Sales Effectiveness

Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the world's best at making impactful business presentations and this Business Week Article tells you ten reasons why. Download GoToMeeting_Presentation_Secrets_of_Steve_Jobs . The whole article is a great read but pay particular attention to 'why should I care?' (selling the benefits), stick to the rule of three and use dominant images in your visual aids.

Ten questions to ask when planning a business project

When you are looking at a business issue the quality of your response is the quality of your answer to ten questions. Here they are in PowerPoint format.

Download ProjectPlanning _2010

Metta Presentation Format

All effective communication has a structure - from movies and TV commercials to books and stories. When it comes to presenting the best formats are based on the ideas of Bernice McCarthy. If you'd like a copy of the Metta Presentation Format based on the McCarthy model please click here:

Download PresentationFormat

How Steve Jobs is a great presenter

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.

How Obama makes a speech

Barack Obama is a great speech maker because he uses so many techniques so well. Attached you will find a detailed analysis of his acceptance speeach of November 2008 and references to the techniques he is us. Download PA Analysis Obama Acceptance Speech

It’s on the tip of my tongue

I've often had the experience of feeling like I know a word but it gets stuck on the tip of my tongue. And the harder I try to get the word out the harder it gets. Hyun Choi, a researcher in psychology at Texas A&M, says too much concentration may hinder progress. That's because the tip-of-the-tongue state tends to occur when a similar-sounding, though incorrect, word is blocking the correct answer. As long as you keep trying hard this wrong word remains lodged in your brain, keeping the answer at bay, Choi says. The next time a word is just out of reach, and the first few attempts don't pan out, distract yourself with an unrelated activity for about 15 minutes, Choi recommends. The brain is then free to allow the right word to pop through the space created when the wrong word slides away. For more details see Psychology Today Magazine, Jul/Aug 2006 Article ID: 4115 or online at http://www.psychologytoday.com/.

How to make a speech

When I'm teaching people how to make a successful speech one of the most popular questions I'm asked is 'who you you think is a great speaker?'. Its a very useful question because when you watch the great speakers you find somethings in common - good storytelling, slow pace, and an abiility to use emotion and facts to persuade the audience. Another thing you will notice is their ability to echo the thoughts and feelings of their audience. Two speakers you can easily find online are US Democrat Barack Obama and CEO of Apple Steve Jobs. You can find speeches by Obama at http://origin.barackobama.com/tv/mostrecent.php and for a different execution of the same speech making principles have a look at Steve Jobs at Macworld 2008 at http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/f27853y2/event/index.html?internal=fj2l3s9dm

If you have an important speech coming up and you would like coaching to help you add confidence and impact to your delivery send me an email (peteranthony@mettagrp.com). Metta coaches prepare senior executives, sportspeople and politicians for major speeches, I can help you find out how you can learn these techniques from one of our coaches.

Great books on presenting

Here are some great books on presenting

Beyond Bullet Points: Using  Microsoft PowerPoint to create Presentations That Inform, Motivate and Inspire by Cliff Atkinson, Microsoft Press (March 2, 2005 ).

Life is a Series of Presentations: 8 Ways to Punch Up Your People Skills at Home, Anytime, Anywhere by Tony Jeary, Kim Dower, J.E. Fishman, Fireside (February 3, 2004)

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Winning Presentations by  Jerry Weissman, Que Publishing (March 23, 2004).

The Leader’s Voice: How Communication Can Inspire Action and Get Results! by Boyd Clarke, Ron Crossland, Select Books (NY) (May 1, 2002).

The Strategic Use of Stories in Organizational Communication and Learning by Terrence L. Gargiulo,M.E. Sharpe (April 30, 2005).

Say it with Presentations! By Gene Zelazny, McGaw-Hill (2006).

Great Sites for Great Presenting

My favourite website for improving presentation skills is TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) it’s an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. Have a look at: www.ted.com/   

It’s also worth looking at the websites of the major international politicians and check the links to their speeches. You'll see the text and video examples of the best coached speakers in the world.

Here are some other great sites for presenting:

§  Indezine – website by Geetesh  Bajaj, http://www.indezine.com.

§  Presentations Magazine http://www.presentations.com.

§  InfoComm – http://www.infocomm.org/.

§  Presentation Samples from Distinction Services

§  http://www.distinction-services.com/portfolio_main.html.

§  Above and Beyond CD – Ten Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint – http://aboveandbeyond.ltd.uk/.

§  Business-related stories (http://makingstories.net).

§  Interesting PowerPoint Templates http://www.tonyjeary.com.

§  Templates and other resources  http://www.socialmedia.com.

§  Ellen Finkelstrein’s site  http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/powerpoint.html.

Why telling stories is so important

The information overload we experience now is so overwhelming – the big challenge now is not finding information but consuming it all in a relevant way. It wasn’t always this way. Up until the time of Gutenberg and his moveable type printing press of 1439 books were not readily available except to the elite. The only two ways to pass on information was hand writing or oral traditions – telling stories. In his book From Hand to Mouth, Michael Corballis estimates that we began speaking about 150,000 years ago – that’s about 149,000 years of storytelling before books became available. Over that period we became hard-wired to receive information by stories. Think about movies, great speakers and lessons you’ve learned – all by way of story.

In The Story Factor writer Annette Simmons suggested there are

six stories you need to tell

1. Who you are
2. Why you’re here
3. Your Vision
4. Teaching people with stories
5. Values in action stories
6. Stories of understanding and empathy.

Stories are simply the oldest and most effective way to influence and connect with people.