Event compere
The compere who keeps your event alive
A professional compere for corporate awards, conferences, dinners and festivals. I run the whole evening and bring the entertainment with me, so the room stays with you from the first link to the last.
What a compere actually does
A compere is the person who holds an event together: introducing each act or speaker, keeping the energy up between segments, and making a room of strangers feel like one audience. In the UK you will also hear it as MC, emcee or host. The word matters less than whether the person doing it can read a room and keep it moving.
I came up through television, comedy and live entertainment, so I run a room like a show rather than a running order read aloud. One person comperes the whole evening, carries your message, and covers the moment something slips, so nobody in the audience has to notice.
- Introductions, links and timings that keep the night flowing
- Energy held between every segment, not just during them
- One person for the whole event, from welcome to close
What I bring
Why hire a professional compere
Reads the room and adjusts live
No two audiences want the same thing. I watch how the room responds and change pace, tone and material on the spot, rather than running a fixed script at people.
One host, the whole evening
You get one person who runs the event and provides the entertainment, so there is no awkward handover between a compere and a separate act.
The game-show difference
My signature is TV-style game show entertainment written for the crowd in front of me, from Family Fortunes to Play Your Cards Right, so the audience plays rather than just watches.
Awards, conferences, dinners and festivals
I compere corporate awards, full-day conferences, gala dinners and festival stages, including family crowds past 80,000, so the format flexes to your event.
Calm when it goes wrong
A sponsor video that fails on cue, a finalist list that changes at the last minute, a session running long: I have covered all of it live and kept the room with me.
The night is won in the briefing
A pre-event consultation is standard. Names checked, running order stress-tested, energy peaks planned, so the evening is built before anyone walks in.
Compere, MC, emcee or toastmaster: the difference
People use these words interchangeably, and mostly they describe the same job: the host who guides an audience through a live event. A compere and an MC, or master of ceremonies, are effectively the same role. Emcee is simply how MC is said out loud. A toastmaster is the more formal, traditional version, most associated with weddings and civic dinners, often in full regalia.
What you are really choosing is not the title but the style. If you want someone formal and ceremonial, that is toastmaster territory. If you want someone who keeps a corporate or celebration audience engaged and entertained while still handling the formalities, that is what I do. If you are still weighing it up, these help: what a compere is and what makes a good compere.
See it in action
A compere who is also the entertainment
Kevin Durham on hosting and compering live events
Clients
Kevin recently hosted a company corporate event and proved to be the consummate professional throughout the evening. With his depth of experience, Kevin kept the evening flowing superbly and has the unique ability to read a room and keep everyone happy.
Kevin hosted our staff conference event this year which was fantastic. He brought an energy and enthusiasm with him and played a really important part in getting people engaged in the day.
My company used Kevin’s services for our awards evening, and we were blown away with his performance. From the time of engagement Kevin was very clear and communicative and gave great advice. We will definitely be working with Kevin again.
Other ways I can host your event
Enquiries
Looking for a compere?
Tell me the date, the venue and the audience, and I will talk you through exactly how I would run it. Corporate, celebration and festival events, right across the UK.
Check availability