Your DJ Info

Make it short and Simple

Most People usually do not want to hear the DJ talk all night or add extra announcements they they do not really care to hear.

So elliminate what you can.

Usually I will first announce just before the last song, that this will be the last song of the evening. If it is a slow song I will say “I would like to bring our couples out for one last dance, as this will be the last song of the evening.”

Prepare the Crowd for the Closing Song

You do not want to just stop playing music all of a sudden, or after your last song, make the closing announcements.

People are in the mood to dance and they will get up set if you all of a sudden end the gig.

So give them that little preparation, they definitely will appreciate it. Now they have that opportunity to choose, weather or not to come out for the last song.

Remember they are not getting paid by the hour, so usuualy they don’t pay attention to the time, unlike you as a DJ you may have somewere else you need to go to, or you just feel that when your contract ends you should leave.

So this is a nice way to update them that the party is over but you will play them one last song.

Closing Announcement

As the last song begins to fade out is when you should start your final announcement.

I usually say “Thank you for being such a great crowd, my name is Brian and I am here with ShoreTime Entertainment (my company name), I hope everyone enjoyed their evening and has a safe trip home.”

Understand as a DJ each event is a little different so you will need to change a little according to the type of event, but this is a nice basic closing.

You don’t want to oversell yourself, but a nice little reminder of who you are and your company name may pick up a few more gigs.

Make them feel that you really enjoyed being their DJ and you care about them, hence the comment about driving safe.

This is the best way I have found to close out an event. Please feel free to add comments on how you close your events out

-Brian-

Importance of Reading the Crowd

As a DJ you need to be able to read the crowd to be able to better understand what music to play. This is one of the most important aspects of being a great DJ.

First

I start with music that I think the crowd may like. Usually when booking an event I ask on my contracts what music the would like played. This Helps to get your first idea of what music to begin with.

Next

Play something Hot in that Genre. See how the crowd reacts.

Normally no one will just get up and start dancing unless they really like the music but there are signs to look for.

Watch Their body Movements

Watching their body movements is one of the best ways to read a crowd.

Are they starting to dance in their seats? If so this is a good sign you are heading in the right direction. Normally you will find the women or girls start moving to the music first.

They are just feeling the music out at this point.

If no one changes the body movements, keep trying new genres or types of songs within the requested genre.

If they start moving in there seats…

Keep doing what you are doing.Play another hot song in that same genre next. Does this keep their intrest? If so very shortly you will have every one up dancing and having a great time.

Watching to see if people are signing or lip signing the lyrics

This will identify again the people that like this type of music as the know the words. They may also think the type of song you are playing is a fun song, AKA dancing song.

This is another great sign to begin with.

After You have the Crowd Dancing……

Pay attention to the majority of the crowd. Remember you can’t always please every single person at the same time. When people start sitting down they are either tired of dancing or more likely not liking the direction of were the music is going.

That is a sign to switch up the music.

Get a New Crowd Out There

If you were playing hip hop before for a younger crowd, or a section of the crowd that primarily liked hip hop, they may be tired..

So open the floor up to the older crowd that might want oldies, or people that may enjoy another genre such as Techno or Rock.

You want to be constantly rotating your crowds at events, people get tired, so give them a break after a while.

This will get you the overall satisfaction of the entire crowd.

Switching Your Music

If when switching your music genres, you can’t find a way to flow into the next genre easily, such as going from a fast music to a slow set of music. You can always bring down the volume and make a nice suttle anouncement.

Such as, I would like to slow the music down and bring out our couples for a few slow songs.

Then you have the pause that does not make the switch so harsh.

Follow These Steps

and you will be on your way to better identifying the best music for the entire crowd and how to satisfy everyone.

-Brian-

What I like most about my job as a DJ

Being a DJ is one of the Best Jobs in the world to me. It is a lot of fun I get to listen to the music I love and I get to meet a lot of really great people. Many times who I get to do future business with and some have become good friends.

I have made many friends as a DJ. I don’t know any job that could even compare.

You make a lot of money to have fun and be the main attraction at an event. You can control what 1,000’s of people are doing at large events and you get everyone up and having fun.

I have been extremely busy in the past couple months with events and I have not had any time to devote to the site, but I am changing my schedule around to get on the site again a few times a week to post new stuff.

So, get ready for some new and exciting DJ ideas and Tips

-Brian-

As a DJ you may be wondering what some fun games are to play with the kids, or anyone in that matter. Here is a list of games that I like to use at my events.

Huggy Bear

Everyone starts dancing. When music stops, the emcee calls out a number, and everyone must get in groups of that number. Becomes creative when: everyone in group must wear one shoe, have one person in group with braces, etc.

Scavenger Hunt

The DJ will call out miscellaneous items that each child must go out into the crowd or facility and find, and return to the dance floor. The first one to return with item wins that round. You can send them to get a man’s belt, woman’s shoe, straw, hat, etc.

Hula Hoop

 Have you “hooped” lately? Variations can be done such as several hoops at once, hands in the air, one foot, etc.

“Coke/Pepsi”

Each team consists of 2 players, at opposite sides of dance floor, facing each other. “Coke” or “Pepsi” is called, and one member of team runs to other and sits on partner’s knee. Many variations of this game are played and instructed by the DJ.

Mummy Wrap

Usually a fun diversion for the guest of honor. This can be a competition to include several teams. The rules are—there are no rules. How creative can you and your team get? You just have to cover a designated person head to toe in toilet paper.

Musical Chairs Contest

Always a classic at any type of party. Add some variation to this; have them put thier hands on their head, go counter-clockwise, hop, spin, etc.

Bubble-Gum Blowing

The only question here is: regular or sugarless? Not ideal with large groups of kids with braces.

Limbo

“…let’s limbo some more.” How low can you go?

One of my favorites to play is the scavenger hunt. The kids love it and it gets the parents involved, which is what you really want to do at most events.

When the parents are involved they are being entertained too, so why not play this game and make every one happy.

There are so many more games that you can play as well. If you have any more games that you like add them in the comment section. Just add a short description on how they are played.

-Brian-

Increase Your Overall Performance

DJ’s usually master mixing and choosing the right songs relatively quickly, but most DJ’s fail to master there MC work.

It can be one of the most important factors in performing a great event. If the DJ does not know what to say, or doesn’t say it correctly it can greatly diminish his performance.

When hiring people do not want to just hear music, they want the DJ to have a personality. If they just wanted music to play all night, most people would just buy a radio and use that to play music.

So, the key is to generate an atmosphere were the crowd feels that you have brought the event alive.

To increase your skill on the mic, you will need to do the same thing you did to learn mixing and using the equipment….

Practice, Practice, Practice

Set your equipment up at home and keep practicing. Simulate an event. Go through all the motions of a wedding and use the same enthusiasm that you would use at a party.

Watch some other DJ’s and take notes, go home and practice. The key is to do a better job than him

Build Your Own Personality

You should takes notes, but adopt your own mic style, You want to get ideas from other DJ’sbut you want to be yourself. Use your own lines and make sure you don’t rely on the same clichés 20 or 30 times a night, this will become annoying to the crowd.

You want to be original, if you sound like another DJ, they might as well book him. If you have your own lines, and your own personality, when they like it they will be sure to book you again.

During certain events you will need to be on the mic more than others. If the event doesn’t call for you to be on the mic too much, DON’T BE. If it requires you to do mic work, make sure you can come through, and you have the skills.

The key to mic work, is confidence. The crowd can sense your confidence, and they wont enjoy a DJ that is not confident in his professional work.

Avoid talking fast, you want to have a clear sounding voice that people understand and enjoy. Speaking too fast will make what you are saying sound garbled, speaking too slowly will make you sound like you are addressing a bunch of village idiots.

With time and practice, you will develop your own individual skill and style and that’s the most important aspect. Don’t try to copy anybody else or put on a different voice; it will sound false and make learning and maintaining the technique a lot more difficult.

