276: Dan Ram on the Art of Emceeing

Listen, if you've ever been at an event with an MC, you know they are make or break for your event. An awesome MC can do incredible things, and a dud can destroy the event, even if your speakers are awesome. So if you ever have the opportunity to MC, there are some ahas coming to you that you have got to download. Here we go. Hey, movers. It's Sally Z with Be Moved. Let's go create some talks that will move this world. We're going to talk with amazing speakers, share tips, tricks, resources, and we are going to be moved so that our audience can be moved.

This moved me.

What is moving you? Hey everybody, welcome back to This Moved Me. My name is Sally Koering Zimney Zimney, and I'm your speaker coach, and I empower big-hearted entrepreneurs like you to leverage the power of your authentic voice so that you can have the kind of impact that you have always dreamed of. We're going to scale your impact with your voice. So Today on the show, what is moving me is this idea of being an MC. The art and the finesse of it, the challenge of it, and to be a fabulous MC, you really have to be an improviser, a performer, a speaker. You have to be so present with what's going on, be tuned in to what's happening backstage, have voices in your head about what's happening around technology, to have backup plans after backup plans, you really have to have an incredible amount of self-trust. It is not an easy thing to do. I personally love to emcee. It's, I don't know, it's like my Oprah moment. If I could emcee, just emcee for a living, I think I would. If you ever need an emcee, let me know. But it's part of the reason I'm so excited to have on the show with me today Dan Ram. Now, Dan Ram is an incredible MC. He has been on some of the biggest stages in the world with the likes of all the big names. I mean, there's a picture of he and Barack just hanging. That's what I'm talking about. And in fact, he's going to share a few really awesome stories with you about some of those big name moments in this show today. I'm super jazzed for you to hear from him about the art and artistry of emceeing so we can glean some of those ahas from him to help you show up out front. Now, even if you never emcee, there are some really powerful delivery pieces and mastery. There is mastery in this conversation with Dan Ram. So I'm really excited for you to check it out. Now, before we dive into the episode, I want to talk with you a moment about the new Facebook group I've got going on. It used to be called the Move Your Audience group. I have just renamed it to the Emerging Speaker Society. My friends, I'm really jazzed about what is happening over there. We've got daily inspiration, really fun conversations happening, intriguing questions. We've got weekly trainings. We have occasional monthly challenges to help uplevel you. From newbie to emerging to pro speaker. Now, if you have no idea what I'm talking about right now, those are the stages of speaking that I've laid out here on the show and over in the group. And really, essentially what I'm saying is that once you get to the place where you are being intentional about your development as a speaker, I would call you an emerging speaker. Doesn't mean that you're emerging in your expertise or your awesomeness. It just means you have started focusing on growing with your speaking, leveraging speaking as a tool for your growth and your impact. It's about scaling your impact with speaking. Now, even if you consider yourself beyond the emerging speaker phase, awesome, because as you move up and as you start to create more revenue with your speaking, consistent revenue, as when you get to the point where you're like, I know I'm going to make X amount of dollars this year speaking, then you're starting to shift into what I call the pro stage of speaking. But most of us here, we are in this emerging stage. It's a big stage and there's a lot of growth that happens in this stage. And I want to help you shift from where you are to the next level in your speaking. So if that is something you want to do, come join this group. It is called the Emerging Speaker Society, and you can find us at bemoved.com/ess for Emerging Speaker Society. Did you see the doubt flash through my brain on that? I was like, what? Yeah. Now let's get on to the show. Here he is, Mr. Dan Ram. Excited to dive in because you've spoken on some really big stages. When I saw the video of you and Barack Obama, I was like, wow, that's dreamy right there. I love him. I'm just going to tell you, I love him. Is he as amazing in person as he seems?

Yeah, absolutely. Obama comes into the room and it's exactly what you'd expect. There is a an atmosphere shift. There's an aura that surrounds him. You know, you feel the anticipation of coming up even though people are in and out all the time. Once he's there, you feel his presence even though he does anything. And then he's the most charming human person ever. Ah, yeah. I mean, I almost cried even when I was prepping for the interview and I was just listening to talk.

Dan, let's dive in. I love just how you laid the foundation for what an MC does. In an event, that the MC is the glue and it makes or breaks. Even as fabulous as your speakers are, if your MC is a dud and you lose the energy and the flow, it's a killer. So I knew when I watched you, I was like, this guy is really good. Of course, of course, your success speaks for itself in that, but But I've seen some people out doing their thing and you're like, oh no, it's a very difficult art form. So I'm excited to talk with you about the art form of emceeing. It's my dream job. I love to speak, but I think emceeing is so fun.

