Make the most of your event with a Great Conference MC
No one ever went to a conference or event and said,
“You know what? I wish I had a more boring time!”
They never followed up saying.
“I really wish that content was harder to understand.”
Finally, no one ever finished by saying.
“I’m really annoyed that I’m leaving this event energised and enlightened. Actually, I’m outraged!”
Here’s the problem though: so many events, without even meaning to, can find themselves a little stuck in the quicksand of “low energy, snooze-worthy content and bored faces”. This leads to poor learning outcomes and a bad return on investment of time, money and energy.
If you want to make sure your conference, offsite or event is remembered for all the right reasons, you need a good MC.
Simon’s an offsite facilitator
who knows the ropes
When you’re organising an event, running from one to do item to the next, the last thing you want is to have to manage your event MC. With the ability to quickly grasp the ins and outs of what you’re aiming to get out of your event, Simon hosts your audience with professionalism and humour.
Over the last twenty years, Simon has delivered over 1400+ workshops, events, conferences and keynotes across the globe.
And as such, he’s developed an excellent understanding of how to make an event memorable (for all the right reasons).
Testimonials
Simon Banks hosted the noumi Executive Strategy Session Roadmap to 2025 recently. Simon was engaging, innovative and kept the two days of presentations and discussions on time and focused. Simon’s intelligent and witty summary of each session was topped only by his outstanding illustration of each session, which captured key points of each workshop and presentation in a picture. I would recommend Simon to anyone who values a friendly, flamboyant, creative and professional conference facilitator, who brings much more than organisation to your company’s professional event.
Dr Sonja Kukuljan PhD,
Group General Manager Nutrition, Freedom Foods Group Nutritionals
As MC for EDA’s flagship event, the National Economic Development Conference (NEDC21), Simon Banks steered us through this virtual 3-day event with expertise and creativity. Simon kept delegates engaged in the virtual world, reminding attendees to tap into their creative thinking and facilitating great discussion and thought. Simon’s attention to detail and professionalism is evident in the way he prepared for the conference, ensuring he had strong program content knowledge so he could engage with expert speakers and delegates successfully. We look forward to working with Simon again, hopefully to experience all he can offer in a face-to-face environment!
Jacqueline Brinkman,
Chief Executive Officer,
Economic Development Australia
What a cracking event yesterday. Everything was superb. Everyone’s still talking about it. The vibe in the office is charged, as it was at the event also. Absolutely nailed the brief and got everyone excited about our new brand. Thanks for keeping so cool under pressure and a huge thanks to your team for being so wonderful and helping us during the madness that was the room set up. YOU’RE AMAZING!!!
Leanne Mederios,
Senior Internal Communications and Events Specialist,
REST Industry Super
Watch some audience interaction from a recent workshop for 200 people in dubai
The right mix for a good MC
It’s natural to worry about the event you’re running and want to make sure you get a conference facilitator who knows what they’re doing. But what’s the secret ingredient behind Simon’s track record of happy event hosts?
Whilst it may have something to do with his lifelong obsession with creativity, acting and his inability to sit still for longer than two minutes, it’s also his 20+ years of experience. This is the winning combo that makes Simon your ideal Master of Ceremonies.
It all ties in with Simon’s ‘big why’: to use his artist’s curiosity combined with his 20-year corporate career to build a more creative world and enable people and business to thrive in the modern age.
His creative/corporate left-of-centre mix, along with his friendly style mean that the audience relate to him immediately; the usual warm-up period is pretty much non-existent (you know what we’re talking about: conference hostage with crossed arms, hasn’t smiled since 1992, hoping to take a little nap in the back row after lunch).
Simon has an awesome ability to get an audience engaged, energised and interacting incredibly rapidly. You may not remember all the tiny details of the conference, but your audience will ALWAYS remember the energy that filled every corner of the room.
What does Simon deliver as a corporate mc and conference facilitator?
Audience interaction and your people highly engaged
We’ve all sat through a bunch of cheesy icebreakers (You can only turn to the person next to you and tell them something they don’t know about you so many times). However, movement and interaction are essential! Embracing the phrase, “You move, you improve”, and implementing the neuroscience of how our brain works, Simon makes sure everyone is in the best possible shape. Best of all, he does it with a smile, so the audience are in the room in every way, ready to be part of the day.
A good sense of humour and a calm head
Why a calm head? Events never go 100% to plan! Being calm and flexible throughout an event not going to plan in our post-lockdown world is an asset. Why a sense of humour? We spend enough time being way too serious and an offsite or conference doesn’t have to be the place to do that (well only if they run out of food, then a 1% seriousness quota is allowed).
