Skinner Cake Trick
While in college I took a youth leadership class from a very popular professor named Rulon Skinner. One day he brought in a beautiful cake and set it on the desk in front of the class. I think that most of us were hoping we’d get a piece of that the cake. That day we discussed how we should present ourselves to others and the importance of dressing appropriately for future job interviews and in our employment. He emphasized that it really matters how things are presented and reminded us that others make judgments about us and who we represent based on how we appear.
About ten minutes before class was over, he commented that his wife had made a cake for our class. Since it was almost lunch time, I was excited about that news. He then asked how many people wanted a piece of cake. Almost every hand in the class immediately shot up. He then distributed a paper plate, spoon and napkin to all who raised their hands. Next, he picked up the beautiful cake and walked up to the nearest student with his hand up.
I noticed that the cake had not been sliced and the teacher didn’t appear to have a knife with him. Suddenly he put his hand directly into the cake and brought up a mangled glob. He then squeezed it a little and plopped it down on the girl’s plate. She was obviously disgusted with the glob of cake. He then proceeded to do the same thing to every student that had raised their hands. Of course, not one of us made any effort to eat the cake on our plates. We wondered why he would ruin such a beautiful cake when we were so hungry. Without comment, he returned to the front of the classroom, took a towel out and cleaned his hands off slowly. He then looked at us and said, “You see, it does matter how things are presented doesn’t’ it.” I will never forget this powerful message. It really does matter how we present ourselves and the example we set before others.
