Guests Requests

I’ll be with you in a minute!

Requests can ruin a party. A guest who takes too long to make one can force a DJ into a bad cue and/or an unprepared rap. The DJ, then, appears incompetent. If you control the requests, you’ll remain sane. But if you don’t, you’ll experience anxiety, self-consciousness, and sometimes, professional suicide.

Two laws determine the number of requests you will get at a party. The first law states the larger the party, the greater the number. And the second law states the later the party, the greater the number. The reason for the first law id obvious. There's just more people to make requests. The reason for the second law is proximity. Late in a party, people are dancing, and no one notices anyone leaning across the set-up for a request. But early in the party, everyone notices someone walking across the empty dance floor to the DJ. This unnerving experience prevents many requests at the time when they are needed the most. In short, these two laws realize a DJ can be overwhelmed with requests late at a Large Party.

To plan a strategy for handling requests, we must consider a law of life. People are used to waiting. They wait for doctors, bartenders, photographers, and DJs on the radio. So now, they can wait for mobile DJs, too. We command the music. Everyone knows we've got to keep it going, and they'll respectfully wait while we do our job. People are like that.

Of course, we do more than just command music. We prepare dj script, activities, and contests, and we need time for them, too. But the use of time for them is different than the use of time for music. When we're commanding music, we're cueing, selecting songs, or controlling the equipment, acceptable actions for a DJ. But when we're preparing something, we're observing. We know what we're doing. But everyone thinks we're just spacing.

That's when guests hound us for requests. They call out “HEY” or motion for us to come to them. We can't be rude. So, we go right over. There's no telling how long we'll be, even if we're controlling the conversation. A song might run out, and then we scramble for another one. This may lead to a gap in the music or an inappropriate selection. In the final analysis, a request interrupted the flow of the party.

We can't interrupt the flow, and we can't maintain it if we don't prepare. So, we've got to make everyone think were commanding music when we really preparing something. Put an earphone on your ear, look through your music, or play with your controls. This looks like something a DJ should do. And then, when someone approaches you for a request, put them on hold until you're ready to deal with them. You should never go unprepared into a request. You never know how long you'll be.

The simplest way To put someone on hold is to give them a quick look and then hold up right your index finger. This Is the universal sign for “I'll be with you in a minute”. Everyone knows that, and they'll easily wait while you do your job. That's the law of respect.