| What
is a hoax?
Many
people ask what exactly is a hoax? These people demand to have their
questions answered. So here goes.
-
You announce that you have an expert to speak on a business subject.
If that's what the audience is expecting they'll say to themselves:
how long will this speaker be on and how boring will he be?
If it is a surprise amongst festivities after-dinner they'll say:
How dare they do this, just when we were beginning to enjoy ourselves?
Either way you've got them fooled.
-
Enter David Cummings as a business consultant from the UK. We
all know how Australians love being patronised by the English.
Call him William Stoppard. He's a powerful speaker - but witty
with it.
-
For 20 minutes Mr Stoppard talks about such things as teamwork
(it's all rubbish), leadership (keep your people under the thumb),
sales (most customers are basically idiots). As BT Asia Pacific
said: 'They paid rapt attention while you ripped apart everything
the company stands for.'
While holding on to the material that he know works, David angles
the performance towards the audience, according to your brief.
Your business if it is your people, management generally if it
is your customers. Always with an industry slant - your industry.
He makes it work with medical audiences or education or government,
it doesn't have to be corporate.
A briefing will tell him what he needs to know to make it work
for you.
People seem to love being fooled.
-
In a seamless move, almost without the audience noticing, David
is doing jokes, still in character, to round out the 30 to 35
minutes of the presentation.
Is he funny? Please refer to 'Is he funny?' section.
-
The reveal. David tells everyone that he is not real. By then,
hopefully, they have worked that out. Anybody who doesn't work
it out - fire them.
So
that's the hoax.
Does it work at conferences and conventions? Like magic.
It kicks them off so the delegates get relaxed early on.
It's good as a finisher.
Try it in the spot before lunch.
To give the people a break from the serious stuff.
Be honest - you can put it wherever you like.
After-dinner, at lunch, David can even make them laugh over breakfast. |
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