How to write a run of show for your emcee

Run of show, running order, emcee script

Run of show and running order mean the same thing: the timed plan of the event. The emcee script is the text the host says, line by line. The script follows the running order. When the running order changes, the script changes with it.

The columns

Time. Duration. Segment. Who is on stage. Host text, or the line number in the script. Microphone: handheld, lapel or lectern. Screen: slide, video or logo. Sound: music in, music out. Light. Notes.

Give each department its own column. The sound engineer should be able to read the sound column and nothing else.

What one line looks like

For example: 14:30, 2 minutes, introduction of the second speaker. Host at the lectern, script line 12, handheld microphone. Screen: speaker name slide. Sound: walk-on music in, out on applause. Note: speaker seated in row 1, stage left.

Every line answers the same questions. Who is talking, what is on the screen, what the audience hears, and where the next person is sitting.

Timing

Time the walk-ups and the applause, not only the speeches. An award winner at the back of the room needs time to reach the stage. Leave a margin before anything fixed, such as dinner service or the end of a live stream.

Mark the segments that can be shortened if you run late, and agree them with the host before the day. On the day there is no time to discuss it.

The script

Write the welcome, the practical announcements, every introduction, every transition and the closing. Put the phonetic spelling of difficult names next to the real spelling. Keep introductions short: name, title, and why this person is on stage.

One version, shared

Put a version number and a date in the file name. Send each new version to the host, the stage manager and the technical crew at the same time. Then rehearse the opening, the video cues, the awards and the closing.

I write the running order with your producer from your brief, you approve the wording, and I rehearse it with your technical crew.

Questions

Who should own the run of show?

The producer or the stage manager. The host contributes and writes the script, but one person approves each version.

Should the host read the script word for word?

For names, titles, sponsors and safety announcements, yes. For transitions, the host should know the content and say it naturally.

What happens when the programme changes on the day?

The stage manager updates the running order and tells the host and the crew together. The host adjusts the script live.

Is a run of show template enough?

A template gives you the columns. The work is filling each line with real timings and checking them at rehearsal.