MC

I've made a conscious decision not to include any work related posts but this is an exception since it's not really WORK... However, details such as names and specific events will not be mentioned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At a recent work function, I was asked (more like directed) to be the MC for the 4 days 3 nights event. Luckily, there will be two of us MCing, me and another colleague. Not only were we notified a bit late, we only joined the last final touch meeting, a mere week before the actual event. We were told to take charge of the groups assigned to us and basically just convey whatever the secretariat wanted to relay to the participants. For both of us, this was our second MCing job for any function so, being the "professionals" that we are, we came up with a script and divided our tasks evenly for the big event. Needless to say, I was a bit reserved at first, being a little uncomfortable being in the "spotlight". But I soon found my comfortable place in front of the crowd and everything was a little bit alright.

The first few snaps of me being an MC.

Clearly the secretariat (and the MC's included) underestimated the affinity our colleagues had for the mike. By the first day we had to pospone two talks and by the second day we had to postpone one whole session. In the end, a total of three presentations had to be cancelled due to lack of time.

We had an outdoor activity. Me posing cute with some of my best colleagues.

The 20th of January was definitely a good day for me. It started off with me giving a great presentation (I managed to answer all questions satisfactorily, I think and delivered the speech in just over the 15 minutes allocated). My group won the Sudoku challenge in the evening activity and I even won in one of the lucky draws at the dinner that night.

Me giving the presentation and with my fellow unit-mates.

The MC's are thinking up a pantun for the dinner.

The culminating event for the event was the BBQ Dinner, where we were also asked to MC. The dinner was to be in an informal setting, completely different from the rest of the programme where we would have a series of presentations from sun up till the wee hours of the night. I would wake at 5 in the morning only to collapse on my bed at about 12.30am. Anyway, back to the dinner. Originally we planned to have a rehearsal but couldn't find the time. We tried to cram a few minutes before the dinner started but were called on not long after we started. However, as time went by, I started to loosen up and had fun being the MC. Not to say I didn't mess up. There were a few times where I was completely stumped for words but somehow I managed to fumble through.

In the end, I definitely feel that this was a learning experience and one that made me realize that I can do anything I set my mind to. It made me feel more confident in public and not as conscious. It may even possibly made me realize the potential in me for being a public speaker. I just hope that I won't be stereotyped after this and not have a huge MC sign on my forehead. Let's give others a chance in the spotlight too, OK. I would like to express my thanks to the committee members who had complete faith in me and therefore apologize if in my initial dabble of hosting resulted in a few sore feelings. I'm still learning.. We all are...