Humanizing Rules

CHAPTER 11U IS FOR UNDERSTAND

Save the Surprise

In 2012, the multi‐award‐winning film director Danny Boyle directed a performance unlike anything he'd directed before. As artistic director of the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games, he was responsible for a live show costing £27 million that would be performed in front of 80,000 spectators in the stadium and billions of TV viewers worldwide. To ensure things ran as smoothly as possible on the night, Boyle invited 60,000 Olympic volunteers, prize‐winners and other guests to a technical rehearsal, five days before the actual ceremony.

In order to maintain secrecy around the show's contents, Boyle spoke to the audience and asked them not to share photographs or details of the event on social media. Having told them they were the first people in the world to see the show, he asked for their help to “save the surprise” and the hashtag #SaveTheSurprise was displayed on screens in the stadium. Boyle crossed his fingers that nothing major would leak. It didn't. Rather than sharing details of the show, people shared their thoughts about it using the hashtag.

What Boyle had realised was the fact his audience would naturally want to talk about what they'd seen. By explaining why he needed them not to reveal details of the show and recognising that “save the surprise” would be more appealing than saying “keep the secret”, Boyle persuaded the audience to willingly do what he wanted them to. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given he's a ...