What a production director (or show caller) can learn from Tom Cruise’s award ceremony to ensure their client ends an event on a high note.
I am Lucía Arribas, founder of Solutions Prompteur. A few weeks ago, we attended the award ceremony where Tom Cruise was honored by the Aero Club de France. It was an incredibly moving moment, but this emotion put the organization in a very, very uncomfortable situation.
What happened?
A massive timing discrepancy that I call “The Tom Cruise Effect.” To avoid it, here are two crucial points that every project manager should control to ensure a successful event.
I’m sharing this with you, along with the one question you should always ask a client—without exception—to make them feel supported in their speech.
Let’s dive in.
Tom Cruise came to Paris to receive an award recognizing his achievements as an aviator.
Let’s get straight to the key details:
The day before the event, when a key figure in the organization was supposed to rehearse, they refused to try the teleprompter. They had memorized their speech.
This was a clear sign of fear of the unknown, and I saw it coming.
How did I know that the speaker had never used the transparent “Obama-style” presidential teleprompter with glass panels?
Because of the formatting request:
“NO FORMATTING”
In situations like this, the role of the teleprompter operator is crucial. It’s an opportunity—especially the day before the event—to offer the speaker a few minutes to try it out, get comfortable…
But in this case, they wanted nothing to do with the teleprompter because they wanted their speech to appear improvised.
So, what happened?
The Tom Cruise Effect.
The organizers were so eager to meet Tom Cruise and start the ceremony that they began 10 minutes earlier than scheduled.
The event was supposed to start at 7:00 PM, but they kicked off at 6:50 PM. The person who was supposed to announce Tom Cruise’s arrival at 7:30 PM spoke 10 minutes early… and finished another 10 minutes early.
Total: 20 minutes ahead of schedule for Tom Cruise’s entrance.
It was 7:10 PM, and Tom Cruise was set to arrive at 7:30 PM.
A 20-minute gap.
20 minutes to fill in front of the audience, right before the most anticipated moment of the evening.
The speaker found herself in a very uncomfortable situation, looking at us backstage as if we could magically make Tom Cruise arrive earlier.
Someone from the Aero Club came on stage to help, to fill time, to keep the audience engaged until 7:30 PM… but everyone could see that this was a major timing mistake.
An understandable mistake (The Tom Cruise Effect!) but one that was completely avoidable.
How to avoid this kind of embarrassing situation
Tom Cruise himself arrived neither early nor late.
He arrived exactly at 7:30 PM.
As I mentioned, the audience had to wait 20 minutes. Waiting 20 minutes diminishes excitement and focus just before the event’s highlight: Tom Cruise’s entrance.
In event planning, especially with such high-profile personalities, you don’t improvise the schedule, the duration, or the timing. Everything must be planned in advance.
Here are two crucial points:
Resist the temptation to start earlier: This is the responsibility of the production director or the show caller.
- Manage speech duration perfectly: If the speaker trusts the teleprompter, they won’t forget essential parts of their speech, giving us precise control over timing.
- Here, the mistake was understandable. The speaker was nervous because she was rehearsing with her notes, aiming to deliver a solid speech in front of an international star.
She chose to memorize her speech because she didn’t trust the teleprompter. But the teleprompter was there precisely to support her. I’d even say it would have allowed her to savor this magical moment even more.
But “The Tom Cruise Effect” is powerful, for better or worse, and in the end, the actor still managed to captivate everyone.
Ultimately, everything worked out fine.
The one question you must always ask a client before they give a speech—unless their name is Barack Obama
A service provider who is asked to provide a teleprompter must always ask their client:
“Have you ever used a teleprompter before?”
In the case of the Aero Club de France, this would have been incredibly important.
If this question had been asked, and the woman who was supposed to use the teleprompter had answered, “No, never,” we could have made the necessary arrangements BEFORE the event.
I could have assigned someone during rehearsals to help her practice and feel supported. This way, she would have understood how a teleprompter could help her and experienced its benefits firsthand.
It’s crucial to remember that just one or two coaching sessions with Solutions Prompteur (20-30 minutes) are enough to feel comfortable with an Obama-style presidential teleprompter.
“Have you ever used a teleprompter before?”
Ask your client—it’s essential.
If you take away one thing from this article, let it be these three points:
- Never improvise the event schedule on the day of the event.
- Control the duration of each segment to ensure a synchronized event, free of awkward pauses that drain audience energy.
- To turn a stressful moment into a magical, unforgettable experience for your client, ask them: “Have you ever used a teleprompter before?” If the answer is no, reassure them: they can rely on an invisible teleprompter (the Obama-style presidential one) as their safety net.
We’re always happy when speakers feel confident and don’t end up needing our teleprompter. If they’re comfortable and in control of their speech, that’s great.
They don’t have to use the teleprompter at all costs—but they should know it’s there to help them have a more serene, magical experience.
Lucía ARRIBAS
PS: I hope this publication has been useful to you. I only publish 25% of this information on the web. If you’re in the events business, I’m sharing privately the tips I’ve observed from the most sought-after production directors in France (and around the world) after working with many of them for over 20 years. This information is free of charge and will help you avoid many coordination errors during an event, thereby increasing your prestige.
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