Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
Sometimes the easiest interventions are the most effective. You probably know this one under another name, or played it as a kid. Presenters have to work a secret word into their talk without the audience noticing. It makes them improvise, and it adds an extra layer to any event or meeting.
Where it came from.
In May 2014, I spoke at Bulgaria Web Summit in Sofia with, among others, Vitaly Friedman of Smashing Magazine. The night before, we were both complaining that we felt tired and a bit uninspired after so many talks in the weeks before. So we gave ourselves an assignment: each of us had to work the code word ice cream into our slides, without anyone in the audience noticing. It had to feel seamless. That was the start of the secret ice cream.
Sofia, 2014
Later we did the same among speakers at InSites Consulting, with a list of words handed out the hour before going on stage. And the comedians of The Lonely Island might have pulled the ultimate secret ice cream, when they kept slipping a reference to Jimmy Fallon into interview after interview on one of their press tours.
How to run it.
To describe tools and exercises, I borrow the five structural elements from Liberating Structures. It is an easy and structured way to describe the different dimensions of an exercise.
Invitation.
Tell the presenters this is an exercise in creativity and improvisation, and that it has to be taken seriously. Clear agreements on the rules are the key to making it work: which word, who is in on it, and whether the audience knows.
How space is arranged and materials needed.
Nothing to arrange: the room stays as it is. All you need is a piece of paper per secret word.
How participation is distributed.
Usually a small in-crowd knows the secret words. Either they work them in without the audience noticing, or the audience is in on the game and tries to spot them.
How groups are configured.
No special configuration. It works for a team meeting and for a conference hall, with one presenter or a full line-up.
Sequence of steps and time allocation.
- Hand out the words. Brief the presenters the night before, or the hour before if you really want to put on the pressure.
- Let them prepare. Give them enough time to work the words in seamlessly.
- Present. The talks run as planned. If the audience noticed, you lost.
- Reveal. Afterwards, reward whoever did it best, let the audience pick the winner, or let the audience guess the words.
Three variations.
- The secret ice cream. Presenters work a pre-agreed code word into their talk, with limited time to prepare.
- Guess the secret ice cream. The audience knows the presenters are working in secret words, and has to guess them.
- Secret ice cream roulette. Every participant writes three to five words on a piece of paper and hands it to another presenter.
Where the name comes from: If you can't fix it with ice cream.
