By: Chelsea S. Smith, Sales Assistant @ Outspoken and Professional Writer

A host or emcee is a guide through a rich entertainment experience. Without her charisma, professionalism, and relatability, audiences often fumble through an event trying to frame and navigate it without the appropriate support. But not on Wendee Lee Curtis’ watch!

Outspoken speaker, Wendee Lee Curtis has over a decade of experience hosting live events on camera and on stage for Radio City Music Hall, Pepsi, AstraZeneca, and more. Organizers praise her for her “amazing energy, poise, humor, class, and effectiveness” and her “flexibility and responsiveness.” Not only does she bring Broadway training and broadcasting experience to the craft of facilitator, but she also brings a commitment to diversify representation within event programming. Wendee Lee understands representation and inclusion on-set and on-screen matters not only to our culture, but to our economy. We recently spoke with Wendee to learn more about her extensive expertise as a host, emcee, and moderator.

CHELSEA: Our first time doing “the thing” we love is often engraved in our memory. Do you remember your first hosting or emcee opportunity?

WENDEE LEE: I do! I remember both my first unpaid and paid work opportunities.

When I was working at KTNV-ABC in Las Vegas as a Traffic Reporter/Entertainment Reporter/Weekend Anchor, unpaid, I was asked to emcee a large fundraising event for the NAACP. Because I was on-air so much in multiple roles, I was a highly recognizable figure in the Las Vegas community. I literally couldn't go anywhere without being recognized. I was incredibly proud to represent myself and my station at this event. Advocacy, education and community service have always been important to me.

For my first paid opportunity, I was hired by a production company to be a game show host — I kid you not — for a group of sales teams at Boehringer Ingelheim. They were releasing a new drug called, Pradaxa, and I was hosting a game show called—wait for it...Pradaxapedia! It was wild (haha). My natural emcee and hosting style is more “newsy” and poised, but that wasn’t going to work for this gig, so I just decided to let her rip! This is where my Broadway background gave me a chance to shine because in a Broadway theater we’re trained to “play to the back of the house.” I LOVE presenting in front of sales teams because they're so competitive and they buy into whatever you're doing no matter how weird or corny it is because they love to win! It's all about bragging rights with this group. It really gave me an opportunity to connect with another side of myself and a presentation style I didn't know I had or enjoyed. You get to be big while also connecting more personally with your audience. And you never know what someone is going to say or what is going to happen so you have to be present and quick-witted. I love it!

CHELSEA: Sounds like a good time. Reflecting on those memories now as a masterful host and emcee, having had notable live events for WeTV and at Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center & Carnegie Hall, do you have any advice for your younger self?

WENDEE LEE: First, get more pictures and professional videos of your work (argh)! It is literally the bane of my existence trying to chase down my content. Second, the hosting and emcee world is primarily occupied by cishet, white men, like 90-95% are in this category. I would have been more intentional about challenging that paradigm. I'm embarrassed to say it never occurred to me to do that because we're all so conditioned to be deferential to white, male leadership.

CHELSEA: So true. We’ve so normalized it that it often doesn’t dawn on a lot of us that that’s not, in fact, normal, or at least it shouldn’t be. Speaking of demographics: What kind of audience demographics do you enjoy working with the most and what about that do you find most fulfilling?

WENDEE LEE: Definitely sales teams and the C-Suite! It takes a very specific person and personality to work in sales, and they're always very focused and ambitious. They're also incredibly attentive listeners. They give it their all. They love to win and bragging rights are a real thing with this group (haha). I love salespeople!

I like working with the C-suite as well, but for a very different reason. Sadly, with no exception to date, it has always been white men. My little brown face and six to eight white guys on the screen. It's pretty stark. It's interesting to see them kind of "notice" that in real-time. I see it all over their faces. And even though they're the bosses in their professional spaces, in this arena I'm the boss—the alpha.

