Stepping out of his comfort zone, Anjay Anson becomes unlikely TV host

As a kid, the thought of speaking in front or among big groups of people made Anjay Anson nervous. But by a curious twist of fate, the show biz newcomer ended up landing a hosting job in the morning show “Unang Hirit” last year.

“I’m not used to it… When people pass me the mic, I pass it to someone else. It was my first time to try hosting so I was worried. I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no idea what I took on, or got myself into,” Anjay said in an interview on the sidelines of “The Public Speaking Huddle,” a workshop conducted by television host Boy Abunda at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU).

But Anjay knew that if he were to succeed and last in his chosen path, he would have to look beyond acting, and expand his skillset to become a well-rounded artist.

“Hosting is so different from acting. You get different experiences from interacting with different people. You don’t know how they would react or receive you. And that makes it challenging,” the 20-year-old Sparkle GMA 7 talent said. “But I know that I had to get out of my comfort zone.”

Trying new things

The more he did it, the more confident he grew. “Once you get the hang of it, once you get going, you eventually learn to enjoy it,” said Anjay, whose recent acting stints include supporting roles in the series “Sparkle U” and “The Write One,” and the sitcom “Open 24/7.”

“I have realized that it’s OK to try new things, without expectations, because that’s where you discover new things in life… That’s the thrill of it.”

Anjay recently mustered the courage to watch his live hosting spots. “I couldn’t bring myself to watch them before because the thought of it makes me feel shy. But when I finally got around to watching myself, I saw that there was a lot of dead air and miscommunication with my cohost,” he said.

“It wasn’t perfect, but it was a starting point. I knew what I had to fix and improve,” added Anjay, who put his studies at De La Salle University on hold to focus on show biz.

Anjay was one of the celebrity participants of the aforementioned workshop, where Boy talked about the significance of public speaking and effective communication—something he believes show biz personalities can greatly benefit from, especially in the age of social media.

“There’s a lot of noise online. People have shorter attention spans. Everybody has become everybody to a certain extent. Anyone who engages on social media platforms is, in a way, a public person. Therefore, there are qualities expected from a public person doing a public job,” Boy told the Inquirer.

Higher education

Unbeknown to many, Boy is a communications educator and holds a doctoral degree in Philosophy in Social Development from PWU. And so, in his private conversations with celebrities, he tries to urge them to pursue higher education, given the chance.

“I encourage people to go back to school, pursue higher education or just continue learning… I hope that more celebrities become interested to take, not just courses on public speaking, but the education path in general,” pointed out Boy, who sponsors the education of actors Kaori Oinuma and Aljon Mendoza.

“There’s this mindset that you either learn from the school of hard knocks, or you go to the academy. But the thing is, you can do both,” said Boy, who’s more than happy to impart his decades’ worth of knowledge to aspiring young artists.

Anjay’s biggest takeaway from the workshop, he said, is that there’s no one who can tell your story better than yourself. “Every person has a unique story and it’s up to you to bring that story out. That’s what stood out to me… It was also reassuring to realize that no one’s perfect. It’s normal to make mistakes; you accept, learn and move on,” he said.

“This is a new environment for me. But it’s inspiring to see and be around passionate people who love what they’re doing and are always willing to learn,” he added.