How do you host an event…and also act as a coach to the speakers?

Here’s a snapshot of my day yesterday, preparing to emcee an international event tomorrow night:

– Change of plans: one of the speakers had to cancel!

– Coaching the speakers preparing for their talks.

– Preparation meeting with the client, the organizers and the production company.

– Update my script and continue rehearsing.

– Visit dentist

Yes, the first thing I saw in the morning was a message from one of our speakers: they had to cancel their participation in the event. Contrary to what many think, this is business as usual and happens all the time. We discussed a plan B (and C, D, E and F ) with the organizers and went ahead with a solution. The content of the event continues to be solid.

Acting as both the emcee of the event and a coach to the speakers.

This is slightly more complex than what it sounds.

Coaching public speakers is fun and rewarding, and there are actually many benefits when the host of the event is also the trainer to the speakers and panelists.

First of all, you get to know the speakers and the content they will deliver in advance. This makes it so much easier for you to interact with the speakers while on stage.

You’re also able to give more insightful comments on the content of their talks to the audience.

In addition, you’re able to coordinate the roles and content of the speakers during the Q&A or a panel discussion.

This makes your panel discussion stand out from 99% of panel discussions, by not being boring.

Finally, you will know that the speakers will deliver fantastic talks as you yourself have helped them prepare and rehearse. …Well, of course only if you’ve done a good job

By the way, there’s an interesting dichotomy here: many emcees don’t exactly shine as excellent listeners, and a speech coach needs to have advanced active listening skills. Many people are both good listeners and good speakers, but not everyone.

Visit dentist: a piece of my tooth broke! I don’t want to have a toothache while on stage! Fixed!

Other activities yesterday included a final planning meeting with the organizers and again, updating and rehearsing my script.

The photo depicts a speaker coach at the end of a rehearsal session with one of the speakers. I guess I’ve gotta shave and get a haircut before climbing on stage.

Link to the event (fully booked already, sorry) https://ihhelsinki.fi/events/new-in-helsinki-09-04-2025/