Helps you design the conference you need
When you need fresh eyes on the agenda to help you plan the event, Simon’s your wingman. Having delivered 1400+ events, Simon’s picked up a great bunch of ideas and will work with YOUR content and conference agenda to ensure the day flows beautifully. Included is his insider knowledge about things to do and things NOT to do. This also covers helping to design and structure the agenda, giving coaching on presentations and even ensuring the breaks are long enough to allow for the secret sauce: essential human interaction between your people.
As an experienced event MC, conference and workshop facilitator Simon’s got a handle on how a day flows best and can help you plan it out for maximum impact, whether it’s one day or several.
A great on-stage energy
Once they’ve seen Simon in action, people always ask, “How do you do that?” Simon doesn’t really know how it happens, but he certainly fronts up a with a smile and a good vibe – and he promises it’s legal!
Provide insight and guidance on key topics
As an international keynote speaker, author and podcaster on creativity, innovation and design, Simon is constantly exploring new ideas and can lead discussion on a number of topics if required.
Breakout sessions and workshops
If your event needs some extra pizzazz, Simon can facilitate breakout sessions and workshops to help your audience build their creative confidence, reimagine what’s possible and become the innovation-ready powerhouse you just know is hiding in there somewhere.
Q and A Sessions
Need someone with their eye on the raised hands while your audience gets their questions answered? Simon makes sure that no-one’s left unanswered while you – or your speaker – gets on with the business of making things clear. And if there’s always that one person who gets all the airtime? Well, Simon’s had plenty of experience and can deal with that scenario too.
Ensure your audience are connecting with each other throughout
That’s the joy of a conference; making those informal connections that drive the formal connections when you’re back in the workplace. With a heap of fun exercises your audience will happily take part in – without realising they’re ‘connecting’ – Simon makes it look easy.
Bring key parts of the conference to life with his illustration skills
As a recovering professional artist (it’s a long story) Simon’s very handy with Sharpies and drawing on his iPad. He uses these skills when MC-ing in many ways: from teaching the audience to sketch note (yes, it’s true and everyone loves it!), bringing key messages to life, to fostering ideation and strategic thinking by creating a big picture with which everyone can connect. (Want to learn from Simon? You can now take his workshop!)
doesn’t take himself too seriously
Whilst Simon will take your conference seriously, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which means the focus is squarely on your audience. It also makes him very easy to work with (which he wears as a badge of honour). He knows that you have enough on your plate already, and he doesn’t want to be another source of stress! It also means he’s happy to do a mad dash to the 7/11 to get Mentos if they run out and won’t even break an emotional sweat.
Ensures that everyone has a great time
Who said events had to be boring? Delegates can easily forget the third bullet point on the 27th slide (no, he won’t let you become the PowerPoint nightmare), they won’t forget how they felt at your event. That’s the crucial piece of the event jigsaw that means everyone keeps talking about your event and keeps the messaging alive, long after the conference is over.
Conference locations:
Where in the world has Simon MC-ed?
Simon has given keynote speeches and facilitated conferences and events across Europe, Asia, North America and Australia for companies that want to turn creative thinking up to 11/10 and bring innovation out of their teams.
Recent highlights include:
Testimonials
Simon was very well received and a pleasure to work with. He was very professional, lively and flexible. Simon took the time to research his presentation and had a great understanding of our objectives and more importantly the audience. Simon also unexpectedly brought some humour into his MC role and we received many positive comments.
Margot Streater,
AILA NSW State Manager
I tasked Simon with the job of MC and session facilitator at a national conference for accountants – not the easiest of audiences! Yet Simon’s unharnessed energy ensured the room remained engaged for the entire 3 days. Simon’s fun, dynamic and forces the listener to move outside their comfort zone (in the right way). I have had the pleasure of working with Simon on numerous occasions and would personally recommend him to anyone seeking a speaker with a difference.
Wendy Doxey,
Practice Manager, Hayes Knight (SA)
We just concluded our annual national conference – featuring Simon Banks as our emcee, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. Simon was a key component in making our conference special, with his insightful approach and energetic delivery. A picture tells a thousand words, and Simon’s skilful pictorial reflecting our three days together will serve as a permanent reminder of what we discussed – and how we are going to make things happen over the coming year. I highly recommend Simon for his ability and his unique approach!
David Wyner,
Managing Director,
PSC Reliance Franchise Partners
Talk to Simon about your event MC/Facilitation needs now
Got an event looming
that you need help with?
