How do I explain student finance to 16,000 kids at a rock concert?
It’s brown trouser time. Next week I’ll be speaking to a crowd of 16,000 at the O2 arena about student finance, right before acts such as Diversity, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk perform. Yet frankly I’m panicked over the best way to get this important message across.
It’s all part of the Transformation Trust’s big rock concert. The Trust is a charity that helps fund extracurricular activities to help kids across the country and this is its big, annual centrepiece free concert. I’ve been asked to speak in my capacity as head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information.
They’ve given me an incredible slot – 10 minutes at the start, to tell the 13-17 year olds there about Student Finance 2012 – the facts. But, this does leave me with more than a slight worry that I’ll go on stage to deafening screams of: "We want Tinchy" and not a word I say will be heard, as a bunch of bored teens yell at me to get off the stage (they’re not my usual audience after all!)
I’ve been brainstorming how we can try and get the facts across without appearing the boring old fuddy duddy getting in the way of their fun. The content is easy but the key is the presentation and treatment of it all. My favourite idea was coming on saying: "I’ve been told I’m not cool enough to talk to the youth" then bringing on a comedian to do some type of silly ‘street translation’ – but we don’t have time to put that together.
At the moment I’m thinking of using sirens, big graphics, warnings and more to make it all feel big and just going through the key bullet points. Yet any creative easy to do ideas would be more than warmly received.
