Devil's advocate characters have a role in even the most serious of conferences and product launches, as their purpose is to raise, in a dramatic or comic way, the critical issues on the mind of the audience. These issues can be quite sensitive or controversial. Once highlighted, such issues can be addressed by a presenter.

Highly effective devil's advocate characters include:

• A cynical audience member who jumps up from his seat and challenges the speaker.
• A disgruntled customer who highlights a perceived weakness within the client's organisation. This weakness would generally be one that is about to be improved.
• An arrogant competitor who enters the room by mistake and then boasts about their superiority in a certain area. Again, the area emphasised would be one the client is about to improve.
• A grumpy shareholder who wants to know how company performance will be improved. The use of devil's advocated characters results in powerful communication that helps to deliver your message in a way that's fresh and memorable.