CHELSEA: Agreed, it’s been past time. I love how you noted their response to you. Audience responses can be so unpredictable sometimes. I imagine it can be disheartening or jarring for a host/emcee when audiences respond unexpectedly. How do you handle those unexpected audience interactions on-stage or on-camera?

WENDEE LEE: A lot of emcees/hosts are so busy talking they don't listen actively. I think my work as a veteran broadcaster makes my ability to pivot in those situations my saving grace. Both news and theater are live forums, so I get to exercise the "how-to-handle-the-unexpected" muscle a lot! I remember one production where we lost power to the video screens, and I had to keep the audience entertained while they figured out what was wrong. So, I shared a little with the audience about my experience on Broadway and touring with the national tour of Mamma Mia. Everybody loves Abba! I started singing Take a Chance on Me and asked the audience to join in. By the time we finished the song the technical issues were fixed, and everybody was smiling and applauding. It can all be managed. The key is not to panic and to keep it a hundred with the audience. They respect and appreciate that.

CHELSEA: I can attest to that. What about when chaos breaks loose not only behind the scenes, but on the scene? It can be so awkward when there’s tension between speakers or an audience member and a speaker. I just want to sink in my chair and hide when it happens (haha). As a moderator, how do you manage that?

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WENDEE LEE: Humor is a great and effective way to diffuse tension between speakers. Also, re-framing a response or a question for clarity can take the "bite" out of commentary between speakers. My mouth can be a little slick, so I have to do an internal PC check sometimes before I do that (haha) but I find that it almost always works. And hey, sometimes we just have to agree to disagree and that's ok, but I make it clear we'll do so respectfully. I'm a mom so I don't scare easy, and my diplomacy skills can be unmatched when necessary.

CHELSEA: (haha) The superpowers of mamas is vast, especially black ones! I love how those “powers” activate in different arenas of life. They prepare you and help you navigate a lot. That said, each event has its own unique set of tones, aesthetics, goals, audiences, so you really have to be prepared. How do you go about tailoring your hosting persona and duties to specific events? Outside of the normal administrative preparation, what’s your process to find the most effective hosting voice/style for your audience?

WENDEE LEE: I always ask the production team, "What is the goal we're looking to achieve with this segment?" It helps me to help them. Experience is a big piece of being successful as a host/emcee, but so is intuition and emotional intelligence. In theater, we have a saying: Read the room. A great host/emcee will approach an event holistically. What is the goal or desired outcome of the overall event? What is the culture of the company? And what's happening in the world at-large? The desire by human beings to be seen, heard, and understood is primal. An effective host/emcee will bring their highest, best, and most empathetic self to their work for the client. Even though we're the ones doing most of the talking, it's imperative that we do a lot of listening at the outset of planning the event. It's the key to being pitch-perfect for each presentation. We're facilitators. We're there to facilitate communication, not make each presentation "all about us”—

CHELSEA: Oooo, that’s good!

WENDEE LEE: It's actually one of my major pet peeves about a lot of my peers in the industry. They make every presentation all about them. Again, I think that's where my professional Broadway training kicks in. It's a huge no-no in my industry to upstage or steal the scene while onstage. Theater is a collaborative artform. I know we're at the front of the room or the face on the camera, but it's not all about us.

CHELSEA: Wow. Say it again for the people in the back (haha)! Emcees aren’t the only ones who need that truth; we all do (haha). If more of us had an “it’s not all about me” in our spirit, the world would be a much better place. I like that as a professional mantra, too though.

Stay tuned next week for Part II of our interview with Wendee Lee!

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Wendee Lee Curtis is available to book as a host, emcee, or moderator for live and virtual events now. For more information, click here.

Chelsea S. Smith is a Sales Assistant at Outspoken, conducting outreach marketing that showcases the agency's stellar speaker line-up to prospective event organizers. She also uses her creative writing skills to assist with Outspoken’s Blog. She is a graduate of Boston University and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University's School of the Arts.