212: 5 Rules for Being an Excellent Emcee with Carol Cox and Amber Hawley

Have you been asked to be an emcee for an event or thought about being one?

An emcee (or MC, Master of Ceremonies) is the person who is the bridge and what I call the cohesive glue of the event.

Being an emcee is harder than it looks!

You’re a host, an entertainer, and a representative of the event’s brand.

As the emcee, your goal is to make the participants, the event organizer, their brand, and their business look good.

I recently was the emcee for a virtual event and wanted to share my experiences and lessons with you.

I’m joined in this episode by Amber Hawley, who is the emcee for our Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summit coming up on April 1st and was the emcee for the event we did last year.

Amber and I talk about 5 rules we came up with for being an excellent, effective, and engaging emcee.

These rules apply whether you’re doing virtual or in-person events.

And these rules are helpful for you as a speaker!

Be sure to register for our next Brave. Bold. Beyond. LIVE virtual summit to see Amber in action! https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/summit/

About My Guest: Amber Hawley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of a group private practice. Amber is also co-host of the My Biz Bestie Podcast, Founder of CouplesFix, which provides relationship support to high achieving couples, and is a speaker and emcee.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/212/

Amber’s website: https://www.mybizbestie.com/

Listen to Amber’s podcast “My Biz Bestie.”

Register for free for our Brave. Bold. Beyond. Live Virtual Summit at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/summit/.

Get on the interest list for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/.

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Amber Hawley (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberhawley/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 153: Threading a Story Throughout Your Signature Talk with Amber Hawley

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable