One or more contestants would walk on. The host would tell the name the contestant or ask their name and where they were from. He would then ask them to "whisper your secret to me, and we'll show it to the folks at home." The contestant would then whisper their secret to the host, while the audience and television viewers were shown the secret by writing printed on the television screen. Then the host would give the panel a clue. For example, "the secret concerns something that happened to [Contestant's Name]." The host would then choose a panelist to begin asking questions.