On Cue with Kafui DEY: Names matter. Say them right

If you want to see panic move quietly across a room, watch what happens after an MC mispronounces an important name — and then does it again.

The first time, the audience forgives you. We are human. Tongues trip. Syllables fight back. Africa has many languages, and grace is part of our social contract.

The second time, however, the room begins to shift.

By the third time, it is no longer a mistake. It is carelessness with a microphone.

Mispronouncing names repeatedly is one of the fastest ways to lose trust at any event. Sponsors feel slighted. Dignitaries feel diminished. Families feel embarrassed on your behalf. And all of it could have been avoided with one quiet act: preparation.

Names are not details. Names are identities.

At corporate events, a sponsor’s name represents money, partnership and brand equity. Get it wrong once and you’ll be forgiven. Get it wrong repeatedly and you have just announced, publicly, that their investment did not deserve your attention.

At VVIP functions, names carry hierarchy. Titles matter. Lineage matters. Order matters. Call someone by the wrong name, or strip them of a title, and you don’t just make a linguistic error — you break protocol. The room notices immediately. African audiences are generous, but they are also deeply attentive to respect.

Social events raise the stakes even higher. At weddings, naming ceremonies and funerals, names carry emotion. These are not brands or titles. These are people’s parents, children and ancestors. Mispronouncing a family name once may cause a smile. Doing it again can cause pain.

Beginner MCs often underestimate this because they are focused on delivery. They worry about confidence, flow and jokes. Names, unfortunately, are treated as obstacles to be rushed through. That is exactly backwards.

Professional MCs slow down for names.

They ask beforehand. They confirm pronunciations. They write phonetic notes if necessary. They practice aloud. And when in doubt, they ask again — privately, respectfully, before the microphone goes live.

There is no shame in asking. There is embarrassment in guessing publicly.

I have watched MCs invent pronunciations with heroic confidence, only to be corrected mid-introduction by the very person they are welcoming. It is never dignified. It is never funny. And it lingers far longer than the applause.

One of the great myths of emceeing is that confidence can cover errors. It can’t. Confidence without accuracy sounds like arrogance. Accuracy with humility sounds professional.

Event planners understand this intimately. They know how hard it is to secure sponsors and dignitaries. Watching an MC repeatedly mispronounce those names feels like watching someone drop expensive glassware one piece at a time. You don’t clap. You brace.

Clients feel it too. Even if they say nothing, they notice which names are handled with care and which are rushed. And audiences — contrary to popular belief — are very good listeners. They hear repetition. They hear disregard. They may not remember your jokes, but they will remember the discomfort.

There is also a simple technical truth: saying a name correctly commands the room. It signals authority. It tells the audience you are in control of the details. That control builds trust, and trust allows everything else — humour, warmth, flow — to land properly.

So here is a rule worth memorising: one mistake is human; repeating it is careless.

If you stumble over a name, correct yourself immediately and move on. Do not repeat the error. Do not pretend it didn’t happen. And certainly do not hope nobody noticed.

They did.

The microphone magnifies everything — voice, confidence and negligence alike. When you honour names, you honour people. When you rush them, you reveal your priorities.

Say the names right. All of them. Every time.

Because in a room full of important moments, nothing sounds louder than a name said wrongly — again.

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The post On Cue with Kafui DEY: Names matter. Say them right appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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