What to Say, What Not to Say

If being funny is not your strength, then avoid the jokes. If you end up telling jokes and you are not good at it, you may end up being the only one laughing, creating an awkward scenario. You want to stick at doing what you are good at, and have been booked for, and if in doubt leave it out.

If something amusing happens, then share it, use the mic to receive requests, make a fuss over other people celebrating birthdays/anniversaries. People like to have their 30 seconds of glory and hearing their name mentioned over the PA system.

Avoid talking over vocals, try to wait for thm to end before speaking.

You should start with the easy announcements, introducing tracks and buffet announcements. Once you’ve built up a bit of confidence, you can move on. Try to include your audience; invite requests and make them feel welcome.

If you make a mistake don’t dwell on it, just continue, many times the audience won’t even notice.

Prepare Your Self

Keep key information on the gig, such as the Bride & Grooms’ names, Best Man’s Name etc on a piece of paper on the mixer, so that you can look down and refresh your memory if you have a sudden memory blank.

You Don’t want to be writing down your lines though. You want them to sound natural, writing the names down is just for a reference.

After you have people on the dance floor, you should ease up on using the mic, they are up and dancing to the music not for your voice.

This will take time, you won’t go from a beginner to pro over night, but practice and time will make you the best DJ ever.

-Brian-

Do you feel that you have been spending a lot of money advertising and you are not getting much more business? You have your business cards and website, but still you are not booked every night.

This is a common problem, but you know that many DJ’s are booked every night and they do not promote as much as you and they might not even be as good as you. How might they be doing this?

Have The Banquet Halls Promote You

They most likely have the banquet halls in the area promoting their services. When these halls are booking events, the clients will often ask if they would recommend a DJ. If your name is the one that they say, you are most likely getting a call.

Although it is very difficult to get a hall to promote your services unless you are best friends with the owner, there still are ways to get them to promote you.

There are two ways to get the Banquet halls to promote you.

1. You can work together and cross promote each other

or 2. which is even better

2. Get them to promote you with out you having to promote them.

This may seem a little impossible at first, but a little bit of work goes a long way.

Be Polite, Courteous, and Professional

When you first walk in, first impression is key, make sure you are dressed nice. Even though your clients are not their yet and you do not want to ruin your tux carrying in the equipment, you want to have a minimum of a collared shirt, but primarily want a button down shirt on.

This shows the halls that you are professional and you are there for business and not to be part of the party.

When you first enter the banquet hall you want to find the manager or Matre’d that will be running the party. Introduce yourself and your company and ask them where they want you to set up and if there is a schedule on how the food events will be done for that event.

Keep in touch with them through out the night to better coordinate the event to make it run as smooth as possible.

Use words such as; can you, please, and thank you.

Avoid words such as; I need, Don’t do that, or other command words.

Being polite will make them feel you are a very respectable person, someone they would enjoy working with again.

At the end of the event, clean up the mess you may have created. Even though it is their job to make sure the hall is clean at the end of the night, helping them out may get you that recommendation.

Cleaning up your used tape, papers, dishes, and garbage; only takes a few minutes, but can result in a high paying next gig.

Get A Good Business Relationship With the Manager

After each event if the manager is available you can thank him for letting you use his banquet hall and compliment him on how well his employees ran the evening. Let him know that you have business cards and would enjoy working at his hall again.

Small Things Go A Long Way

These little things go a long way and if each hall you DJ at only refers you to one person, thats almost double the parties you previously booked. After the clients are satisfied with the halls recommendation, they will thank the hall for the excellent recommendation, giving the hall reason to recommend you to all their clients in the future.

Halls want to recommend DJ’s that will give them good reviews and happy clients, so if you do a great job through a hall’s recommendation you will be sure to get many more jobs, at not cost of advertising to you.

Best of Luck!!!!

-Brian-

(photos from theclassicgourmet.com and banquets.tashuaknolls.com)