photo: Melinda Beck
Emceeing ICON10 -The Illustration Conference in Detroit was both a thrilling and frightening experience. The reaction from attendees and speakers went beyond my dreams and it was fun pretending to be a talk show host for two days.  A wrong step here or there could have made it an awkward time for all. Thank god it turned out well and I still have a career!
After time to reflect, here are nuggets of advice from myself and others which could help you crush as emcee if you’re lucky enough to get a call:
An emcee needs to be visible and invisible at the same time:Â My wife is a performer and choreographer who has emceed many award shows. She said never try to prove that you are clever or brilliant. Emceeing is about focusing on others. Â When talking about yourself, make it relate to the audience. Mrs Yang was spot on. More than one attendee said they liked how my emceeing wasn’t about me. Some even mentioned how they were turned off by emcees who try to be comic geniuses or purposely outrageous. A performer at the conference told me you have 3 minutes to win an audience. Thank god I learned this after my opening monologue.
Research is good:Â After getting the call, I binged YouTube videos of my favorite talk show and podcast hosts and read their thoughts about a successful show. Â Past emcees for ICON used costumes, props, or scripted pieces which are not my thing. I’m more comfortable as an old school host where I ad lib jokes and move things along. I’m not saying you can’t use props, it’s about finding an approach which feels genuine. More than once I used something learned from talk show hosts.
Don’t force funny:Â The best advice from my favorite hosts was don’t try to be funny, be yourself. Let reactions and jokes come from an honest place. The jokes I made from honest reactions received the biggest laughs. There was a moment when I tried to channel Chris Rock and it didn’t work. When I went back to being myself, the audience responded. If a joke doesn’t work, don’t panic and try to compensate. Let it pass and wait for the next pitch. Sometimes a comment which makes people smile is enough especially for those of us who are not performers.
Have a few anecdotes in your back pocket. Everyone has anecdotes they love to tell. Use your stories when there is a technical glitch or need to stretch a segment. My mind went blank on the second day and I pulled out a personal story. No one noticed the mental reboot onstage.
Slow down a beat when you talk:Â Â I’m a fast talker so this is a great note. When I slowed down a beat, the mind was able to relax and this came across onstage.
Let speakers know you’re nervous too. They will appreciate it. A highlight of emceeing ICON is having a brief moment to chat with speakers before they went onstage. Many were nervous so I would share that I felt the same. They appreciate it. It’s also good to give them a verbal pat on the back before they hit the stage.
Move things along:Â An Emcee is a transition from one talk to another. If transitions seems abrupt between talks that’s a bad thing. The best compliment received was ICON10 was a smooth conference.
It was a blast pretending I was a talk show host and I will always be grateful to ICON and Presidents Len Small and Julie Murphy.
Thanks for letting me be the popular kid at summer camp.