“I have engaged the services of Mrs Joyce Daniels as Master of Ceremonies for some of the most important events that I have helped organise over the years in Port-Harcourt, notably, the Rivers state Investors Forum 2011 and the Evening of Tributes event that was held for my father in February 2016.

Suffice to say that I consider Joyce to be an exceedingly competent, attentive, courteous and intelligent young lady who is a master of her trade.

Her service delivery is impeccable, as she combines knowledge and humour rolled in one and never fails to appropriately gauge the mood of her audience.

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Joyce as a consummate professional who exhibits a level of maturity that is well beyond her years.she is a joy to work with.”

Atedo Peterside (CON)

President and Founder

ANAP Foundation

ANAP Jets

Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (2012 – 2017) and Cadbury Nigeria Plc.

My success as an event host MC is as a result of my grasp and understanding of Public Speaking as foundation for MCing.

According to the Livio English Dictionary, to speak is to communicate vocally. Wikipedia says “Public speaking (also called oratory or oration) is the process or act of performing a speech to a live audience. This type of speech is deliberately structured to with three general purposes: to inform, persuade and to entertain”.

Public speaking involves the presentation of an organised speech to the public in a particular way. It requires a content-filled speech, a speaker and the audience. The tact/skill of marrying the attention of the audience to a speech, defines a public speaker. Although there has been a misconception of public speaking as just speaking to a group of people, over the years, public speaking has also become a profession, because it has method, ethics and field of study.

One can categorically say public speaking is the ability to master communication with an audience.

Several fields and professions demand addressing an audience, and they include: Teaching, Marketing, Preaching, Law & Advocacy, Broadcasting, and Mastering of Ceremonies. They all demand speaking to the public but the content of their presentations differ.

Dale Canergie, popularly known as The Father of Public Speaking, began in 1912, to teach men and women the fine art of public speaking, developing self confidence, understanding openings and closings, tools to build rapport all hinged on the fundamentals of knowledge, enthusiasm and relevance.

The methods are still being taught in over 90 countries of the world today.

Visit www.dalecarnegie.com.ng for more information.

A Master of Ceremonies sets out to direct and stir an event and therein lies the content of his/her presentation. The major outstanding feature of MCing is that it requires helping your client and audience accomplish their prospect.

Taking her roots from public speaking, MCing also requires the following skills:

• Research – a good MC begins to prepare days, weeks or even months before the event, as this  enables him/her discover best ways to achieve the client and audience expectations.
• Analysing the audience – this helps understand and meet their needs and wants during an event.
• Interaction/Rapport with the audience – create and ask questions and sometimes engage them in activities whilst maintaining status as the master of the ceremony.
• Humour – with or without using jokes, it is a good form of entertainment.
• Demonstrate confidence and poise – deal with stage fright and speak with audible clear voice.
• Respect time – arrive at the venue on time (30 minutes to an hour ahead) and work within given time frame.
• Practice, familiarise and prepare – it helps to overcome fear and nervousness.
• Most importantly get training and stay updated with best practices.

I grew up in an era where ‘big uncles’ who could ‘blow grammar’ and crack jokes where usually the MCs at events. In more recent times, events are no longer left to family members to officiate, seasoned professionals are now being hired to offer best practices. Grammarian uncles have been relegated, and professional MCs, engaged, except of course, the uncles have now been trained in the ethics and ethos of MCing.

The difference between skilled and unskilled workers is the training attained and application of what has been learnt. Getting trained as an MC makes you a professional in your passion, a passion you can sell for profit.

Talkademy Training School for Masters of Ceremonies, provides such comprehensive training. Many have benefited from Talkademy by learning how to groom, practice and brand their passion.

“At Talkademy, I discovered that ‘the distance between your dream and reality is called action’. Today my passion is yielding profit.” – MC/Compere Sophie David-Jones (Kyalami Consult)

To register, visit talkademy.joycedaniels.net