That evening I suggested to Mary Ellen we should invest in Apple. Jobs was such an outsized personality. His computing strategies seemed pretty compelling. Of course, we didn't. I looked at the "split several times since" price this morning and it was around $338.
Yes, Jobs was and is compelling and nobody drives innovation like him and nobody sells it better. That's why the rest of this is worth reading.
Carmine Gallo, a columnist for BusinessWeek.com prepared a document called The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs.
1. Plan in Analog. Jobs plans presentations in pen and paper. He "storyboards" the plot. The suggestion is to brainstorm, whiteboard, jot notes and outline before going to PowerPoint. You are telling a story and the narrative must be compelling. Heroes, villains, secret weapons, evil empires, a plot. Audiences are easily bored. Your job is to keep them engaged.
2. Create a Twitter-Friendly Description. This is known as a single-sentence description, one that will fit in a 140-character Twitter post. Before Twitter I'd refer to this as three sentences or less. The MacBook Air was introduced simply as "the world's thinnest notebook." Can you describe your product in one Tweet?
4. Focus on benefits. Listeners are always asking a simple question: why should I care? Put another way, nobody cares about your product, what people care about are their problems and how you're going to solve them. Don't leave your customers to figure out the benefits on their own, tell them.
Why buy an iPhone 3G? Because it's twice as fast at half the price.
5. Stick to the Rule of Three. Comedians know that three is funnier than four. Playwrights know three is more dramatic than two. Jobs knows that three is more memorable than five or six. An audience is only capable of holding a small amount of information in short-term memory. On September 9, 2009 Jobs returned to tell an audience he'd be focused on three things: iPhones, iTunes and iPods. Simple.
6. Sell Dreams, Not Products. Steve Jobs doesn't sell computers. He sells the promise of a better world.
Gallo notes that "passion, emotion and enthusiasm are grossly underestimated ingredients in professional business communications and yes they are powerful ways to motivate others."
Note: I've often used Far Side cartoons and other borrowed value items to surprise an audience. These unexpected visuals add humor and enthusiasm to often tired topics. Additionally I prefer very little type and a major emphasis on art.
I've often used a picture of an African Tick bird standing atop a Rhino to discuss the symbiotic relationships necessary to survive. The Tick bird alerts the Rhino to enemies. The Rhino's hide provides parasites for the Tick bird to eat. My finance department was always my Tick bird.
8. Make Numbers Meaningful. Put large numbers in contexts that are relevant to the audience. Gallo notes that when the US Government bailed out the economy, $700 billion was a pretty incomprehensible number. However when you explain to people it's like spending one million dollars a day since the day Christ was born, it's easier to appreciate the magnitude.
9. Use Zippy Words. Jobs described the speed of the new iPhone 3G as "amazingly zippy." Jobs uses simple words not jargon are "suite speak". Gallo notes that Jack Welch once said, "Insecure managers create complexity." (Amen!)
10. Reveal the Holy Smokes! Moment. The emotionally charged event, notes Gallo, is the equivalent of a "mental sticky note that tells the brain, 'Remember this!'"
During Macworld 2007, Jobs introduced the iPhone as follows:
"Today, we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device...an iPod, a phone, an internet communicator...an iPod, a phone, are you getting it? These are not three devices. This is one device!"
Finally, practice, practice, practice. Steve Jobs spends hours practicing and preparing.
Note: I had the good fortune to present to my company's Board of Directors on several occasions. I always start outlining what I want to say and the likely source for material I'll need - so I didn't drive my staff crazy with last minute requests. I'm not good at formal rehearsals. The first time I attended one I discovered that my presentation was extremely negative as presented — not objective like I thought it was — and, second, it worked on paper but not in presentation. I got back on the plane and went home to start over.
From that point forward, I would spend hours writing and re-writing the content then test my presentation for both tone and content. I would have my assistant set up a computer in the conference room and I'd go into the office on Saturday and practice the presentation many, many times. Each time, I'd find a way to touch up the wording or the artwork or the flow. I always, always minimized the wording and numbers and maximized the visuals. Once I thought I was ready, I'd ask my staff to sit through the presentation and they always had suggestions to make it better. Frankly, many of them could have presented it just as well. It was their work, after all, that I was presenting.
Almost inevitably when I presented to an important audience like our Board I received good reviews, because of my preparation, knowledge of the material and the fun I'd have with the insights into our customers and industry that weren't available from secondary sources.
Every audience deserves the same preparation as a Board of Directors. Use Steve Jobs as a template. And remember, if you can't Tweet it, it needs more work.
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