Open mic nights are a great way for local talent to show off their skills and to provide a place for new artists, poets, and speakers to perform. As well as being great for the artists, open mic nights are also a fantastic way for venues to open their doors to a larger audience and welcome fresh faces. Below are some tips and tricks for making the most of your open mic night and hosting a successful event.
Create Posters
With the use of technology and a poster template, you can easily create a great-looking poster to advertise your open mic night. Make it stand out and don’t forget to add important details like the venue, the date and time of the event, and your contact details. You can even add a QR code that takes you straight to your social media pages.
Print out a few copies and ask around local venues that may support the open mic night. For instance, if the open mic night is for musicians, ask your local music stores if they’d display it in their windows.
Advertise on Social Media
Posters are just one way to get the word out there, but social media can be highly beneficial. The power of social media is unprecedented when it comes to booking up your open mic night with talented artists and newcomers. Creating a Facebook event is a good start, which you can then post around your social media channels.
It’s a good idea to join different Facebook groups too, so that you can advertise the event there. You can display QR codes for advertising events as well. If this is your first open mic night, you may need to keep engaging with social media to get people talking. During the event, don’t forget to take pictures and videos and gain consent to post these. This can bring even more people to the event next time.
Be a Great Host
One of the biggest mistakes that open mic hosts make is not being efficient. An open mic should take around 10 to 15 minutes per artist, and each artist should be ready to come on stage after the next. This means doing your job properly, letting artists know when their time slot is, and making sure that each artist has their equipment ready beforehand.
There is nothing worse than hosting an open mic night where the last few people on the list didn’t get a try because other artists were taking too long. Be very clear with your expectations during signups, so artists know how to prepare. Be friendly and accommodating and try to talk to new faces, as this will get people back in for the next event.
Through the use of posters and social media, you can get the word out about your open mic night to ensure it’s a successful event. During the event, understand your role as a host and how to set clear expectations for artists so the event runs without a hitch. Other than that, have fun and enjoy your event; you got this!
