How to DJ a Party

Learning how to DJ a party isn't as difficult as it used to be. With modern technology, anyone can DJ a party. DJing well is a different story entirely. You could have the best mixer, speakers, sub, laptop equipped with the newest DJing software and a veritable wealth of musical selections and still suck. If you don't understand the importance of preserving the continuity of the music being blended or if you don't know how to cater to your crowd, you're not going to do a good job.

We won't spend too much time talking about equipment. Most of it is a matter of personal preference.  If you like "Mackie" brand speakers and subwoofers over some other brand and a "Dell" over other laptops, it's totally up to you. Find some DJing software and practice with it. Really practice, until you get comfortable. Some even come with digital mixers built into the programming. If you want an external mixer, choose a mixer you feel comfortable manipulating music with and you're ready... At least with the equipment.

Now that that stuff is out of the way, we need to talk about the most important part of DJing a party. The music. So lets get started. 

1. Know what types of music need to be played at this event. Don't show up to DJ a party where the guests want to here Salsa or Merengue with a bunch of "Kenny Chesney" cuts. 
2. The laptop you choose for your DJing gigs should only be used for your partying purposes. Avoid storing things on the laptop that don't pertain to DJing a party. You should have the DJing software, some DJing effects and maybe a few mixes you made prior to the party that are easy to blend into your show. Storing too much unneeded data on your laptop increases the probability of it freezing or crashing. That would end the party really quickly wouldn't it  
3. Bring an external hard drive with a lot of space to store your music. This helps to prevent issues with crashing your laptop. Categorize this stuff by genres or make sure to have a rather quick search function so you can get to the songs you want fast.  Have an idea of the songs and the order with which to play them just in case. 
4. The object is to create a seamless blend of music from start to finish. Don't be fumbling with your music. You should know what sounds good with what and how to blend from one song to another.  "Playing Baby Got Back" followed by a country song just isn't going to fly. This is what I meant by practice beforehand. The crowd should not be able to tell you're transitioning to a different song unless you're using some hot effects to do it. Less than smooth blends can disturb the continuity of the music. Anyone that's ever DJed a party will tell you that's a no no! 
5. When DJing a party, you want to keep people on the dance floor.  This means catering to what the crowd wants to hear. You should have all newest, hottest songs out as well as a wealth of the timeless nostalgic joints that keep the people's feet moving. This is relatively easy to do. Just pay attention to what the people are moving to and adjust accordingly.
6. When DJing a party, definitely utilize the effects and your pre made mixes and most importantly your creativity.  The worst thing you can do is have all the music, all the tools, and not use them creatively.  Being a boring DJ is like a nonalcoholic beer.  You have all the pretty packaging and no effect.

Follow these tips and you'll throw a successful jam.  Have fun and good luck.