Preparing for an awards ceremony can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. If you’d like to succeed no matter the difficulties, stick with us to find out how to open an awards ceremony in the best possible way.

Starting the awards ceremony preparations

Preparations for a large-scale event begin with the development of a concept, an idea of what it should look like, as well as an awards ceremony script.

The second point to take note of is the key players: Who will be responsible for organizing the event, and how will the preparation be carried out—independently or with the help of a professional organizer?

• When organizing a large-scale event, it is necessary to choose a venue with a large enough capacity to hold all of the participants and guests and that meets certain requirements: prestige, aesthetics, convenient location, availability of necessary technical requirements, etc. These ideal locations are always in demand, so it is important to reserve it well in advance.

The venue must correspond to the theme of the awards ceremony. For example, a nightclub would not be appropriate for presenting a national award.

• You also must choose the right date. If it is possible to choose the date of the award ceremony, you must coordinate it with the officials responsible for the direct presentation of the award as well as with all the other high-ranking guests that have been invited.

If you plan to use a veranda or an open terrace, you should not plan an event during a cold season; do it in the summer instead. An event can even be disrupted by a rain shower.

• You need to choose the right time. Usually, the initiator of the event chooses the time of the event. As a rule, events take place in the evening.

However, if this is an official event, then you should not forget that according to international etiquette, cocktails and buffets start at 5:00–6:00 (and cocktails last no more than two hours). In diplomatic practice, there are also lunches (beginning at 20:00–20:30) and dinners (beginning at 7:00). The most common option is a banquet.

Finally, you need to decide on the awards ceremony script and awards ceremony program.

First, you need to agree on a ceremony program protocol by answering the following questions:

• What order should the awards be given in?
• Is special equipment needed (stands, microphones, music, etc.)?
• Who exactly will take part in the ceremony?
• How long will the program last?

If we are talking about an event that will be attended by people of different genders, ages, or nationalities, the program should be tailored to their individual and cultural characteristics.

The following program is an example of the best practices:

An Award Ceremony Program

17:00–8:00 – Arrival of guests and cocktails

8:00–10:00 – Awards ceremony and a piano concert

10:00–12:00 – Buffet reception with a jazz quartet

To start your awards ceremony, apart from the awards ceremony opening speech, you should also plan banquet services and a menu.

• When organizing a banquet, it is important to choose the best catering company. Usually, it is the managers of the company that suggest the best design and arrangement of the tables, serve the dishes, offer the menu, helps to solve all the service issues, decide the uniform of the servers, etc.
• As for the choice of the menu, usually, you can rely on the professionals at your chosen catering company. However, it is important not to forget that a menu featuring international cuisine will be more familiar to foreign guests.

How to begin your awards ceremony

After everything is arranged, from the location choice to the menu, the following will need to be taken care of:

• The invitations sent.
• The awards ceremony speech written.
• The media invited.
• Security, hotels, and transfer agreed upon.
• Swag and other marketing prepared.
• Other preparation issues solved.

To improve your speech and transition smoothly to the ceremony, here are some ideas:

• Tell a fascinating story.

The narration is one of the most powerful and successful techniques for beginning a speech. People love to listen to and learn from stories.

• Ask a rhetorical question.

Rhetorical questions help to convince your listeners. If these questions are thought out and presented in a proper way, the audience will follow the speaker. With the help of rhetorical questions, it is easy to turn listeners to your point of view.

• Tell something shocking.

Statistical data, a bold statement, or a catchy headline will convince the audience to heed your recommendations and follow them in the future. The main thing is that it should accurately reflect the purpose of your speech.

• Use a strong quote.

Share a word of wisdom from a famous person whose name will add social weight to your speech. However, it is important to understand that the quote should be appropriate, it should make sense, and it must be relevant to your audience.

• Show a spectacular photo.

A picture is worth a thousand words—or even more. Use snapshots instead of text whenever possible. A quality photo brings an aesthetic appeal, improves understanding, fills the imagination of the audience, and makes the speech more memorable.

• Be creative.

Thematic props are a sure way to keep the attention of your listeners. Visual support will emphasize your words.

• Show a short video.

Imagine that you start the performance in front of the production department with a clip in which satisfied customers give a positive description of your product. Or you open a fundraising event for an endangered species with a mini-film about the Amur leopard. Or you start an awards ceremony with a short video clip on its history with the most memorable moments, etc.  

The video will cause an emotional reaction. Unlike words and slides, a short film adds drama and shares the essence of what is happening on the stage faster.

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of the best ideas on how to prepare your ceremony with Judgify from the beginning to the end, how to start an awards ceremony speech, how to improve it, which dishes to choose, and how to organize the most interesting awards program, you will rock your event.

Stay with us for more useful tips or to order professional event planning and management solutions!