Corporate Event Planning Checklist: Working With Your EmCee

An experienced EmCee can improvise - but improvising an entire event because nobody sent a running order is a different problem. The events that feel the most seamless are almost always the ones where the host was properly briefed well before doors opened. Here's a practical checklist for working with your EmCee, from the first planning call to the moment the room empties.

Two to three weeks before

• Share the event's purpose and tone - is this a formal government summit, an energetic product launch, or somewhere in between?
• Send the guest list of note: VIPs, speakers, and anyone who needs a correct title and pronunciation.
• Confirm the venue, timing, and whether the event runs across multiple rooms or stages.
• Flag any languages that need to be covered, and for which segments.

One week before

• Share the full agenda or run-of-show, including speaker names, session titles, and allotted time per segment.
• Agree on key messages the EmCee should reinforce - your event's theme, sponsor mentions, or calls to action.
• Confirm whether the EmCee is scripting their own links or whether your team is providing a script to follow.
• Share any brand guidelines if the EmCee needs to reference specific product names or terminology accurately.

Two to three days before

• Do a call or run-through covering the final agenda, in case speakers or timings have shifted.
• Confirm AV logistics - handheld or lapel mic, teleprompter if used, and who cues music or slide transitions.
• Share a single point of contact for the day - usually the event manager or producer, not multiple people giving instructions.

Day of the event

• Build in time for a sound check and a walk of the stage before doors open.
• Brief the EmCee on any last-minute changes - a speaker running late, a VIP arriving after the programme starts, a session being cut short.
• Agree on hand signals or cues with your production team for "wrap up," "stall," or "we're running long."
• Make sure the EmCee has water, a clear sightline to the stage manager, and knows where the green room or holding area is.

If things run long (they often do)

Give your EmCee the authority to trim or extend segments in real time rather than waiting for approval mid-event. A good host can absorb a 20-minute delay without the audience noticing - but only if they know in advance which parts of the programme are flexible and which aren't.

After the event

A short debrief - what worked, what felt rushed, what the audience responded to - makes the next event even smoother, especially if you're planning to work with the same EmCee again.

Pooja Sudha has hosted corporate conferences, government summits and panel discussions across the UAE and GCC, and works from a detailed pre-event brief for every booking. If you're planning a conference or corporate event, get in touch to talk through your run-of-show, or read more about her corporate hosting experience.