Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: MC makes the ceremony

EXPERT: Max Cryer at the 2011 Opera in the Pa. PHOTO/FILE

A first rate MC can make your event or conference an outstanding success. It's a job I try to avoid.

I consider this to be a specialist's role, for those who want to do it well. I don't think I've got what it takes to be a successful MC. I have no trouble speaking at small, medium and large conferences or events but MCing is hard work and the audience and paying guests deserve the best. It could be that I was put off the MC idea by an experience I had years ago in Wellington.

I attended the Maori Fashion Awards in the Michael Fowler Centre sitting beside the indomitable Miria Simpson. The show was late in starting.

No one came on stage to apologise for the 15-minute delay and indicate when the show would get under way. Miria was upset and very impatient and asked me to go back stage and see what the problem was.

I did as I was told and returned to my seat 10 minutes later explaining that their MC was up in the sky somewhere. His overseas flight hadn't landed and they were trying to figure out what to do.

She sent me backstage again instructing me to "do the job and do it well".

I can't believe it now but that's exactly what I did. Sometimes you get put in a position where you "just have to do it". And you didn't mess with Miria's commands.

That lady was not for turning at the best of times. Thankfully they had extensive MC notes to accompany every beautiful outfit. I felt that surely one of the organisers could have confidently stepped up. But perhaps, like me, MCing was not one of their strengths.

I think an experienced MC is a must for most events these days.

They are the glue that holds things together throughout the evening. Today many celebrities take on this type of work, particularly gala events.

I often come away thinking the MC wasn't at all suitable for that particular event. Maybe for others but not the one I've just attended.

You should at least know your audience and the reason for the event or gathering. If it's a conference aimed at a certain sector or industry, wouldn't you at least do some homework first. You can add some interesting commentary so people get the impression you know a little about, and care for, their work and investment.

Being an entertainer, talkback host, sports star or politician and having the "gift of the gab" might be okay in some cases but an MC will usually have to carry a show for two hours at least. They must be able to hold an audience. It isn't just introducing the next act or speaker.

You have to sound credible the whole time.

So when you get an MC such as entertainer Max Cryer, his experience stands out. I think he's one of the best. Mr Cryer continues to be MC extraordinaire at Opera in the Pa at Te Puia.

Saturday's concert was another winning event. Not only because of the fine voices and range of opera arias we were treated to, but it was made more enjoyable by Mr Cryer's MC skills.

He made murder, mayhem and unrequited love somehow sound quite reasonable when explaining the background to the various arias. We got a brief history and geography lesson with each opera too.

At the same time he injected some of his quirky sense of humour.

Not too much, just the right amount, as opposed to other MCs I have seen and heard. The evening was not about Mr Cryer. I felt he genuinely wanted us to finish the evening knowing a lot more about opera than when we arrived.

He obviously knows and loves opera and that shone through.

Max Cryer as the MC for Opera in the Pa makes it a wonderful event.

-Merepeka lives in Rotorua. She writes, speaks and broadcasts to thwart the spread of political correctness.