How to Choose a Corporate Event Host and Set the Right Tone

The choice of a host for a corporate event is often accompanied by a strange stereotype: if a person leads weddings and events, then he will definitely work in the same style at a business event. In practice, a professional host changes the language, script and manner of behavior to suit the audience.

A “Toi” host and a corporate host are necessarily different people?

Let’s imagine: at a corporate event in December, the accountant really liked the host. She's planning her son's wedding this summer and doesn't hesitate to invite him back. But if an HR specialist sees the same person at a friend’s wedding in the summer, then by December he may be afraid to propose him to management in case he is too “toi-style.”

This is a common misconception.

A professional understands that a corporate event can bring together management, official guests, partners and foreign colleagues. Therefore, vocabulary, humor, script content and even stage behavior change.

You can see this already at the first meeting. You shouldn’t draw a conclusion about a host just based on his social networks: weddings and events take place all year round, and the corporate season occupies a much smaller part of the calendar. The account display simply reflects the frequency of orders. A personal conversation will reveal much more.

Should employees speak at a corporate event?

Sometimes department numbers appear in the program to save budget, but more often the task is completely different - to unite people.

Joint rehearsals, brainstorming and performance preparation force colleagues to interact outside of their usual work processes. In our experience, such projects really bring teams together.

Age is rarely a barrier here. After just a few rehearsals, people get involved, and closer to the performance they find time for studio recordings and additional meetings. After going on stage, fatigue is usually replaced by general euphoria.

If you have at least a month to prepare and experienced instructors work with the team, employee performances can become one of the strongest performances in the corporate program.

Does the mood of management affect the entire holiday?

It has a stronger effect than is commonly believed.

At one of the corporate events in 2012, the first department took place tensely and almost according to protocol. Neither the invited comedians from Moscow nor the Russian pop stars helped: the four leaders of the group maintained such a serious attitude that the entire audience involuntarily adjusted to them.

During the intermission, the situation suddenly changed: a ticker appeared on the television news broadcast with the names of dismissed top managers - among them were the managers to whom the first toast was dedicated at the beginning of the evening.

The second section took place without them. And the atmosphere became completely different: the employees relaxed, began to actively participate in the program and finally allowed themselves to celebrate.

This case clearly shows a simple thing: the mood of a corporate event is created not only by the host. It is influenced by the script, the team, internal relationships and the signals that management conveys to employees.

Therefore, a good corporate event begins not with recruiting artists, but with understanding the audience and the atmosphere that the company wants to create.