Steve Jobs is widely acknowledged as one of the best presenters. In his annual Mac World presentations he inspired the Apple corporation and the industry with the next step according to Apple.
Have a look at his Macworld presentations on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmoDqPyofok&feature=PlayList&p=F8886490FF4659E3&index=0 ) and look for the following ten reasons he is such a great presenter.
1. Authentic Style
He looks comfortable and relaxed and appears to be genuine. People who know Steve Jobs say “that is who he is”. His comfortable style makes the audience feel relaxed. He uses a conversational style that sounds very natural even though he rehearses more than most presenters.
2. Easy universal beginnings
When Steve Jobs opened Macworld 2008 he said “Welcome to Macworld 2008. We’ve got some great stuff for you.” This is a very humble and easy way to begin. When you consider how complex and innovative his topic is, to use the phrase “great stuff” connects him with his audience and reinforces the key message that this is “for you”. Notice he doesn’t say “the reason I’m here is to show you new products.”
3. Clear Takeout.
Very early in the presentation Steve Jobs makes a simple and grand claim. “Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone”.
4. Set the agenda.
He follows the Presentation Format by saying “So I’ve got four things I’d like to talk about with you today. So let’s get started.” This gives us the elements or structure he is following.
5. Relevant transitions.
Because he is talking for a long time to a large group of people who are live and watching on large screens on adjacent rooms he knows that transitions help keep the audience on track. So he says “So that’s time capsule. A perfect companion to Leopard, and that’s the first thing I wanted to share with you this morning.”
6. Persuasive support.
Jobs uses the full range os support from stories and gestures to PowerPoint and figures Most presenters use too few or too many figures. Jobs uses figures sparingly but when he does he makes it relevant. Listen for when Jobs says “We have sold 4 million iPhones to date. If you divide 4 million by 200 days, that’s 20,000 iPhones every day on average.”
7. Variety in visual interaction
He uses multiple visual aids video clips, demonstrations, PowerPoint, grand gestures and movement; he even uses guests and rock bands to get his point across.
When he reverts to PowerPoint he uses just a picture, of just a picture with a few words in large font. He wants the audience to listen to him tell the story rather than just read the slides. One example was a slide with only a green call phone button image on it. He uses the slides to help him tell a story and not tell it for him.
8. Taking risks.
Steve Jobs also demonstrates new software live, his willingness to learn how to do this in front of a world-wide audience gives us more confidence in the ease of use aspects of the product and more confidence in him.
9. Key words.
Key words set the tone for the presentation when they are delivered congruently, that is, with passion and energy that suits the word. Listen to Steve Jobs use words like “extraordinary, amazing, cool, incredible, unbelievable and amazing and awesome.”
10. Memorable Moments.
When he makes a demonstration he asks – what is the best way to show this? When he introduced Mac Book Air he opened a manila envelope, took out the laptop and said “This is the new Mac Book Air. You can get a feel for how thin it is.” This created a memorable moment in the presentation by aligning a key message and a brilliant way of communicating it to his audience.
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