Can I, can I just add in there? First of all, thank you for those very kind words. And second, I love that you can differentiate and also value the MC role. Because I'll be honest, I would not have appreciated MCs before I became an MC. Because to me, the MC has always been like, "Oh, the chair of the board or the president of the company or the most charismatic person or the journalist or the aspiring student who wants a bit of stage time." It was always a voluntary, casual, secondary role. Everyone cared about the speaker. That's who you promoted, that's who you came to the event to see, was the speakers. And it's only when I became an MC that I was like, first of all, I love it. So I don't even care what people think. I actually love being second. I don't want to be an MC to be first. So that doesn't bother me at all, the pecking order. But I was like, whoa, this just activates every part of you because you have to be so present, so connected. You gotta think about everything from audio to video to production to what's happening in the green room to the people speaking in your head. And that's right, you have multiple headphones and earpieces from the producer to the stage manager, everything, while being totally spontaneous and prepared. And it's like, this is it. This is my life right now. And I'm so happy. I have arrived. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. I love how jazzed you are about it. So Dan, I'm curious about, because we all have the moment where we're on stage where we're like, this, this is it. And, and you, you just mentioned it a little bit, but I wonder if you could bring us to that moment. What was the moment where you're like, actually, this is how I can make the biggest impact and I love it. And it, it lit you up in some way. What was that moment for you?

I have to say I'll give you a very specific story, but I'm also going to say honestly, and it sounds so cheesy, but I'm just going to be very real with you. When I connect with the audience and they look me in the eye and go, "Dan, that was a transformative experience," or, "Dan, I feel so motivated and inspired to do anything," or, "Dan, your energy is another," any of those comments, when I realized that whatever I have tried, Some succeed and some fail, but whatever I have attempted on stage has gone beyond Dan Ram and has now directly impacted the people I came on stage for. That's when I'm like, this is why I do what I do. And it doesn't matter if it's a 12-year-old kid in the school that's watched my TEDx talk, or whether it's a 60-year-old that's been at hundreds of events and they go, that was different. "Thank you, because today I've got a bounce in my step because of you." And I'm like, that's it. That's why I come and do what I do. So I would say at an abstract level, that's that. But here's a specific answer to your question, all right? This is a recent one actually. It was a reinforcement. I wouldn't say it's the first time I felt it, but it was a reinforcement of this is why this job never gets old and why I love it. So Jessica Alba, the most incredible businesswoman, actress, Hollywood star, but also making crazy, uh, change in the makeup world, um, and cosmetics world, especially from an ethical point of view. She was backstage with her amazing team. Now, Jessica Alba is Jessica Alba, and she didn't like the image that was about to show on stage with her name on it. And so she made a very calm comment to the producer saying, "Can you please change that image?" And of course the answer, because we are here to serve, is yes. But in the meanwhile, I've got 5,000 German businessmen and women in front who were expecting Jessica Alba to show up in about 60 seconds. That's how long I have to introduce her. And so I go on stage with the full confidence that the producer is going to change this picture within 60 seconds. And so I go on stage with my Lederhosen, which is this, uh, Bavarian outfit, and I'm in front of the audience, and I'm, I'm, I'm listening in one earpiece to the producer who managed the whole show, and the other earpiece to the stage manager who's standing with Jessica. And while I'm talking to 5,000 people, I hear a conversation that is very clear We're not going to have Jessica Alba on stage in 60 seconds, and not even in 5 minutes. Without going into too many details, there are some consideration that she might even leave the venue and not come on stage. And then I could hear some like, "Oh no, no, we figured this out." All of this is happening while the audience is oblivious. And my job is to make sure they're oblivious, make sure the event looks amazing, make sure that whatever's happening backstage, Jessica comes on feeling loved, valued and so ready. And so I start to do a few things with the audience. We do a little sing-along. I run into the crowd. I do some quick question Q&A. I ask people their highlights. We're buying time. At some point I decide I'm gonna kick a ball into the audience. We're gonna play a game. And as we're kicking this ball into an audience with 5,000 people, I kick a little too hard. And in one move, my belt snaps. Now, for anyone who in the entertainment industry, the belt is not just a fashion statement, it's actually holding up all of your equipment. So on my belt is the body pack for my earpiece, the body pack for my second earpiece, the body pack from my microphone, and the body pack for the microphone connected to the vloggers. So I've got 4 body packs and they all fall with the belt. Thankfully, my mic is still on. And so in that moment, in front of a lot of people, I lose connection with what's happening backstage. And I've already stalled for about 12 minutes. And so I have to do what proceeds to be a little bit of self-deprecation, a little bit of humor at my expense, A stand-up comedy show, continued action and activity with the audience, and eventually an introduction with Jessica Alba. Even though many may consider that a moment of failure or loss or stress, I was so alive. It's almost like I wanted that moment to happen. It's almost like I wanted a test. Can I keep a crowd engaged for 20 minutes with nothing prepared, except for any good MC, you always have things prepared. Every song that we did was spontaneous but thought of before. We did something cool where we switched off the light and had everyone put out their phones, and I had so many people who came to me afterwards saying, "That was a really good bit. How long did you practice that?" Or they'd say, "Did you purposely pretend like your belt snapped? Because the comedy was so on point, it was almost like you had rehearsed." And that's— that, again, that reinforcement was like, If the audience never suspected anything, I saved the event, which is what I'm hired by events to do. Second, I made sure that Jessica looked good, appeared good. There was no talk about what was happening backstage. There was no apologies. I never once said we're running late or anything of that sort. And the audience felt so comfortable to play a game with me, to watch me lose my outfit, and to sing and dance while waiting for the biggest speaker of the day, but they didn't get restless for one second. I was like, this is it. This is why I do what I do. So I'd say that was a moment of reinforcement.

