13-17 aren’t kids so don’t patronise them! And they are used to sitting in classrooms listening to non-celebrity non-interesting people talk about irrelevant (in their perception) topics. You are a famous and yes, cool, guy talking about stuff that directly affects them – remember that!
 
As for a gimmick, how about doing a fictional case study of Minnie Walker (Tinchy in a dress) “the typical student”?

Try getting the bands to be a part of your ‘act’ in order to get the teenagers attention

please don’t try to do ‘street’ talk or use the words ‘cool’ or ‘youth’ it’s embarrassing, for them too.
just be frank, down to earth and not too formal. 

hi – you could do with visuals, or them watching a 3 minute film you make before, flash images/important messages, trouble is, they will filter this out, it’s not what they’ve come to see, wrong time, wrong place

At the beginning ask them 3 key questions that should cover all the audience. Make them money related, but you could acknowledge the fact that they’re at a concert.
E.g. Who here wants to be able to have enough money to go to every concert they want to? Who only wants to go to free concerts for the rest of their life? Who never wants to go to another concert ever?
For the first 2 raise your left hand as you finish the question and pause for them to respond; for the 3rd raise your left hand. Because they’re a bunch of youngsters you’ll probably get a noisy response anyway. Acknowledge all 3 responses simply “Thanks for joining in! in the next 10 minutes you can find out some key facts about Student Finance to make sure that you can go to as many, or as few concerts as you like. Right, here we go….”

and that’s it, you’re off. Your aim is to engage them all quickly, whether they’re actively interested or not and your 3 questions should do that. Keep it simple – big clear graphics; key points; and have a few quips up your sleeve. So whilst you’re unikely to hear individual comments, have something to say about Tinchy that’s related to Finance if that’s the kind of comment you think you might get.

Remember to rehearse the whole thing going really well and smoothly. Hear the noise, see the crowd, smell the smells and notice yourself being really in control just by being YOU.

If Paul McKenna is unavailable to help at such short notice, do let me know! Enjoy the adrenalin rush!

“How to get a degree for less than the cost of a Tinchy Strider Concert ticket”…

If you go to Uni, get your degree & it does you no good at all – and you never earn more than £15,000 then you don’t pay a penny. You basically get all your fees paid & up to nearly £3000 a year for living expenses for 3-5 years completely free – (that’s my favorite price!  )

If you do really well, and your salary increases to £20k (check the maths, please it’s a guess) Then you’ll be paying back just over £10 pw or about £40-45 per month – which is about the price of a concert ticket these days, isn’t it?

When you buy a concert ticket, you have to take the money out of your bank account. That’s £40 that used to be in your bank account, and now it isn’t. It’s spent. The great thing about your student loan is, because  it comes straight out of your wages it never has to come out of your pocket. If you have to stop working, you stop paying. It’s as simple as that. You will never miss it because you never had it.

You need to get across the most important fact – you don’t pay £9000 up front. I would start with a huge slide saying that to get their attention. The NUS has sadly got that misinformation into everyone’s head which NEEDS to be challenged. Once you say that to them, then you’ll have their attention, and you can work your magic.

Be informal, but don’t do ‘street lingo’ – kids respect it when they’re treated like adults.

Love
A long suffering physics teacher

Ooh,I’m gonna be there;D

Don’t worry I won’t get boredd:L

Try not referring to them as ‘kids’, call them teens or young people instead.

Hi Martin, maybe it would be helpful to contrast a good story/bad story, or a series of sets of good versus bad decisions. Like, here’s student A, she ended up well-off, here’s student B, he ended up broke, see if you can guess which one chose each option. Scenario 1, headlines said top fees are awful, one student decided not to go to uni, one student read your newsletter and found out you pay the same rate on the repayments… Better than that but hopefully you get the idea.

Teens are savvy, and they are looking for genuine, so they’ll spot anything that not.

Martin I think you should start with “Hi guys, I am Martin and you might never listen to me again, but I want to take a few minutes…………”

That will likely get you to a good percentage of theose who aint interested in eyeing up their next conquest…. 

Try it and see.

Don’t forget to just be Martin. Honest, straight, and knowledgeable.

John

Don’t talk down to them.  Say it as it is.  

Your right to be worried about being being deafened, but to avoid this you must be sincere interesting and honest and use the audience by involving them.  You are delivering a message that many young people do not believe.

I would suggest that you gain their interest by taking the conversation away from student loans and instead talk about what somebody could spend £40k on (a car, a property in lincolnshire) then suggest what if I was to give you that money now and you can pay me back at as little as x amount a week once you are in a good job.  and if you don’t get a good job I’ll let you of the money in 30 years time.
Once you have the concept sold of them having a loan that they pay back in really low amounts or not at all.  then that’s the time to relate it back to the student loans.I would even consider getting an audience member or two on stage and asking them  ”What would you do if you inherited £40,000 right now”.    after they provide their answers then tell them there’s been a mistake “right they made a mistake your not the right person you’ve spent the money  but you’ve got to pay it back what’s a fair amount to get back from you monthly?  You could then explore audiences opinion of there decisions , by involving the audience they won’t be bored.  You can then bring student loans into the discussion.

