How to host an event speech & sustain small talk at festive parties and office events

With Christmas and New Year (even the Chinese Lunar New Year) approaching, you’ll have more chances to host and amuse your family, friends, and visitors. Now that COVID restrictions have been lifted (no more masks!), there is undoubtedly a chance for you to communicate freely and serve as a welcoming and entertaining host. Your responsibility as the host, or an event guest, may include more than just preparing the beautiful decorations and enticing foods, or simply responding to an RSVP respectively. It may also include facilitating conversations through small talks when a fellow guest comes up to you, or engaging your guests as a host.

“Why do I need communication skills as a host or even just an event attendee…?”, you might be asking. While some of us may find it simple or “natural” to perform the role of host, the majority of others could find it intimidating. You can use several essential communication tactics that will increase your chances of making your event memorable, from the perspective of events management (e.g., preparing food, arranging cutlery) to the networking setting (e.g., maintaining discussion).

Communication Tip #1: Introduce Key Events!

As the host, you can find it helpful to begin with a useful introduction to your event, even in a more relaxed situation. You won’t need to prepare a lengthy opening speech with all the pomp and circumstance, of course. Instead, consider the characteristics of your visitors and prepare the essential advice you will give them. For instance, it might be appropriate to assist your guests in making introductions if you invite people from various groups or cliques.

Additionally, the “important” events in your capacity as a host could involve more than just networking. The host may need to direct their guests through the various components of the event, just like an emcee will do for the audience. A housewarming party, for instance, might begin with a “home tour” before proceeding on to the dinner that is scheduled for the day. While the latter may profit from an engaging, informal style, the former may call for you to adopt a more open, informed manner.

*** Feel free to throw in an “insider” fact for each key spot – (pointing to a bean bag at a corner) “That’s my little chill-out zone!” ***

Communication Tip #2: Keep the Conversation Flowing

Being a conversation starter is an essential part of your job as a host. While situations where your guests are familiar with one another (such as existing friends or family) may make this simple, the mood may be different if this is their first time meeting. Making sure all of your guests are engaged is your duty as the host (instead of simply gravitating towards those you are familiar with).

Usual networking practices or strategies may enable you to succeed in this circumstance as the star host. Here are three recommendations you should remember. Give your guests a topic to speak about first; act as the spark that inspires them to contribute. Before focusing on a particular topic, use easy or wide conversation starters. A casual conversation about their week or the highlights of their day, for instance, could be just the easy way to get your guest to unwind. Third, locate areas of agreement in the discussion to pique interest in a certain subject or sharing. You will contribute to creating a small community at your event by doing this!

Communication Tip #3: Insert pattern breaks in your speech

Here are three strategies you can use to add engagement to your event speech as a host. First, if appropriate, include fluid elements like humour or audience participation – for instance, “Just a quick show of hands my lovely guests, how many of you are here to drink the bar dry!?”. An interesting anecdote, for instance, can make your speech less boring and enthralling. Second, adjust your points to reflect the viewpoints of your audience. Rhetorical inquiries or scene-painting (such as “Imagine the challenges we have ALL faced during COVID…today’s gathering would have been unimaginable back during COVID…yet we are here!) can help people reflect on your event’s significance. Third, incorporate pattern-breaks (like audience survey and showing acknowledgement and appreciation to VIPs) to engage your audience and interest them in the speech.

Communication Tip #4: Show Your Appreciation!

Mastering the skill of active listening is a strong habit you can cultivate as a host. Of course, this behavior will benefit you when driving and engaging in discussion. However, going beyond that, active listening can assist you in making sure that your visitors are constantly put first throughout the event. Help your visitors become the life of the party instead of making it all about you as the host. Even at a large event, a great host can effortlessly make each attendee feel appreciated.

More than just listening itself is involved in active listening. Summarize and clarify your guest’s points in addition to paying attention to move the conversation further. Even if you are acquainted with your visitors, it is always crucial to express your gratitude for their coming to the event. As they depart, for instance, keep in mind to express your gratitude with a vivacious voice. In other words, you want to end your speech or presentation on a strong note!

Communication Tip #5: Body language that makes your host speech impactful

You hold power in your hands … to pull your audience in and engage them. Of course, we are not talking about magic or superpowers! Instead, the key to conveying confidence to your audience is through your hands. Your hand movements can make the difference between an energized presentation and a hesitant one, depending on the style used.

The three-part hand gesture bundle is one body language cluster you can use. To appear bigger on stage, start by using more open, wide hand motions. By extending your hand gestures outside your body, you can increase your presence on the speaking stage. Second, make additional movements with your palms up. As a result, you are encouraged to adopt an open posture and angle toward your audience (imagine how you would embrace or hug someone). Third, to convey a sense of purpose and consistency, sync your speech tempo with your hand motions. A more animated, circular movement may seem deliberate and generate confidence in your ability to communicate on stage if you are speaking more quickly.

Communication Tip #6: Have small talk

It might also be time to brush up on your small talk/ conversational abilities as you would have to mingle with your guests during your event, be it holiday work parties, family reunions, and social activities (Christmas and New Year). Small talk serves the crucial function of being a social lubricant, facilitating interaction between you and your guests. Through small talk, you can gauge someone’s mood, interests, build rapport and further a closer relationship (for business or for platonic friendship) through these seemingly “insignificant” conversations. Take a look at these 3 pointers for establishing casual discussions with people you have just acquainted yourself with at networking events/ parties.

• Avoid closed-ended/ binary (yes or no) questions or replies
  

  Ask open-ended questions that can’t be replied with a simple “yes” or “no” in order to get people talking. If you want to get more information or to avoid asking questions that people might find awkward to answer, you can use the phrase “Tell me about…” Instead of “Are you married?” try “Tell me about your family.” The best questions are those that provide context for the other person to answer, such as “What were your greatest holiday rituals as a child?” as opposed to broad inquiries like “How are you?”

