Planner guide
Who calls the cues? Emcee, show caller and AV roles.
Three roles that overlap on paper but need clear ownership before the event day.
An event brief should identify who speaks to the audience, who calls each production cue and who operates the AV equipment. These roles may be separate or combined. Use the responsibility worksheet to agree a named lead for each task with your actual event team.
The three roles
Speaks to the audience. Welcomes guests, introduces speakers, bridges segments, leads audience interaction, and gives closing remarks. The emcee works from a hosting script and a run sheet, but typically does not trigger AV or lighting changes directly.
Coordinates what happens backstage and on the technical side. Calls lighting changes, slide advances, video playback, music cues, and stage movements. Keeps the run sheet on time and communicates changes to the emcee, AV operator and performers. Often supplied by a production company or the venue's event team.
Executes technical cues: sound levels, slide projection, video playback, lighting presets, and microphone switching. Works from the show caller's instructions or a cue sheet. Responsible for equipment setup, testing and troubleshooting.
Where responsibilities overlap
In practice, the boundaries are not rigid. At a small company dinner with no production company, the organiser may double as the stage manager, and the emcee may signal the AV operator directly. For a larger production, confirm how the show caller and emcee will communicate; do not assume an earpiece or any particular setup is included.
The problem comes when no one agrees who does what. A speaker introduction is missed because the emcee expected the show caller to cue the slides, and the show caller expected the AV operator to follow the emcee's spoken cue. Use the confirmation worksheet to assign every responsibility to a named person.
Responsibility confirmation worksheet
Download the worksheet below. Each row is one responsibility. For each row, mark which role owns it, then record the name of the person confirmed and the date agreed. If a responsibility is shared, note who leads and who supports.
Download: Emcee, Show Caller and AV Role Confirmation (CSV)
The worksheet includes welcome announcements, speaker introductions, slide or video playback, music, lighting, microphones, timekeeping, programme changes, rehearsal coordination and a technical fallback. Add any other tasks your event requires.
Fill in the applicable rows and share the completed sheet with all three roles before rehearsal.
Common misunderstandings
Agree who triggers slides, sound and lighting rather than assuming the emcee operates them. Record the spoken or visual trigger and the person authorised to call it.
These are separate responsibilities. Check the quotation and confirm who supplies production staff; do not assume show calling or AV staffing is part of an emcee booking.
Rehearsal confirms the plan; it should not be where the plan is made. Complete the confirmation worksheet before rehearsal so the time is spent practising, not negotiating.
Related resources
Use the gala awards night timeline for the programme schedule. Use the emcee vs host guide to compare hosting roles before booking. Use the corporate event planning templates for a blank run sheet and emcee brief.
Questions
Does the emcee call the AV cues?
What if there is no show caller?
Does James provide show calling or AV staffing?
Keep reading
Tell me the date and what the night is.
I reply personally, usually the same day.