Why hire a professional emcee

I emceed a fintech conference not too long along where one of the keynote speakers turned up and bottled it.

He arrived, saw the audience and decided he didn't want to go on stage to deliver a keynote. Honestly, mad respect for him - it takes guts to pull out of something THAT last minute.

But, of course, the events organisers were in a total flap. There were 400+ senior executives in the audience from very reputable banks and financial institutions, many of which had come specifically to hear from this high-profile keynote speaker.

They tried pleading with him. No budge. I've no doubt they'd paid him a lot to be there, but he wasn't doing it.

So what happened?

I stepped in and moderated a fireside conversation with him on the future of fintech. I'll be honest: I'm no fintech expert.

But one of the skills you learn through years of professional moderating is that curiosity will get you very far. If you're curious, the world opens up. Coming prepared with a list of questions doesn't always lead to a better conversation; sometimes it's just about fluidity.

We had a great conversation. Some people told me afterwards it was the highlight of their conference.

Which is why you hire a pro. Things never got to plan with live events, and you need someone adept at steering your event through last-minute changes, technical hiccups or, indeed, a case of nerves.

----

How I can help:

I’m booking events for Q4 and would love to support your next live event as a professional host. If you’re looking for an emcee-moderator-host who can make your event exceptional, let’s talk: angelica@angelicamalin.com