G’day friends and welcome to another week and another blog!
A few weeks ago, I went on my insta stories and told you that I was going to be co-MC of the UniSQ awards night!!
Yep that is right! your girl was a Co-MC! I have never been an MC before, so it was certainly an opportunity I couldn’t pass up!
I was able to have this opportunity through the Uni’s pilot Leadership Academy program. They put a call out asking if any of those doing the program would MC the awards night. Two of us put our hand up and they went with both of us and split the roll which I think was a fantastic idea.
We had a tech run through a few days before, and then before I knew it, it was D-day!
So I thought I would run you through the tech run, and of course the evening itself!!
Tech Run
Well it sort of wasn’t a tech run too much. More so running through what each of us MC’s had to say, and changing a few things on the fly.
We did speak to the tech guys who were laying out the venue in terms of where the musician’s were going to be, where the table of all the awards were going to sit, the lecturn and of course how I was going to get up on the stage.
The Uni had to bring in a ramp especially for me which was really kind of them. When speaking to the organisers, I didn’t even have to say about a ramp, they brought it up and said they were in the process of organising one, and they would send photos to me. So for them to have been all over that before I even brought it up, I really appreciate!
However, it hadn’t turned up in time for the tech run, so I had to wait until the night of to try it and see if it worked, which was a bit scary, but I put my trust in them and just focused on the job at hand.
After a few run throughs of the script and making sure we were able to pronounce all the names of the award recipients, we were all set for the awards night!
Awards Night!
We were asked to rock up with plenty of time before the guests arrived so we could check the microphone was working right, check the ramp and run through 11th hour script changes.
Safe to say I was most anxious about the ramp. The way the script worked out was me and the other MC would start the night together and then the script was chunked up between me and the other MC, and then we would wrap up the night together.
The original plan was to jump off the stage and sit off to the side of the stage when it wasn’t our turn to speak. However, I knew it was going to be a bit tricky to walk up and down the ramp and trying to coordinate my talented date (my mum!) to jump up and help me.
So told the organisers that I would have to stand up on the stage the whole time. They were great about it and arranged a stool for me to sit on, but me and stools are a tricky thing. The height wasn’t the best, and I was worried about flashing everyone or face planting, so I decided I would just stand at the back the entire time I wasn’t needed to speak.
I hadn’t stood for that big chunk of time in ages! Talk about adding to the nerves! Usually when I stand for long periods of time, my legs tend to fatigue and my balance gets slightly impacted. Not to mention because I am on my toes 50 odd kilos on my balls of my feet is never fun. So I was just hoping my feet would hold up for the night!
Before we knew it, we were given the green light to start the night.
Apart from a few mistakes and losing places in the script, it went well!
You may be wondering how I handled standing for so long. At one stage of the evening I was standing for about 45 minutes. I was grateful in that time I was also speaking for about half of it, so could lean on the lecturn briefly and switch weight from one foot to another. All in all my feet survived and I didn’t face plant or flash anyone. I put that down to wearing sensible footwear! Had I had gone for the shoes I was originally planning on it would have been a different story!
I also received my completion certificate for the Leadership Academy which was also super special and a bonus!
Wrap up for another week
I am so grateful for the whole experience and the thought and care that went into making the event so accessible for me.
All the organisers were so accommodating and understanding when I said about not being able to get down and up constantly and needing to stay on the stage the whole time.
Being able to voice my concerns and be confident in what I needed help with and not being embarrassed about it, is a massive thing for me. Admitting I can’t do something or not comfortable with something has always been a struggle for me. So not getting worked up about it is a step in the right direction!
The old me would have never put her hand up to MC an event in the first place out of fear of being front and centre and everyone seeing me and my disability. Not to mention being confident enough to let everyone see someone help me from the stage and see me drive away in my scooter.
I was so confident in my abilities to speak and I knew that having the Uni have someone with a disability Co-MC an event would help majorly in showing people of all abilities they have every right and are capable of doing something like this!
I loved every second of it, and I would love to do more MC gigs and also public speaking events in the future!!! This is just the beginning and I can’t way to see where it goes from here!!
Till next time,
Rhi xo