“Play…stop…play…stop…hold for applause…”
Marshall spoke calmly and succinctly while peering at the rally below through a tiny crack in the blinds.
“Play…”
The whirr of the reel tape filled the silent, stuffy room and the heavy silence forced The Intern’s overactive mind to replay on loop the previous week’s conversation.
“Friendly, but dim is the raw data from the most recent focus groups, so this speech must present him as the knowledgeable, qualified, composed, capable and intelligent man we know he is not,” Marshall had demanded.
“So, he’s going to lip-synch a 20-minute campaign speech?” The Intern asked.
“30 minutes with applause,” Benson clarified.
The incredulous response from The Intern prompted Marshall to explain.
“He lip-synched his victory song on Talent Quest and that’s how he got to this position….and the people in this room are the only ones who know that,” he revealed, shooting a threatening glare at The Intern, who then suggested they use a tiny ear piece to ensure they controlled every word of the speech.
“The lag is too obvious to modern-day audiences, and the persona we crafted is based entirely on approachable authenticity.”
“Why don’t we use AI or smart glasses to help him stick to our key talking points?”
“That was considered,” admitted Benson, “…but our opposition is extremely tech savvy and such technology is too easily hacked.”
Hence, thus began the painstaking process of prerecording a 20-minute speech (30 minutes with applause). The pre-war, reel tape device had been dusted off and dragged out of the archives room, and The Intern was given the less than glamorous task of lugging it up to the 4th-storey apartment where it now relayed the campaign speech.
“Play…”
“…job security is at the forefront of our policy platform, and traineeships for our youth will be strengthened and expanded…”
Applause.
“…stop….play”
As The Intern heard some of her words broadcast to the masses, she reflected on the long nights prepping the man who was blessed with a prominent jaw-line, perfect hair and a twinkle in his eye. She recalled how she had publicly doubted that anyone would elect a national leader based purely on his looks and voice, and recalled how Marshall had sighed at the naivety of the intern he had been allocated.
Sentence by sentence, word by word, the team had inserted impactful pauses, variance in intonation, appropriate facial gestures and room for applause.
“…we can deliver real cost of living relief and genuine financial assistance for families, particularly, but not only, in the area of education…”
More applause.
“…an opposition candidate weak on crime…”
The crowd fell under the spell of the dulcet tones which emanated from speakers hidden in the lectern and in his lapels.
“Stop….play.”
“Play!”
“Play!!!!!!”
“It’s jammed.”
Thus began a wild rant,
“Free laptops for every child, no more tax, a colony on the moon, a cure for death, and the beers are on me.”
Image: Dragon White Munthe
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