My Experience being an Emcee! Thanks to TM!- by TM Dinesh

I joined the Anchorvale Toastmasters club with one objective in my mind

“To develop confidence good enough to be able to walk onto a stage anytime, and to be able to speak as well engross the crowd.”

I attended a few toastmaster’s meetings and presented few speeches, however I always wanted to try hosting the meeting or an event. I was always eager to take up the ‘Toastmaster of the day’ (TMOD) role, but before I could do that, a better opportunity shook my door.

One day our Club’s President Chee Sian during his opening address, announced that Sengkang West Zone L Resident Committee (RC) needs an Emcee for their Halloween event. I did not blink my eyes and raised my hands of the opportunity at hand.

It was as if half of the battle was won, however varied thoughts started running in my mind and I started having doubts and fear about my decision of agreeing to be the Emcee. The event date was 27^th October and President told me that RC would contact me. Few weeks passed by, however no one contacted me, so I thought I was out of the event. But to my surprise on 22^nd October, I got an email from Mr. Ivan telling that the event was on and I would be required to host the event.

I got only few days to prepare however, I told myself not to take that as an excuse to opt out. I called Chee Sian and asked him for few tips. He referred me to one of our Senior Members of the club Muthu Ganesh. I spoke with Muthu and he gave me some valuable tips. I prepared the script for the event and sent to RC for review.

I asked my son to accompany me for moral support during the event. I dressed up comfortably with an aim to be decently formal at the same time have a hint of party look. I reached the venue one hour early, had a good discussion with the organizer about the setup, games and overall timings for each event, which really helped me to be prepared. At sharp 6:30 PM, I took over the mic and started welcoming the guests. I welcomed the Guest of Honor (GOH) with gusto. I started quite well, voice was clear and I could see a good response from the audience and noticed that they were able to follow my instructions.

I felt that my involvement with the crowd was appreciable and I could manage the crowd well during the games. I felt my lessons from toastmasters coming alive at the event.

My son’s presence helped me a lot. He was encouraging me, helping me as and when needed and took pictures for me.

After the event I felt satisfied with my accomplishment, however there were few areas which I felt could have been better. I felt I could have rehearsed a bit more and I could have been more engaging by asking more questions and cracking more jokes.  I do realize that it was my first emceeing experience and I can use this experience and learnings from toastmasters to do even better next time.

All in all, it was a great experience, a baby step towards the big milestone of becoming a great speaker. I am thankful to our Anchorvale toastmasters club and RC for the wonderful opportunity and here is my small piece of advice for all the club members:

“Whenever you get an opportunity to implement and showcase lessons from toastmasters’ meetings, do grab the opportunity, it will indeed be a very enriching experience for sure!”

-TM Dinesh Aggrawal