3 tips to help choose your event MC

The Master of Ceremonies, or MC as they are more commonly known, plays a critical role in setting and maintaining the tone, flow, and energy of an event. Which also means they can be a key factor in the event’s overall success or failure.

Who your MC is can be just as important as your venue and your catering. Choosing the wrong, inexperienced, or under-prepared MC can leave your audience disengaged, bored, or worse.

So, what should you actually think about when choosing an MC? Here are our three top tips for selecting the right person, plus a short guide on how to work well with them once they are booked.

Choosing the right MC

1. Set your goals

An MC can play a wide range of roles, from simply welcoming guests and announcing speakers to entertaining, energising, and inspiring the audience across the day. Depending on the type and complexity of your event, you may also need them to handle audience management, run interstitial segments, or keep the event running on time.

For example, we booked comedian Diana Nguyen for the 2023 RCAA Conference. One of Diana’s roles was to walk around and ring a bell when it was time for delegates to return to seminar rooms, and each afternoon she managed to get 250 or more people out of their seats and dancing, using her natural energy and a genuine passion for movement.

Not every MC will be suited to that kind of range. Understanding what role you want them to play, and what they are willing to do, is the fastest way to arrive at a realistic and appropriate shortlist to choose from.

2. Understand your audience

To make sure your MC is the right fit, think carefully about the demographics (age, gender, cultural background, industry), values, and interests of your audience. Book someone who will authentically resonate with the people in the room.

For example, our director Julia was invited to facilitate a panel discussion at the recent Western Chances Good Business Forum. Attendees were business, community, and education leaders interested in supporting the not-for-profit. As a Western Chances Ambassador, past scholarship recipient, and success story herself, Julia was able to articulate and demonstrate the benefits of supporting the organisation by drawing on her personal experience. For current scholarship recipients in the room, she was also a role model they already looked up to. That kind of alignment cannot be faked, and it is what makes an MC’s presence land.

Making sure your MC and wider event team reflect the diversity of your audience is one of the most impactful choices you can make. For more on this, read our post on diversity and inclusion considerations for events.

3. Profile your ideal MC

You will need an MC who is a confident and experienced public speaker, able to command and hold a room full of people. But which other characteristics do you actually need?

Listing out the specific characteristics, skills, and background you want in an MC is the fastest way to build a clear selection profile:

• Should the tone be serious or funny?
• Do they need to understand a particular industry or subject matter?
• Do they need to be politically or culturally sensitive to a specific issue?
• Will they need to help promote the event beforehand, and if so, do they have a large enough public profile or social media presence to move the needle?
• Do they need to hold the room across a full multi-day programme, or just anchor a single evening?

For example, we knew the 2023 RCAA Conference would be an intense event featuring challenging lived-experience stories from refugees, so we needed an MC who could be respectful and sensitive to that content, while also lightening the room at the right moments. Diana was exactly the right fit.

Working well with your MC

You have selected the best MC for your event. Now what?

1. Develop a clear brief

An experienced professional MC will usually do their own research and seek to understand the brand, event background, and goals. We still recommend preparing and sharing a comprehensive brief and running order well ahead of the day. A good brief outlines exactly what they can expect, what is required of them, and any potential challenges or opportunities to watch for.

Providing a full backgrounder gives your MC time to familiarise themselves with key messages, the order of proceedings, and any celebrities or VIPs who will be in attendance. Just as importantly, it lets them prepare custom material and collaborate with you on ideas that will make the event more fun and distinctive. No one enjoys an MC who reads from a stock script. If your MC is having a good time, so will your guests.

2. Rehearsals are non-negotiable

We treat the MC role like any other live performance and always allocate time for an in-person rehearsal or run-through. Rehearsals let you test entrance and exit points, AV and lighting cues, transitions between sessions or speakers, and give you an early read on what the MC will actually be like on the day.

They also give you the chance to refine any clunky messaging, identify potential issues, and put backup plans in place. If your event features a variety of speakers, it is a good idea to bring them together ahead of the day too, even briefly online. Establishing rapport between the people who will be on stage together helps create a friendly, connected atmosphere, and it avoids the awkwardness of first-time greetings happening on live audio.

The right MC is worth the effort

The MC is the person threading your event together in front of a live audience. Getting the choice right is one of the highest-leverage decisions you can make in the planning phase, and it deserves the time and rigour it takes.

Since 2013, JTPM has delivered more than 1,200 events across Australia, and we have worked with a wide range of speakers, hosts, comedians, and industry MCs. If your event is an award ceremony, a gala dinner, or a recurring annual programme, the choice of MC becomes even more important. Our post on supercharging your annual event covers this in more depth, particularly around using a well-known MC as a marketing drawcard.

Ready to find the right MC for your event?

If you would like help finding, briefing, or booking an event MC, our team at JTPM offers full-service Melbourne event management services and Australia-wide delivery, including talent selection, briefing, rehearsals, and full production support. For more premium or bespoke MC requirements, our JT Curation service is designed exactly for that.

Book a design session with us, or get in touch to start the conversation.