Hey everyone! Hope that your weekend was as awesome as mine was. I had the opportunity to co-host Team Malaysia's Teh Tarik Sunday with @zord189 and it was a heap load of fun! @branlee87 who usually co-hosts the program with @zord189 had to attend to personal matters and could not do it last night. I am really so grateful that am a part of this awesome community called Team Malaysia! Everyone was extremely supportive and kind about my first time co-hosting a talk show.

It was with both trepidation and excitement on Saturday night at about 9.30 pm that I agreed to co-host the show. I got a DM from @zord189 on discord just as I was putting my kiddos to bed. I was thinking, wow, how to live up to @branlee87 super pro voice? I mean that guy does podcasts for a living! But then again, I thought to myself how bad could it be? @zord189 would there and it would be alright. We spent some time chatting about what I could expect from that night and what I needed to do. I realised that we needed two hosts because there was quite a bit off stuff to do in the background. The authors would need to be prepped, the show recorded, the links posted for everyone to see and the questions that are posed by the listeners need to be taken note of as well.

Don't you wish you had one of these buttons?😅

I managed to settle my kids down earlier to bed last night. I am so super grateful for my awesome husband who helped with the kids so that I could be early on the show. He has always been extremely supportive and my No.1 fan in reading all my posts! Just before it started I quickly made myself a cup of cappucino, after all what's a teh tarik session without a cup of coffee or tea? We started pretty much on time, and we had planned that I would just pretend to accidentally stumble into the show. Then @zord189 would announce that I was co-hosting with him. Some of the reactions from the listeners were funneeee... I had hijacked the show! Hahaha! Anyway, we had a good laugh about that. The show went on and we finished it off brilliantly with me having to read the DISCLAIMER! All in all, it was really fun and I learnt a couple of things. But before I share that, I would like to let you all know that if you are an author that has not been featured on the show, you better quickly get in touch with either @zord189 or @branlee87 to book your slot and line up for the weeks ahead!

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Settling down with my homemade Cappucino before the start of the show

My Experience

#1 Talk shows are super fun!

I really enjoyed myself and it was a different kind of interaction totally. Unless you have been a radio DJ, this is a new experience. So in case any of you out there get asked to help co-host don't hesitate and say "YES!" Now, all I need to do is develop my own crazy sense of humour! Hahahaha

#2 Nothing beats a proper mic

I listened to the recording of the show last night and realised how I would sometimes sound fuzzy and other times clear. I used my laptop mic and didn't realise that sometimes my notes covered the mic! Anyway, if I am serious about doing a podcast or hosting a talk show, I am going to have to get me a mic!

#3 Things will go wrong

What's worse than the internet line going bad when you are on an online talk show? Yeah, halfway through, the internet line started to break up and everyone was having issues. Sometimes the authors would drop out whilst, I was crackling in and out during some of the conversations. Thank God that @zord189 had a stable internet connection and was able to step in to move things forward.

#4 Authors

Personally, this is a lesson for me, as a featured author, remember that you are given the chance to promote your post and interact with others. So we have to make an effort to speak up loudly and clearly. Do spend a little bit of time to think about and write down the things that you want to share because you only have 3 minutes or so to make an impact.

Secondly, soundchecks, before the show is a must! So don't skip this step. If you can't be heard, you can't promost your post.

Lastly, I realised that being a show host takes a lot, so thank you all for being super KIND and ENCOURAGING! I do apologise as a host yesterday if things didn't go according to how you as an author or listener imagined it to be. We also don't mean to skip over your explanations/sharing but if the internet connection gets too bad, we had to do something because no one could hear what was being shared.

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So once again I really appreciate the opportunity and all the love and support last night. Team Malaysia's Teh Tarik Sundays are the best! I am going to leave you now by letting you know how awesome this show is. Check out the list of benefits below!

Author Rewards

1. We have special Team Malaysia members who have contributed prizes every week. I know that the prizes have ranged from 2 - 2.5 SBD per author
2. Your post gets a tip from Team Malaysia's community account and a resteem too
3. You get extra love and support from everyone else who was online with you that night

Listeners & Participation Rewards

1. When you ask questions you get rewarded with SBD too all thanks to @zord189
2. Ad hoc competitions or even surprises by the authors where you can win SBD

For both authors and listeners the biggest and most wonderful benefit is the engagement with the community! You get to share and get to know others and vice versa! Sometimes, it is tough to go out and search and engage with each individual person on Steemit especially when life gets busy but when you participate in Teh Tarik Sundays you talk to at least 20 people that night. I have been a featured author before, personally, it is incredible how members of this community will go over to check out your post, upvote you and leave you comments after comments after comments.

Ok everyone, see you next week at the kopitiam! Thank goodness @branlee87 will be back! Go check out all the previous Teh Tarik Sessions. Better yet, join us next week!

(All pictures and images from Canva and Pixabay)