A highly appraised anchor with more than 12 years of television anchoring experience, Ritika Jhanji Jagtiani has worked with the finest news networks of the country, NDTV. From live news, lifestyle shows to socially conscious campaigns, Ritika has curated content, reported and anchored for all types of anchoring formats possible.
Known for her versatility with formats and languages (English, Hindi, and Punjabi), Ritika’s most appealing and unique talent is the journalistic acumen she possesses, making her breeze through a corporate panel discussion or a celebrity laced live event with equal ease.
Ritika hosted a segment on Day 1 of the WOW Awards 2018, the 10th edition of the largest business and recognition platform for the Experiential Marketing, MICE, LIVE Entertainment and Wedding industry.
EVENTFAQS caught up with Ritika to know more about her learnings from LIVE TV hosting which helped her carve her niche in LIVE Events, excerpts below:
The Indian Events Industry has a great pool of talent and there is something to learn from everyone. However, what sets me apart is my more than a decade-long TV experience. I love curating content and I make sure I use my ‘nose for news’ when putting that together. I believe when your script is topical and relevant to your audience’s daily life, they connect with you more deeply. Having anchored live news and shows in both Hindi and English, has helped me develop dead-on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in both the languages, which I am told is a rare quality to have. Also, when it comes to learning in specific, there are 5 points that helped me sort my way in LIVE event hosting:
1. Experience
Experience is the best teacher and more than a decade of that in all TV anchoring formats possible, gives me the confidence to execute any live event.
2. Presence Of Mind
There are no second chances in live news anchoring. Millions are watching you on their TV sets and you can’t afford to make a slip. That needs a lot of presence of mind and carrying the same to my events has helped me deliver successfully.
3. Extempore
TV anchors write their own scripts. In fact, most of the times breaking news anchoring is done extempore. This helps you develop an unbeatable command over language, which I have been able to put to use in all my events.
4. Being Well-Informed
As a TV anchor, I understand ‘The Power of Content’. As someone who is very up to date on current affairs, I often embed it in my event scripts. For example, for the 10th WOW Awards this year, I wrote a current affair based funny piece which was received very well by the audience.
5. Time Management
Years of TV anchoring has helped me develop an acute sense of timing. As a result, I have managed to condense or expand by speeches as per the event situations. I don’t need to look at the clock to know how many words are needed to fill the minute.