As you walk out on stage you need to either throw chocalate gold coins into the audience of have them fall down from the ceiling (depending on budget) once the histeria of them picking them up is over begin your speech, tell them everytime they hear a certain word during your presentation they must cheer to get more coins- the louder the more coins will fall. This will make them listen to every word. Good Luck

Presentation-wise, how about something in this style?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/gregjames/2011/07/scottish_is.html

Hi  
Hi please end with the giant screen showing the cost of credit/min payment scenario you have on the website i.e. John at 18 max’s his credit card how long -what age-how much. I am a debt adviser and use this as a punch line to an interactive 2 hour talk re budget, why it is important, debts, priority non-priority and cost of credit. I show the story one line at a time and we discuss each part and the last line never ceases to amaze and horrify the audience.

get the acts to stand on stage with you for 10 mins, surely they can spare this time in their busy ‘celeb’ lifestyles. The youth respect them and even having them stood next to you on stage can booster how much they listen to you. Maybe give each one a little bit to read out?  you can be their 10minute manager. Have fun

How about get them to relate to the acts that they are about to see? Has Titchy Strider, Diversity or any of these acts been to uni? Linking them to their idols will capture the audience and make them relate university to success (in their eyes).

Don’t make the debt sound too negative. They must be able to understand that yes it will give them a lot of debt, and it can be confusing, but there are always people and ways in which you can manage it. Turn that debt and use it to its full potential to drive your passions in life as well as academia.

I  totally agree with the people who say talk straightforwardly to them, there’s no need for anything more than being yourself.  Perhaps it would be a good idea to create opportunities for them to make some noise, so that you’re in control of it when they do it.  I.e. let’s hear who’s thinking about/looking forward to going to uni (big cheer). then go through the things they’re looking forward to about it e.g. meeting new people (cheer), freedom from parents (cheer), going out a lot (cheer), meeting lots of the opposite sex (cheer), and then finish with who’s looking forward to thinking about debt and worrying about money and that getting in the way of all the good stuff (no cheer).  Then offer some brief, to the point advice about deciding on uni’s and the truth about how the fees actually effect what you pay.  Obviously the words need a bit of work, and maybe you could ask a celeb to help with the crowd interaction, as they may be more interested in showing them how much they’re looking forward to having a good time at uni etc, but I don’t think the crowd will be as difficult as you think if you give them a reason to be interested. 

Just be your unique and lovely self, Martin and do what you do best - condense reams of boring small print into easy-to-understand bullet points that lead ordinary folk out of the fog and towards self-empowerment.  Young or old, it doesn’t matter.  People believe what you say because you’re honest, down to earth and on their level.
   
As this is not your usual audience perhaps you could introduce yourself on a big screen with a few of your own ’film clips’ on a loop before you come on stage (the Godfather springs to mind).  Your already an entertainer, so you don’t need to bring on a comedian!  With your website at the top of the screen, clear enough for them to take a picture of with their mobile phones, they can tune in the following day for a more in-depth account.

The first page of any screenplay is the most important one to keep the reader interested, but it’s the last five minutes of the film that the audience walks away with.    

Just be your unique and lovely self, Martin and do what you do best - condense reams of boring small print into easy-to-understand bullet points that lead ordinary folk out of the fog and towards self-empowerment.  Young or old, it doesn’t matter.  People believe what you say because you’re honest, down to earth and on their level.
   
As this is not your usual audience perhaps you could introduce yourself on a big screen with a few of your own ’film clips’ on a loop before you come on stage (the Godfather springs to mind).  Your already an entertainer, so you don’t need to bring on a comedian!  With your website at the top of the screen, clear enough for them to take a picture of with their mobile phones, they can tune in the following day for a more in-depth account.

The first page of any screenplay is the most important one to keep the reader interested, but it’s the last five minutes of the film that the audience walks away with.    

Come out to some big loud music (eg. the CC rider theme that Vernon Kaye usese when he starts his breakfast show at the weekend) this will get them interested and back in the room to see whats going on…

Then follow the advice of others by being direct, to the point, and being yourself…. good advice below!

Maybe have your graffics using the format of a full beer glass or wine bottle, keep it simple… eg. here you are on day one – lots of cash, if you go out every night you use 50% of the contents leaving only 50% to pay bills / buy food… if you run out you have to borrow the money to buy another glass, and this will cost £x which every month will take up 25%  in repayments to the person who you borrowed it from…. etc

Come out to some big loud music (eg. the CC rider theme that Vernon Kaye usese when he starts his breakfast show at the weekend) this will get them interested and back in the room to see whats going on…

Then follow the advice of others by being direct, to the point, and being yourself…. good advice below!