Oh my gosh, that's amazing. And I wanna underline something that you said because I think it is essential when we are facilitating, whether you're emceeing a huge event or you are facilitating the transition between things at your annual conference, is trust. That your, your job as an MC, as the, uh, as the person out front, your job is to create a sense of trust between you and the audience. That the audience is in good hands. Everything that's happening is being handled. That because as soon as trust is broken, they start to pull out of the experience and start going, what's happening? And they're like, get into their own heads, which is exactly what we want to avoid. We want them to just experience. Yes. Does that resonate with you?

Absolutely. And I would extend it because we've used the word glue before, that for sure, trust between MC and audience, 100% trust between the MC and event organizer because they've put in all this work to organize this event. I happen to be the face of it. I'm representing them. Who am I? I didn't do all the work. I didn't raise all the money. I didn't connect with all the speakers. I don't have to deal with all the partners and sponsors. They have to, and they've trusted their entire stage with me. So that is essential. The speakers trust me to make them look good, to not embarrass them. The stagehands and the stage managers have to trust, and I have to build a trust. I got to trust that when I make an introduction, when a panel walks up, the chairs and tables appear on time. And they've gotta trust me that I'm gonna give them enough time to do that so no one looks bad. And when tech fails, which it always does, I never go, "Oh, it worked well during rehearsal," or, "Come on, DJ, why is it—" No, there's gotta be full trust. We're a team working together. And so it's multi-layers of trust. And the challenge with an MC is you gotta build that usually within a period of about 24 hours. Most MCs appear at a venue the day before. So you gotta be really quick at, and with speakers, sometimes I get like 2 or 3 minutes backstage. That's, that's how much time you have to make an impression and go, for the next 45 minutes, we're gonna dig deep into your life. And trust has to be that underlying connection here.

I love, thank you for broadening the perspective on that because you're right. There's so many things happening at an event. So we have a few minutes left, Dan, and what I'd love to do is to hear a this moved me moment from you. Something that has moved you recently. It could be a conversation, it could have been a talk that you've seen, or, um, a TV show or a podcast, whatever. Something that stands out to you as you think about the last bit of time for yourself that you're like, oh, I'll never forget that. That was, that was real.

So the one thing that jumped to mind right away when you said that is I love ordinary people who do extraordinary things, and they don't even realize they're doing extraordinary things. So I heard recently about a story of a young Mexican boy whose family— well, part of his family were across the border in the U.S. And he went and just using his own entrepreneurial genius, uh, started doing small things to earn money. And at some point earned enough money. And we're talking about, uh, like, uh, I don't even think he was a teenager. I think he was younger than that. Just someone who was using the little tools that he had to generate enough money to bring the rest of his family over to America. And he had such a sense of responsibility, duty. He was not seeking attention. He didn't attempt to use anything beyond his just ordinary efforts that led to something extraordinary. I mean, no 10, 11-year-olds should feel the burden of protecting or supporting your family financially. And yet he did it with no questions, no complaints, no woe is me. I feel like that was a story recently that made me go, wow, what am I doing with what I have in the same way? So I love those stories. I mean, those stories always catch my attention. During the pandemic, when I heard about musicians who would go to their balconies and just play concerts for their neighbors so that they wouldn't feel lonely. I'm like, yes, that's what being human is all about. That's what the world needs more of. So I'd say those are the stories, those are the moments that just like, oh, that moved me, is ordinary people doing extraordinary things by doing ordinary things.

I love it. I love it. Yeah, that the ordinary can be extraordinary. And there's, there's a level of vulnerability in what you're talking about with all of those examples, this willingness to just kind of show up and take that risk. Yes. Be fully, fully present with other people. So I love that. Thank you for sharing. For me— oh, well, Dan, thank you. Is there anything in particular you'd love for us to— where we can connect with you? Where's your favorite place to hang out online?

Instagram is generally where I answer the fastest, @iamdanram, or just drop me an email, find me on my website, iamdanram.com. But yeah, I am online for you. So if I can help in any way on your journey, whether you're starting or you're growing, connect with me. I'm here for you.

This was really fun to have you on the show. I so appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life to come and join me. And join us here on This Moved Me.

Thank you for creating these forums and platforms for open dialogue and conversation. One of my experiences is that this journey, being a speaker or an MC or even just a freelancer in a broad term, can be quite lonely. And there's so much that you need to learn and you want to connect with peers, but it's not always possible. And I think spaces like yours that you create are so so valuable and so important, and I really appreciate you creating the space.

Absolutely. Well, the space is created because people join me here, so, uh, and, and I love these conversations. So thank you, sir.