Emcee experience: PISC2025

 

Emcee experience: Perlis International Sunnah Convention PISC, 24-26 January 2025, Dewan Wawasan 2020, Kangar 

Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for the honor to be part of the MC lineup for Perlis International Sunnah Convention 2025, together with the Amin Idris , and with two additions to the lineup, Dr. Yusof Mohamad and Dr. Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin . 

With over 5000 attendees at a given time, and a huge total turnout of 7000+ from all over the world attending the event, this was the biggest event i’ve ever had the privilege to be Emceeing for. Masha Allah.. Congratulations to the organizers at MAIPS for an event we'll organized, allahumma barik. 

PISC is one of those rare opportunities that we have a partner/dual Emcee team up, which presented some interesting learning opportunities as a presenter. Always seeking to improve my craft, Here are some new things I learned in my MC-ing experience this year throughout these 3 days Convention:

1. Plan, but be flexible - In the past, I used to think that if you had a “partner emcee” you have to script out everything in detail, ensuring both of you know exactly what to say. But for this kind of day-long event with so many speakers and a packed schedule, we need to approach it with more flexibility and be agile: what if the previous speaker exceeds their time, or speakers aren’t ready by their slots on time? So we came up with this sweet spot - have a rough structure and outline, a sequence of the broad points of what to say, synchronize them, give space to your partner, trust each other, and Bismillah. 

2. Collaborate, complement & cover for each other - Herein lies the real beauty of having a partner, especially when they are very professional. The key to making the team emcee setup work is to complement, not compete. In practice, I’ve found that one of the keys to a good collaborative co-emceeing is Humility: Let go of your ego. Don’t hog the limelight or make it about yourself. Instead, give opportunities for your co-Emcee to shine, complement the points where you can without stealing anyone’s thunder. Our job is to uplift the event, not ourselves. But the real beauty of a dual emcee is in covering for each other’s mistakes. The truth is, we made lots of mistakes on stage: but the trick is how we can patch it up, without looking like we messed up, and keep it flowing like a champ. When there’s an awkward silence, fill it up. When your partner forgets, make indirect comments to remind or trigger him. When someone makes a mistake, correct each other in positive gestures. Team work! 

3. Over-prepare, just don’t under-deliver - Here’s a little secret: things might “look” spontaneous, but they’re not. In fact, nothing is spontaneous (well, at least not for me). Everything I say has been pre-planned upfront. But not everything necessarily gets delivered: We may plan to say 20 things, but end up only saying 3. What matters is, we commit to delivering those 3 points in the best way possible. As for the remaining 17? That’s okay.  Learn to let go. As content creators, Amin and I, we understand the pain of seeing our well-prepared content get left behind in the cutting room floor 🤣 

4. Let the Humor flow (Respectfully) - something that surprised me this year was how relaxed Amin was in delivering jokes, including the formal closing with DYMM Raja Perlis himself, in between the formal proceedings.. Selambe je melawak, Abe kita ni 😂 . But Masha Allah, it definitely added an unexpected flavor to the event and left off a good impression to what most people expected to be ordinary and “boring”. Nice touch! 

One thing to note about humor though, keep them positive vibes: as a personal principle, I never mock or make fun of others, and try to avoid sarcasm for the sake of getting others to laugh. Those types of humor tend to be misunderstood, leave a bad taste in others, and might leave off a bad impression to the organizers. For me, one of the hidden ways to make the interaction and banter fun, is to always try to uplift the event by saying positive comments about others, especially your MC partner.

Awesome experience hope for more opportunities for collaboration in the future, insha Allah!