A good welcome at a moderated event takes two to three minutes and does four things: it welcomes the guests, names the occasion, gives orientation about the evening and hands over to the first programme item. Everything else, from the list of thanks to the annual review, does not belong in the opening but later in the programme.
The four building blocks of a welcome
First, the welcome itself: who is speaking, on whose behalf, with one sentence that picks up the mood in the room. Second, the occasion: why is everyone here today? A single sentence that frames the evening works better than five sentences of backstory. Third, orientation: what happens when, how long the official part takes, where food and breaks are. Fourth, the handover: a clear cue for the first speaker or programme item, so no gap opens up.
An example structure to adapt
An opening can sound like this: "Good evening and a very warm welcome. My name is [name], I will guide you through tonight. We are here to celebrate [occasion], and people from [units or cities] have come together for it. Until [time] you can look forward to [two or three programme items], after that the evening belongs to you. We start with [name and role], on [topic]. Welcome!" This skeleton carries from a corporate event to a conference. The craft is not in the wording but in the omissions: no programme item gets told in advance, no punchline gets burned.
The most common mistakes
Three patterns ruin many openings. The list of thanks: name twenty people and you lose the room at number five. A few names with a reason beat many without one. The second speech: a welcome that wants to deliver messages of its own takes the air out of the leadership address that follows. And the apology: sentences like "I am not much of a speaker" invite the audience to verify exactly that. Confidently short beats modestly long.
What this means in practice
Jasmin Wölke writes her openings from the briefing: occasion, audience, tone, then cue words instead of a script. At bilingual events like the International Business Summit, which she hosted across two days in German and English, the very first minute shows both language groups that they are included: one short switch is enough, no double translation. When you prepare your event, place the welcome into the schedule first: the running order page shows where it fits, the briefing checklist collects the facts for it, and what an event moderator covers beyond that is on the format page.