Inside Asian Gaming

JAN 2019 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 47 Like Rodrigues, who speaks three languages fluently, emceeing has also allowed Cano to utilize her own multi- lingual skills, which include English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. But just as important, she says, is the ability to adapt to your audience. “It is very important to study the script and decide which style and direction to take depending on the event style and attendees,” she says. “Choose to be formal, elegant, energetic, calm, fun or playful. “In the end the crowd mood and event ambiance will determine the emcee style required. Some large events have very respectful attendees that listen and are quiet when required, while some other smaller events may have hipper attendees that may be more challenging to grab their attention. All has to be done with professionalism, kindness and respect to the audience attention span.” Adds Rodrigues, “One of the big challenges when I started emceeing was the use of language because some of the shows you have to be more polite and use different words. The way you express yourself has to be more formal, whereas when you emcee at a music festival, for example, you can be more playful. just as an interest. Then in 2010, TDM organized a new TV show called “Make or Break” which was a competition format and Season 1 was for emcees. I joined Season 1 and afterwards more people knew me. They said they really wanted some new faces in the industry – especially someone who could speak Cantonese, Mandarin and English. That was really the start of me entering the emcee industry.” Cano travelled a longer path from her birthplace of Mexico City to her current home in Hong Kong, but the career journey wasn’t so different. Having spent 20 years performing in South America, Canada and Ireland as a ballet dancer, she launched an event management company, Maya Events, in 2011 before seeling the business five years later and moving into emceeing full-time. “As a former ballet dancer, the stage had always been my happy place,” Cano explains. “That’s why, when I started producing events, I also pursued my passion of presenting and hosting at these events. Since 2011, I started emceeing at various corporate, government and private events, growing year by year my client portfolio and styles of commanding the stage depending on what was required.” Jose Chan Rodrigues