MC’ing is not always that role that is looked upon as the most desirable on a youth night. It is not always the role we think we need to put a lot of effort into, but rather just turn up on the night, wing it, follow the standard flow and hope it’s a great night.
MC’ing though is at least in my opinion one the of the most important roles on a youth night. The MC is a huge part in setting and contributing to the atmosphere of the night, how you MC sets the feel of whats to come. If you MC with just a standard script and carry an attitude of lets just get through this, then you are setting the night up to feel average, fostering a lack of expectation for anything new or different. But if you MC having planned it out through the week, having sought God and you bring in yourself great expectation and energy then you communicate and set an anticipation for greater things. You facilitate an environment of faith and growth.
MC’ing is a privilege, embrace it, enjoy it and do it with excellence. So to help you do that I have put some MC tips together to enable you to take your MC’ing to another level and set your youth up for success.
- Be praying! We overlook this because there is a school of thought that MC’ing is just taking people through the runsheet. It is a ministry so pray into it. Pray into the night, pray into what you’re are believing for people to experience, pray into the flow of the night and that you will be a catalyst to lead people into a place of faith filled expectation.
- Be prepared! Plan your games, go through the runsheet, plan what you’ll say in transitions, think through how to introduce people/segments. Know what is being preached on the night/the current theme and MC with that in mind to help the night flow. Preparedness breeds confidence.
- Be confident! Be clear with what you are saying, your confidence helps people see the preparation you have put into the night. Your confidence breeds confidence in the Youth for what is to come. Also avoid admitting mistakes but rather attempt to keep everything flowing. Remember only you know what was meant to happen, the audience don’t have the runsheet so they don’t know you made a mistake.
- Be the hype! You influence and affect the atmosphere of the night. What you want to see you first have to be. With your voice and your stage presence you bring the energy and lead people to a position of expectation for the night.
- Be able to command the room! You have the authority to draw it out of people. Take them where they need to go (not always where they want to)
- Be broad in your repertoire! When you’re MC’ing you’re usually trying to communicate similar concepts at lot of the time. If you don’t have a broad repertoire you can sound like you are repeating yourself a lot. Work on the way you phrase things so that you can communicate the same idea in different ways so that people don’t switch off to what you’re saying.
- Be Planted! When you get to the centre of the stage plant your feet right in the middle. If you pace to much it non-verbally communicates to the audience that you lack confidence. A little pacing is good but if you pace too much it becomes distracting to the audience.
- Be well presented! Put thought into what you wear so that your attire reflects the nature of the meeting you’re MC’ing. Dress your best. Also be sure to empty your pockets when on stage so that there are no pocket bulges.
