Master of the stage

Emceeing can be a lucrative profession for someone with a gift of the gab and oodles of confidence, says Shabina Akhtar

Fun four: (From top) Shekhar Suman, Cyrus Broacha, Mini Mathur and Malaika Arora Khan Are all eyes on you when you’re on stage? Does the very idea of addressing a live audience thrill you? Do you have the gift of the gab coupled with a sense of humour? If you have these traits, look no further — you could become a master of ceremonies or an MC (emcee). An emcee or a host is a person who conducts live events without making them boring or monotonous. So an emcee is essentially an anchor who navigates the entire event smoothly, punctuating it with jokes, facts and trivia. “Oodles of confidence and command of at least three languages help,” says Rehan Imam Waris, a radio jockey at Red FM. Waris began his career as an emcee almost a decade ago. “I first emceed for the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, for Rs 1,000. Since then I hosted a large number of shows till I chose to become a radio jockey. However, I still host corporate and private events,” he says. But becoming an emcee is no cakewalk. With it comes a great deal of responsibility. Apart from being a confident speaker, an emcee needs to have a lot of other qualities. It definitely helps to have a good personality and looks. No wonder a lot of TV stars and models are taking up this profession. “Most of the live or recorded reality shows have a script drafted for the anchors. But an anchor must be able to add a bit of flavour to the script and have a backup ready in case things don’t go as planned,” says emcee Madhumanti Maitra, who hosts live events and reality shows for ETV Bangla. A good voice and clear enunciation are other important factors that make a successful emcee, for a host is only as good as his voice. Remember, the main job of an emcee is to keep the audience enthralled. Very few institutes offer formal degrees or training for emcees. A few institutes like Chitrabani, Calcutta, and Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC), Mumbai, offer vocational courses. “XIC offers a three-month vocational course and charges Rs 7,500. The classes are held every Saturday for three hours,” says Noel Keymer, co-ordinator of ABCDE course, XIC, Mumbai. Father Joseph, director of Chitrabani, says, “We offer emceeing as a part of the video-aided public speaking course. It’s a 10-day workshop and costs Rs 3,000.” “Several schools hold workshops on radio jockeying and emceeing,” says Waris, who has been conducting such workshops for Class IX and X students of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ High School and Frank Anthony Public School. He also conducts an annual workshop on DJing, RJing, emceeing and public speaking. To be a part of Waris’ annual workshop, you have to shell out around Rs 3,000. The venue is decided according to the programme. With very few centres in India offering training in emceeing, you need to have the skill and luck to make it big. DJ Shireen, who has been emceeing for quite sometime, feels, “Formal training isn’t a prerequisite. Being street smart and confident are all that is needed to make it big. You will be flooded with assignments if you are good at your job.” Says Mitra, “You can’t teach a person to talk well. You can just hone his skills. I am not in favour of aspirants seeking training.” Some finishing schools such as the Edge Academy and The Finishing School in Bangalore offer training in emceeing. Foreign institutes like the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland and the Bionic DJ Academy, Malaysia, also offer courses on emceeing. There is no cut-off percentage for admission to the Bionic DJ Academy. Aspirants can get their queries answered at BionicDJAcademy@gmail.com. Candidates applying to the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland can log on to http://www.bim.org/applyonline. As there isn’t much of an option when it comes to formal training, a bachelors degree in arts or an MBA helps a lot. A management degree or a diploma makes it easier for an emcee to host corporate events or product launches. An emcee should always be on his toes. You should be spontaneous and able to respond to any question. “With a lot of events being hosted these days, emceeing seems to be a nice career option for the young,” feels Waris. An emcee is needed for any show, be it a private party, product launch, school and college fests, film awards night, road shows, talk show on TV or festival extravaganza. Sometimes an emcee may have to write his script and develop the sequence of events as well. “Your IQ level should be high and you should be a quick thinker. It helps if you are well informed,” says Maitra. The best way to get a break in the industry is to put together a demo CD. Get a portfolio done and drop it along with the demo CD at various event management companies, which are always on the lookout for fresh faces to host shows and events. As for the moolah, there is no limit to what an emcee can earn. Says DJ Shireen, “A fresher can charge as much as Rs 10,000 for hosting an event. So if you host three shows a month you can earn at least Rs 30,000.” Waris says a seasoned emcee can charge as much as Rs 40,000-45,000 a show. SRK and Saif probably get crores to host film award shows. So, if you are looking for glamour, fun, money as well as responsibility, get ready to take the stage and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your host….”