Pack of talent

A master of ceremonies (MC or emcee), or compère, is the official host of a staged event or performance. An MC usually is a performer who keeps the audience entertained at all times and keeps the event going.

The lowdown
A master of ceremonies (MC or emcee), or compère, is the official host of a staged event or performance. An MC usually is a performer who keeps the audience entertained at all times and keeps the event going. The MC sometimes also acts as the protocol officer during an official state function. An MC can be a music artist who usually creates and performs vocals for his/her own original material (not to be confused with a DJ who plays party music and mixes music). Basically, an emcee is the life of the show. Since destination weddings have become a big business these days, the demand for emcees has been increasing

Call-of-duty-An-emcee-is-responsible-for-not-only-putting-on-a-show-or-entertaining-guests-but-to-keep-things-moving

Clockwork
There is no fixed routine for an emcee that is followed every day. The working days and hours keep change according to the show/event. The work starts a few hours before the event and continues till it ends
11am: Wake up
11.30am: Breakfast
12.15pm: Go to the gym
2.30pm: Lunch
3.30pm: Meetings with clients
6pm: Head to the event venue
1am: Wrap up for the day

The payoff
The money depends on the show/event. At times you can get Rs. 50,000 for a show/event and sometimes as little as Rs. 5000. All depends on your reputation in the industry

Skills/TRAITS
* No stage fright
* Excellent oratory
* Fun loving and an entertaining person
* You should be outgoing and gregarious person with good communication skills
* Spontaneous thinking is a must for an emcee to remain on stage for a long time
* You should have good networking skills to survive
* You should be a good team player to work in coordination with a co-host
* You should be a hard-worker, efficient with time management
* Being warm and subtle helps you break the ice with the audience
* Words like shy and introvert don’t go with the work of an emcee

Getting there
Take part in drama competitions and debates in school and college. Such competitions are a great leveller. This is the only way you can gain confidence and exposure. Also, they’ll make you realise whether you belong to this industry or not. In addition to this, keep improving your vocabulary and be on stage to learn how to connect with audience and keep it engaged and interested

Institutes and URLs
* Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Pune
www.simc.edu
* Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi (headquarters) and multiple centres
www.iimc.nic.in
* Jamia Millia Islamia
http://jmi.ac.in

Pros and cons
* Well-paying work
* Possibly late working hours

There is no business like show business, and an emcee is the heart of the show who makes the event run smoothly Siddharth Sood, New Delhi-based emcee who opened the show for celebrity artists like Akon and Mobb Deep