What makes the presentations by Steve Jobs stand out from the crowd?
“Steve Jobs does not deliver a presentation. He offers an experience.” This is how best-selling author Carmine Gallow describes it in his book titled The presentation secrets of Steve Jobs: how to be insanely great in front of any audience. What exactly does that mean? He went on to make an analogy between going to see a show on Broadway and the presentation style of Steve Jobs. If one paid to see such a show, they generally expect to witness a fantastic show with actors, props, visualizations, and a “WOW” moment that makes it all worth it. A Steve Jobs presentation does all that in its own way. How?
We uncover some of the secrets behind the success of Steve Jobs’ presentations in this blog post.
1. Tell your audience why they should care.
Jobs was a firm believer in the audience being the core of the presentation. “Why should I care about what this person has to say?” Jobs aimed to answer this question at the very beginning of his presentations. The goal was to catch the audience’s attention and maintain their engagement throughout.
You can use simple phrases to do so:
-The idea is…
-What that means to you is…
To connect with the audience you need to put yourself in their shoes during the presentation. What could they be thinking or asking themselves at specific points? By thinking about the audience’s mind and what questions they might be posing, you should be able to pinpoint the areas that could benefit from structural sentences, such as “This is all very well, but it doesn’t answer the question…” This type of sentence also helps the presentation stay intact and is a part of signposting. The goal is to keep relating to the audience and their needs.
2. Keep it simple.
Steve Jobs used the quote of Leonardo da Vinci when creating his first marketing brochure. The quote was: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Simplicity is present not only in Apple products’ designs but also the visual presentations that Jobs was a fan of and the words that he used when speaking.
Here’s a set of guidelines to keep in mind:
• Favor active verbs over passive ones. For example, “The company launched a new product.” instead of “A new product was launched by the company.”
• Use natural-sounding vocabulary that you would normally use in your conversations.
• Avoid jargon altogether.
3. Give your numbers some context.
Whenever Apple rolled out a new product and Jobs was presenting its traits, he knew that he needed to give the figures that he was going to present some meaning. For example, when presenting the iPod for the first time, he knew that he needed to convince the audience that his device was worth buying despite the hefty price tag. After all, persuading his audience to pay 399 dollars in 2001 (which was a year of recession in the USA) for a gadget was no simple feat. Did he have any other figures going for him? Well, the device had 5 GB of memory, which didn’t really mean too much on its own. The second thing was the size and weight of the device—it weighed 6.5 ounces which is around 28.35 grams. So how did Jobs give all these numbers context?
He translated 5 GB into song capacity which was 1,000 and took out the device from his pocket during the presentation. The slogan was “1,000 songs in your pocket.”
4. End the presentation with a bang!
Steve Jobs had this skill down to perfection—he would build up momentum to the very end of the presentation and finish with a “wow moment”—where he would unveil something surprising, exciting, or game-changing.
Using the right phrases can amplify the impact. Here are some simple phrases you could use depending on what you are trying to achieve.
For a dramatic reveal you can say:
• “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…”
• “This is where it gets really exciting.”
• “What I’m about to show you is a game-changer.”
• “This is where the magic happens.”
• “Prepare to be amazed by what comes next.”
To highlighting the impact of your concept, you can opt for:
• “The implications of this are truly profound.”
• “This changes everything.”
• “Imagine the possibilities when you harness this.”
• “This is not just an improvement; it’s a revolution.”
• “What this means for you is extraordinary.”
Engaging the audience with expressions like:
• “Are you ready for something amazing?”
• “Let me show you why this is a big deal.”
• “You won’t believe what this can do.”
• “Here’s the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for.”
• “This is where everything comes together.”
Emphasize value with phrases such as:
• “The value here is simply unmatched.”
• “This is what sets us apart.”
• “The benefits of this are crystal clear.”
• “This is the moment where the real value shines.”
• “This is the kind of innovation that leads to success.”
To learn more tips on how to present like Steve Jobs and other keynote speakers, feel free to check out our new course on Business Presentations in English!