• Make deposits to your “story bank”
  An enriched story bank will allow you to eschew giving conversation-ending responses and avoid sounding as a boring person. For example, if your response to “How have you been?/     How was your year?” is “Oh…nothing much/ same old..same old…”, then you need to start beefing up your story bank! You may remember that when you were a child, your English language teacher probably suggested that you keep a book or notepad where you could record all the new terms you were learning. It can be a sign’s phrases that caught your attention or one that a classmate used during show-and-tell. The same practice is displayed by World Champions in Public Speaking; they keep a bank of words, phrases, sentences, amusing anecdotes, and statements that they have come across. This might occur when going to work or even grocery shopping. You’ll notice that as time goes on, your bank balance will grow significantly, which will be helpful to you as you pursue a career as a professional speaker. You must put forth a diligent effort and do it with devotion. Good speech materials will not be able to pop up overnight. They have to be accumulated.

• “Must my responses during small talk be swift?”
  

  Is responding immediately always preferable? That might not always be the case. Speaking quickly can be advantageous, especially when it shows that you are knowledgeable, quick-witted and confident about the subject at hand. However, if executed incorrectly, your quick answer can end up being erroneous! You’ve probably seen impromptu speeches before; the speaker who talks right away after the subject is announced could come out as hurried or flustered.
  Always strive to react in a collected and collected manner, whether you are speaking first or waiting for your time. Take a moment at the beginning of the debate to consider and comprehend the topic at hand. Take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate your sincerity in communication by clarifying any component of the question if you need to. “If I understand you correctly…/ So what you are trying to say is…” can be used to give a brief summary of the topic being discussed to reassure the other parties listening as well as yourself.

Communication Tip #7: Equip yourself with these conversation starters

Need we truly prepare for each conversation? We are aware that using such a rigorous structure or plan for something as straightforward and informal as a chat seems weird. It’s crucial to consider your general approach to conversation settings even though you might not need to start curating your discussions down to the second (phew!). The first step in using a conversation structure is to understand this context. (click for the full list of tips on effective conversational skills)

You may manage many discussion situations with precision and engaging components by using a conversation framework. For instance, it can be preferable to have a direct, focused, and clear talk in a networking or acquaintance context. Use of overviews, summaries, and signposting (yes, even in conversation!) would be required for this. To impress the other party, you want to make a good first impression quickly. In contrast, an energetic sharing with your friends/colleagues may require an acute awareness of how much conversation stage-time you are taking. In other words, are you talking too much? Utilize your conversation structure to help you decide when to switch to an engaging conversational style to involve others (such as asking questions or clarifying).

Bonus tip: What if I forgot my lines in the middle of the event speech!?

It takes a lot of work to create a speech, especially if you want it to be convincing, impactful, and moving. The hardest aspect of this procedure for most of us is having to memorize and internalize the prepared speech. This concern frequently manifests as an exaggerated emphasis being placed on the writing. This state, which we refer to as “script reliance,” occurs when you are so dependent on the actual script you are holding that any change in its direction could knock you off-balance. However, giving up that script is the first step to speaking with more authority, credibility, and dependability. You probably won’t see your favorite motivational speaker reading from a script while giving a speech if you find that footage of them. (click for the full list of tips on remedies for forgetting your speech)

Here’s a simple trick – Organizing your script into its main ideas is advantageous for more than just you. Additionally, it guarantees that your audience members will be able to identify and remember your speech’s main topics. They essentially serve as speech triggers for both you and the audience.

Substitute these speech starters for your complete script. It will be simpler to refer to these prompts (just picture your eyes wandering over an entire A4 page, searching for the phrase you forgot!). If you’re giving a presentation on a large stage, you could even use them as part of a teleprompter. This frees you up to present on stage easily and with a wider variety of body language components in addition to lowering your reliance on the entire script. The speech-prompts you use will serve as your general strategy for directing your delivery.

In summary…

We hope these seven communication tips can help you facilitate a successful holiday party/ office event, and have substantial conversations. It’s not just about throwing a party for the sake of throwing one (just because of the occasion – Christmas, New Year etc.). Ultimately, hosting such events and engaging your guests is about building human connections – it is worth the effort to improve your event speech as a host and make a lasting impression with effective small talk!

If you’re keen on taking your communication skills to the next level, to improve your small-talk skills through the impromptu speaking modules in our training programs:

Click for more about our (weekly group classes) Public Speaking Courses for Adults

Click for more about our (2-day) public speaking/ presentation course for adults

Click for more about our (weekly group classes) Public Speaking Course for Kids / Children

How To Be Charismatic in Interpersonal Conversations & Speeches | Step by Step breakdown:

• Effective communication enhances event success: As a host or guest, your ability to engage others through small talk, introductions, and meaningful conversations can set the tone for a memorable gathering.
• Be the conversation starter: Help facilitate connections between guests and ensure no one feels left out. Use simple conversation starters to break the ice and create a friendly atmosphere.
• Personalize your approach: Tailor your communication style to suit the event and your audience—whether it’s a casual get-together or a formal networking event, adapting your tone and delivery is key.
• Show appreciation: Active listening and showing gratitude towards your guests can make them feel valued and encourage ongoing relationships.
• Body language matters: Your hand gestures and posture can amplify your message and establish confidence, making your communication more impactful.
• Plan but stay flexible: Prepare conversation topics and speech outlines, but don’t be afraid to improvise when needed—this flexibility will help you stay connected with your audience.
• Building connections is the goal: Beyond hosting a successful event, your focus should be on building meaningful relationships, fostering connection, and making lasting impressions.