Maybe have your graffics using the format of a full beer glass or wine bottle, keep it simple… eg. here you are on day one – lots of cash, if you go out every night you use 50% of the contents leaving only 50% to pay bills / buy food… if you run out you have to borrow the money to buy another glass, and this will cost £x which every month will take up 25%  in repayments to the person who you borrowed it from…. etc

come on to something loud ! eg. the start of CC rider (which vernon kaye uses as the start of his radio shows – this will get their attention and make a few come in from the bar to see what it is all about.
Keep it simple – simple graffics, maybe use a beer or wine glass as the theme – showing the % of outgoings as portions of the beer glass eg. your rent will take 50%, your food will be 25%, if you spend the rest on going out you will have nothing left to pay for x,y,z and hence you will have to “borrow” a second full glass from someone else….. hope that makes sense.

come on to something loud ! eg. the start of CC rider (which vernon kaye uses as the start of his radio shows – this will get their attention and make a few come in from the bar to see what it is all about.
Keep it simple – simple graffics, maybe use a beer or wine glass as the theme – showing the % of outgoings as portions of the beer glass eg. your rent will take 50%, your food will be 25%, if you spend the rest on going out you will have nothing left to pay for x,y,z and hence you will have to “borrow” a second full glass from someone else….. hope that makes sense.

“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.”
No, no, no. I’ve just turned 21 so still feel 13-17, and this is absolutely awful. Just be you. Don’t try and act cool or whatever. 

- Your (each one of yours’) next 10-20 concert tickets are free……and all i want is 10 mins of patient listening….no catches/no strings attached…….(make language as if you are talking to adults) 

- Free University Degree. (and get paid to do it).

-Opportunity to make loads of new friends.

- Free money for the cost of living.

- No debt to pay after you finish your degree.

- No Credit check.

-Will not affect your credit rating.

- (Keep adding for a 10 min presentation)….. pls keep one line per slide (you already probably have thought of this )  Good luck Martin , Your friend and well wisher  …Anuroop Tyagi.

I used to help run youth events for that kind of age range, and I echo what many have said – DO NOT try and be ‘cool’ or ‘street’.  It is absolutely GUARANTEED to make them cringe and lose their interest.  Youngsters in that age range respond best to those who treat them like adults.

You can’t teach much in ten minutes, so focus on the basics, and try for some audience participation – maybe divide the audience into sections, and get them to compete (volume wise!) in shouting answers/Money Mantras/main points them back to you.  Should wake them up and get them listening, and repetition = learning without realising it

Don’t go too pantomime on them, though – and for the love of sanity, DON’T try to sing!

Get some of the stars playing that day to help! The message will stick in more if their idol is telling them this stuff. Sure the promoters will be keen to help you out with contacts of the acts management.

Make it applicable to what their parents might earn, the whole student finance thing gets lost to most teens because they only see their mate earning £4 an hour at MaccyDs. Just tell them what a teacher earns and what they pay, what a doctor earns and what they’d pay.

Tell them all to shut up, stand up straight and pay attention for a start….

… then duck.

Ten minutes is not very long, especially as these things never run to time and it by the time you have a minute intro and a minute recap/ round-up you have not got much wiggle room at all.  

Keep It Simple – I’d suggest three to  five bullet points only to whet their appetite and then point them to here for more info (Can you Web-Angels do an email capture page for you so that you can send them the info later???)  Because they will be on mobiles etc the whole time you are on – so make you mission to be to get them to access the information later, not educate them fully in your ten minutes.

And Martin – I love your energy on TV, but the general rule is the bigger the room the slower the chat, so despite the frenetic atmosphere it may be easier for them if you calm the pace slightly.  TV is immediate, you are literally in the room with your audience, big arenas – well you need to leave time for the message to reach all four corners IYSWIM. 

But be you, don’t pretend to be ….. Oh I am digging myself a hole here  Look you have been in “training sessions” where you just know the trainers “talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk” – don’t be that trainer – who you are is just perfect.  Besides you are on the telly, therefore famous, therefore they will listen – honest!!!

Last thing – enjoy it hon!!.  This is your “Hello Wembley” moment.

Just to say thank you very much for al lthe comments – many of them I will take on board.  Really do appreciate it at such an important event

How about rapping some main points to a rap beat?

You could use a combination of this plus Jelly’s suggestion of a comedic street translation. This is just to get the kid’s attention. So, you talk to the beat followed by the translation to the beat. (As an example, there’s an advert on one of the radio stations about chicken dippers and peri peri (or something)) 

I also agree with him when he says to “just be you” after your little rap.

I know you can do this, Martin.