Planning on hosting an award ceremony? If so, you’ll want it to be as fun as possible.
Although the Oscars, Tonys and Grammys are essentially one exclusive group of people attending an event, they’re still enjoyable for us mere mortals to watch. Why? Because they’re fun, especially if you love the genre they’re presenting in.
While your event may not be as exclusive as these, you can still make it fun for everyone who attends, and an unforgettable night.
In this blog post, we’ll go over some of our top tips for making your award ceremony legendary.
1. Hire Someone Entertaining to Host
Don’t have someone who will get up there and drone on and on about things people aren’t interested in or is incredibly boring. Instead, you’ll want to get someone who is funny, captures an audience and makes the audience sit up and listen to them.
Half of the reason why award shows are so much fun to watch is because of an amazing host. In 2019, James Corden hosted the Tony Awards, and he was given the honor because he is great at doing so.
The person can be someone you know, or they can be someone you hire from the outside. Plenty of local actors and comedians will work for small fees. Or, if you have a bigger budget, you can get someone that’s mildly well known to work for you.
Ask around and make sure you hire someone fabulous for a night to remember.
2. Have Entertainment
An award ceremony is boring if it is just giving out award after award after award. While some people may find it tolerable if they’re being recognized, it’s a good bet that the rest of the audience will be falling asleep.
Don’t just rely on the host for entertainment. Hire some outside acts as well. This can include hiring bands, singers, dancers or anyone else that can provide something for the evening.
If you’re doing an event for your place of work or industry, try getting people that are a part of the industry to entertain. It’s likely that someone has a decent band they’re apart of or sings or dances and you didn’t even know about it.
So, ask around. If all else fails, hire an entertainer to come and spice up the night a little bit.
3. Serve Food
Who doesn’t love food? Really, everyone does, and you can’t go wrong with serving something to eat.
Some award ceremonies offer full dinners, while others may only have little nibbles and bites. No matter what your budget it, make sure there is something to nosh on.
You should also always provide some drinks. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need an open bar. But, having a bar, even with non-alcoholic drinks, is a great way to get people to socialize before and after the event.
Or, you can have table service and have people order drinks and food to be brought to them while they watch the award ceremony.
4. Make Everyone Who Wins Feel Special
This goes without saying, but the person who is given an award should feel as though they’re truly being honored. Don’t gloss over their accomplishments or have the host roast them. Instead, issue nothing but praise and admiration for their hard work.
5. Have a Presentation Section
Many award ceremonies have a presentation section. This may include previously recorded clips to show during the ceremony or a presentation about your company or one of the award recipients.
For a fun presentation, make sure to include music and photos. Depending on how appropriate it is, the presentation can be played while someone narrates it. Or, you can pre-record a narration.
A presentation can help break up the monotony of the awards show and give your host a little bit of time to catch their breath.
6. Make It a Classy Affair
If you want to make the affair even more fun, tell everyone to wear cocktail attire or black tie. This gives everyone a chance to dress up and put on their best clothes, which everyone loves to do given the opportunity.
A fancier event means people will take more time to work on their clothing choices and give them an excuse to pull a suit or dress out of the closet.
7. Give Award Recipients Time to Say a Few Words
Make sure your award recipients get time to express their thanks and gratitude toward your company or others there. Block off a few moments of time after each award to say something if they so desire.
Let them know that if they don’t want to speak, they shouldn’t feel pressured. But if they do, then so much the better, as they’ll have the opportunity to thank everyone who got them where they are today.
Hosting an Awesome Award Ceremony
An award ceremony can be a great way to get people from a company, or industry, together for one evening. It can give them an excuse to dress up and have fun together while they celebrate those who have made an impact on your company or industry.
The bottom line when hosting an award ceremony is that you need to keep it light and entertaining. Of course, you can have heavier moments peppered in, but don’t think you have to make everything deep and profound.
Remember, above all, to smile and have fun.
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