How Do I Emcee (and Quiet the Crowd, Too?)

I was at an open mic a few weeks ago and the host walked up on stage and somehow mananged to not get the attention of the crowd, and yet he still introduced the first act, who was then met with little applause, lots of indifference, and it got me to thinking about how you go about being an emcee. Your job is to get the attention of the crowd, focus it upon the stage and then turn the stage over to the act you’ve just introduced. There are physical things that can be done to make your job easier so let’s look at those first. If you can manage these things, the rest won’t be so hard.

The first of these is to make certain that the stage is the focal point of the room. This is done with seating arrangement (when you walk into a theatre, all the chairs are pointed at the stage and all the seats have a relatively unobstructed view of the stage). In a restaurant, you’ve got to go with what they have set up, but where the mic and “stage” is placed can sometimes be up to you. You want no traffic wandering between you and the audience. The traffic should be behind the audience or the bulk of the audience so that they have an uninterrupted view of the stage. You also don’t want the stage by the ladies room.

Lighting plays a very big part in the psychology of the focal point as well. It is best to have the room well lit prior to the performance and the stage not really lit at all. Then just before the evening’s performance is to begin, you dip the lights two or three times. This gets the attention of every sighted person in the room and they will quiet down, the blind will follow. Secondly, leave the house lights dim and bring up the lights on the stage. Now you have the focus of the room on the stage, so folks are going to be essentially looking that way now anyhow.

Walk up to the microphone slowly and look around. Make eye contact with as many people as you can in the brief seconds before you begin to speak. Always start out with a welcome. It’s hackneyed but it is necessary. Tell them what is in store for the evening, but briefly. If someone begins to talk look directly at where they are while you are talking. If they continue to talk, then stop talking until they notice and if they are so obtuse as to still not notice, ask them if you are too loud for them or if you are interrupting them. The audience will laugh and the offenders will shut up.

It is important for you to lead them all into the audient mentality. But remember, all this must be done briefly, and then go into a brief intro of the first act. It is also imperative that the act you are about to introduce be entirely ready. That means tuned up, plugged in, if you can swing it, and warmed up. You’ll lose everything you created if the act you introduces takes ten minutes to get started. Communicate to them that they must be ready to go when you intro them.

If there are two acts on the bill then please don’t dwell on the headliner and then say, “but first, here’s a little girl from Omaha”. You welcome them, you state what is in store, “This evening we are pleased to present Bonnie Raitt and James Lee Stanley. James Lee first came to our attention with his outrageous monologues…etc” Then right into “Please give a warm welcome to Beachwood Recording Artist, James Lee Stanley”.

If you do the “Bonnie this and the Bonnie that and the Bonnie this and the Bonnie that, but first James Lee Stanley”, the crowd is not going to give much credence or attention to the opening act, which in this instance, is little me and I’m gonna hate that. You want to help the opening act to actually change the crowd into a galvanized, responding audience. That’s what the opening act does; smooth the way from the real world that the audience just came in from and guide them until they become a unit, the audience. Then, when the audience is ready, the opening act hands them over to the headliner.

Now suppose you are the emcee and there are no lights to change, no spotlight on the stage, and the crowd is noisy and not really paying attention to what is happening in the room. First, there are bound to be some kind of overhead lights, so you get a waitperson or busperson to flash them before you go up there. Then walk up there and just look at the crowd, maybe even raise your arms, but make no sound. They will get it and they will stop talking and look up at you. Then you begin. If none of that works, you can always shout, “STOP HAVING FUN”. That will make them laugh and make them pay attention to you for a little while, not long, bur for a little while. Shakespeare said it. Brevity is the soul of wit. You talk a long time and the audience turns back into a crowd of people all with their own talking agenda.

This should help you to begin to be a real emcee. Any other suggestions would be more than welcome. We need them. Let me hear from you.

Comments

[PaPo Swiggity]

Awesome blog, very valid points about engaging a noisy audience. A host may spend a good amount of time enforcing (or in the case of a new series, teaching) the etiquette, while trying to remain entertaining and engaging.
The host, in terms of the group is the Leader, so he/she must act like one, or will not be respected as one. I've seen situations where a new host seems to lose power to a poet (series regular) who could get them to applaud or shut up at will, because the host himself wasn't experienced in moving the crowd.

Lead!

[james lee stanley]

really good point papo i am glad that you brought it up. if they host doesn't take control of the room initially, it sends a message of disregard to the audience and makes it that much harder for the performer to do what they do.
also why i worked so much as an opening act for decades. (he said humbly)

[Jothikas]

I feel I should say, I absolutely love this blog. Could tell me how I can go about keeping up to date with it? By the way I discovered this website through Lycos

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