sure.
Such a scenario has the potential for sharply raising stress levels before the show even gets underway. The client, the person paying for the event, wants to know what's going on. The audience - guests and the media - want proceedings to start, they haven’t got all day you know. The organizer just wants a faraway place to hide from all this unwanted pressure. A launch or an awards ceremony that took weeks of meticulous planning and countless sleepless nights can be wrecked with a key person failing to turn up on time to play a critical role in the programme. You’re the MC. You’re in the middle of a potential storm. What’s your decision?
Do you:
A. Offer no explanations to the audience. Instead, wait till the special guest turns up before you start?
B. Start the show on time, apologize profusely and let the audience know that the guest speaker will be late?
Starting later than scheduled is not advisable, especially if it is a corporate affair. It shows a lack of professionalism as well as a lack of respect for guests who took pains to turn up early. So Option A is out of the question. How about Option B? Making a speaker look bad by advertising their lateness is not a good idea either. Why cause disaffection for him or her? One important role of the MC is to bring out the best in everyone connected with the event: the audience, the client, and the speakers. With that in mind, here's what to do if you're the MC and its show time but your special guest is nowhere to be found.
1. Rearrange it and then start on time.
Juggle the programme around. Push the guest speaker's appearance further down the running order since they will be appearing later than scheduled. Feel free to bring forward items that were originally scheduled to run after the guest of honour's speech. I recently emceed a corporate event where I brought forward a musical performance and an awards segment to account for the lateness of the special guest. After making these changes, start the show on time without referring to them. No apologies are needed - just get on with it. The audience will be happy that you're not wasting their time. They will take a cue from you the MC and assume that the show was originally planned that way.
2. Coordinate it.
The show is now underway. You're up front on the stage. How will you know when your special guest turns up? Coordination is the key. Make sure you have a representative of the organizers updating you regularly so you know when the speaker is around and when it's time to bring him or her into the picture. Remember, nobody in the audience should know that there was a problem before the show kicked off. Be diplomatic. Don't make any mention of their lateness when you introduce the guest speaker. You should be as natural as possible, as if it was planned all along that the guest of honour would address the audience at that particular time. It has been my experience that unless you draw attention to a lapse or problem, most audiences are happily unaware of what challenges you may be facing to produce a successful event. This may be one of the rare occasions where indeed ignorance is bliss. Keep it that way!
Such a scenario has the potential for sharply raising stress levels before the show even gets underway. The client, the person paying for the event, wants to know what's going on. The audience - guests and the media - want proceedings to start, they haven’t got all day you know. The organizer just wants a faraway place to hide from all this unwanted pressure. A launch or an awards ceremony that took weeks of meticulous planning and countless sleepless nights can be wrecked with a key person failing to turn up on time to play a critical role in the programme. You’re the MC. You’re in the middle of a potential storm. What’s your decision?
Do you:
A. Offer no explanations to the audience. Instead, wait till the special guest turns up before you start?
B. Start the show on time, apologize profusely and let the audience know that the guest speaker will be late?
Starting later than scheduled is not advisable, especially if it is a corporate affair. It shows a lack of professionalism as well as a lack of respect for guests who took pains to turn up early. So Option A is out of the question. How about Option B? Making a speaker look bad by advertising their lateness is not a good idea either. Why cause disaffection for him or her? One important role of the MC is to bring out the best in everyone connected with the event: the audience, the client, and the speakers. With that in mind, here's what to do if you're the MC and its show time but your special guest is nowhere to be found.
1. Rearrange it and then start on time.
Juggle the programme around. Push the guest speaker's appearance further down the running order since they will be appearing later than scheduled. Feel free to bring forward items that were originally scheduled to run after the guest of honour's speech. I recently emceed a corporate event where I brought forward a musical performance and an awards segment to account for the lateness of the special guest. After making these changes, start the show on time without referring to them. No apologies are needed - just get on with it. The audience will be happy that you're not wasting their time. They will take a cue from you the MC and assume that the show was originally planned that way.
2. Coordinate it.
The show is now underway. You're up front on the stage. How will you know when your special guest turns up? Coordination is the key. Make sure you have a representative of the organizers updating you regularly so you know when the speaker is around and when it's time to bring him or her into the picture. Remember, nobody in the audience should know that there was a problem before the show kicked off. Be diplomatic. Don't make any mention of their lateness when you introduce the guest speaker. You should be as natural as possible, as if it was planned all along that the guest of honour would address the audience at that particular time. It has been my experience that unless you draw attention to a lapse or problem, most audiences are happily unaware of what challenges you may be facing to produce a successful event. This may be one of the rare occasions where indeed ignorance is bliss. Keep it that way!
As a Master of Ceremonies, how you handle a speaker who
turns up late means being creative and working closely with team members. Your success will mark you out as a
professional and you’d like to be regarded in such a manner wouldn’t you?
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