Behind The Mic With Aakarshak Mishra

Aakarshak Mishra, a seasoned emcee, shares insights into the dynamic world of event hosting. Mishra emphasises the need for tailoring his approach to diverse events as he delves into his meticulous preparation process. Drawing distinctions between TV presentations and live events, Mishra discusses the spontaneity and audience interaction that define the latter. With a keen eye on evolving industry trends, he encourages aspiring emcees to approach the profession with dedication.

Excerpts:

What in your opinion are the qualities that are essential for a successful emcee?

Being a master of ceremonies, a lot of people think that’s just reading out of a script, holding a mic, talking to a few hundred or thousand people and they think that is all an emcee does. What a successful emcee does is to first make sure that you know what the demand of your client is. You could be the best emcee at weddings, but when you go to a corporate setting, everything changes for you. For instance, I do not host social events at all. Never have in my life, I've just been hosting corporate and business conferences for rewards and recognition because I think that is my niche. Whatever I do on stage for corporates may be engaging and entertaining for that set of people, but if I try and do it in a social gathering, that will backfire.

You need to understand if you the best fit for that kind of work and if you take up that work, you have to prepare, you have to get insights about the client, the kind of audience that you're dealing with, are they grassroots level employees or CEOs, CFOs and CXOs. You have to come up with entertaining things, not just to one particular section, but to the entire audience. You need to understand that the show is not about you, it is about the people that are attending the show and it's about the event managers that have put in their hard work.

How do you prepare for such events? What's your process?

A day before the event, I'll open up a can of beer, just chill and listen to music. I get everything out of my head and then I get back on the brief that has been given. I've been very fortunate to work with a lot of MNCs repeatedly over the decades and I must have hosted more than 1,000 shows just for real estate. What happens is that I have a different pressure in mind, I think about what new I can bring to the table. One day before the event, I jot down everything that I thought the previous day. I think about how my entry should be and how I should introduce a certain person, I always try to go that little bit further. I get on a call with the clients, get to know what I can do and I make pointers.

I never create scripts until and unless it is requested by the client. I always keep pointers and I try to be as open as possible. I try to be as engaging as possible, not just with the people in the front row, but with everybody who's in the hall.

That's how my preparation works, I get to know personal details about people, get to know fun things, things that the company values, so I could create something around that I can talk to people about their likes and dislikes.

I always start my show with something known as ‘get to know’. The whole idea about this concept is that people work in the same office and share emails, but that's about it. The first thing that I do is ask ten fun questions, from how many of you have pets, to how many of you pretended to have Internet issues so that you don't have to get on a call. That breaks the ice.

How is presenting on TV different from hosting live events?

The distinction between television and real life is that television is scripted. Even if you see the crowd is bored, even if you know that nobody's paying attention, even if you know the event is dull, you cannot do anything to spice things up, because that's the format of the show. Whereas, when you're hosting live, you know you have the power to do anything, within certain limits and get the show back on track. For me, hosting on television requires a different charisma, a different level of concentration and understanding, because during live events if you make a mistake you can always apologize and move on.

As an anchor, how do you balance being professional and building a rapport with the audience, especially when talking about corporate events?

Being professional is a part of our job. I love getting to know people in social gatherings rather than on social media. Even during breaks like a tea break or lunch break, I'll just go meet with a lot of people and talk to them.

Approaching the audience is easy because they may recognise you from the stage and in a crowd of 1,000, I will not be able to recognise a specific person, but when I go to someone and I speak to them, I get to know them and then I remember what we talked about. I’ll then use that information in a moment on stage when I’m introducing them, that makes the moment more personal. It also makes the entire audience feel like you are approachable. After that point during another break, people will walk up to you themselves.

What upcoming trends do you see in the event hosting industry and how do you plan on adapting to them?

It depends on team to team and event agency to event agency. If you talk about real estate, earlier, there was nothing known as a channel partner meet. Now, they've come up with a new concept of calling the brokers their channel partners, inviting them and creating something special for them. When you talk about IT, they'll have an event in one location, but it will be streamed across multiple locations. The next trend is the FMCG sector inviting on-ground salespeople, now they are also a part of the bigger team.

Everybody is now becoming more inclusive. You can reach out to a lot more people rather than having just the top layer being a part of the discussion.

Something trendy right now may not be trendy a year later. During and post-COVID, virtual events were everything. They saved a ton of money, but then it just faded away. Now nobody has virtual events anymore, the trend has completely reversed in a couple of years.

I adapt by trial and error. You can't be prepared for everything beforehand. So, it's always a journey.

Would you have any tips for aspiring emcees who want to excel in this field?

Don't take it as something that you do as a hobby. If you want to be a master of ceremonies, try acting like one and thinking like one and don't take it just as a side job.

What legacy do you hope to leave in the event-hosting industry?

The legacy that I want to leave behind in the event-hosting world is that people should know, there is an emcee named Aakarshak who is surprisingly very easy to work with. Someone who does not act pricey and does not create a lot of fuss. He's a very happy-going emcee and makes sure that everybody in the room is having a good time.

People should know that if Aakarshak is there, they’re going to have a good time. That's my legacy, whenever he comes on stage, he makes sure that everybody's comfortable, everybody has a great time and the agenda gets completed.