STEVE JOBS And his Secret Presentation Skills

Throughout the world, many people in business still continue to be fascinated by Steve Jobs and his remarkable of legacy as a revolutionary innovator, clear communicator and presenter of ideas.

And yet, few embrace this simplicity when they have to give business presentations.

The fact is: the late Steve Jobs did not sell computers; he sold an experience. The same holds true for his presentations. If you study them, you will see that they are meant to inform, educate, and entertain. An Apple presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production—a great script, heroes and villains, stage props, breathtaking visuals, and one moment that makes the price of admission well worth it.



Here are the five elements of every Steve Jobs presentation. We invite English Users to incorporate these elements into your own presentations to sell your product or ideas the Steve Jobs way. Here are the highlights:

1. A headline. Steve Jobs positions every product with a headline that fits well within a 140-character Twitter post. For example, Jobs described the MacBook Air as "the world's thinnest notebook." That phrase appeared on his presentation slides, the Apple Web site, and Apple's press releases at the same time. What is the one thing you want people to know about your product? This headline must be consistent in all of your marketing and presentation material.

2. A villain. In every classic story, the hero fights the villain. In 1984, the villain, according to Apple, was IBM (IBM). Before Jobs introduced the famous 1984 television ad to the Apple sales team for the first time, he told a story of how IBM was bent on dominating the computer industry. "IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple." Today, the "villain" in Apple's narrative is played by Microsoft (MSFT). One can argue that the popular "I'm a Mac" television ads are hero/villain vignettes. This idea of conquering a shared enemy is a powerful motivator and turns customers into evangelists.

3. A simple slide. Apple products are easy to use because of the elimination of clutter. The same approach applies to the slides in a Steve Jobs presentation. They are strikingly simple, visual, and yes, devoid of bullet points. Pictures are dominant. When Jobs introduced the MacBook Air, no words could replace a photo of a hand pulling the notebook computer out of an interoffice manila envelope. Think about it this way—the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words. In some presentations, Steve Jobs has a total of seven words in 10 slides. And why are you cluttering up your slides with too many words?

4. A demo. Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain gets bored easily. Steve Jobs doesn't give you time to lose interest. Ten minutes into a presentation he's often demonstrating a new product or feature and having fun doing it. When he introduced the iPhone at Macworld 2007, Jobs demonstrated how Google Maps (GOOG) worked on the device. He pulled up a list of Starbucks (SBUX) stores in the local area and said, "Let's call one." When someone answered, Jobs said: "I'd like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding."

5. A holy smokes moment. Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that neuroscientists call an "emotionally charged event." The emotionally charged event is the equivalent of a mental post-it note that tells the brain, Remember this! For example, at Macworld 2007, Jobs could have opened the presentation by telling the audience that Apple was unveiling a new mobile phone that also played music, games, and video. Instead he built up the drama. "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!" The audience erupted in cheers because it was so unexpected, and very entertaining. By the way, the holy smokes moment on Sept. 9 had nothing to do with a product. It was Steve Jobs himself appearing onstage for the first time after undergoing a liver transplant.

One more thing…sell dreams.

Charismatic speakers like Steve Jobs are driven by a nearly messianic zeal to create new experiences. When he launched the iPod in 2001, Jobs said, "In our own small way we're going to make the world a better place." Where most people saw the iPod as a music player, Jobs recognized its potential as a tool to enrich people's lives. Cultivate a sense of mission. Passion, emotion, and enthusiasm are grossly underestimated ingredients in professional business communications, and yet, passion and emotion will motivate others. Steve Jobs once said that his goal was not to die the richest man in the cemetery. It was to go to bed at night thinking that he and his team had done something wonderful. Do something wonderful.

Make your presentations engaging.

There is a new book about this topic, written by Carmine Gallo. Check it out! The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

The ART of Power Point Presentations

Power Point presentations are something that a lot of people who work around the world do on a frequent basis. And many times, when the audience is international they must do them in English.

The question is: are they doing them right? And what about you?

For today's post, we'll take a look at a video with some key tips on the Art of Power Point presentations from Terri Sjodin, a well-known author, speaker and consultant in the field of business communication.

1. First, WATCH it once and try to understand the main idea. Try to see what Terri has to say about the following:

• How important are colors, fonts and effects in a presentation?

• How do you decide when to keep or scrap a Power Point slide?

• What is a true and authentic visual aid?

• Is the number of slides important? Why?

2. Now READ the transcript in detail. You may play it as you read if you like.

So then a lot of people say, "Terri, you don't understand... that's why I use my Power Point in my laptop because I think that that will make it a lot better".


I'm like... OK, now I don't want you to shoot the messenger here because sometimes visual aids truly can enhance your sales presentation. As long as they are truly and authentically a visual aid.


But most of the time, people use Power Point or their lap top presentations as a crutch to get them through their own material.


Pretend you for example are sitting in front of someone, a sales representative who's coming to pitch you. And they say, "Hey, I'm so excited about our meeting today. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm just going to crack this laptop. I've got some great charts. I've got some great graphs."


And as soon as they start cracking that laptop, what's the first thing that runs through your mind? "Oh, my God! How long is this going to be?". As soon as we see a sales rep cracking a laptop, we starting thinking... 'cause it looks like they're moving in.


So we move forward. And they're like, "You don't understand. I use different colors. I use different fonts. Some of my slides come off like that. Some of them come off like that. I have this one that comes off like a paper airplane. It goes like that! Shhhzzt! It is so good".


I said, "You're right. I'm riveted."


Power Point is not necessarily the enemy. But the way that people execute from Power Point is typically the enemy. And I want you to remember this: when it comes to visual aids, you are the star and the visual aid is the bit player. If ever your visual aid starts to upstage you, you lose control of the presentation.


And here is the easiest thing to remember. Look at all of your slides before you make any presentation. And if you can look at those slides and you can ask yourself this question: "Is this slide for me or is it for them?". Because if it's for you to get you through your presentation, scrap it. If it's for them, so that they can visually understand your presentation better, then keep it. And that's the variable.


Now, here is this. Most people go... I'm a travel agent. I'm selling tickets to Hawaii. Most people would go: "Bullet point number one: You should go to Hawaii because they have beautiful white sand beaches. Bullet point number two: You should go to Hawaii because they have incredible dancing hula girls. Bullet point number three: You should go to Hawaii because they have incredible sunsets in the evening".


Is that a visual aid?


No. That's text and bullet points to help you get through your presentation.


A true authentic visual aid is visual. 


It should be: A picture of the white sandy beaches. A picture of the beautiful dancing hula girls and then a picture of the beautiful sunsets in the evening.


That's an authentic visual aid. But people have gone absolutely bonkers with power point.


"Oh, no, we need more slides. More slides! More slides!" 


I've seen as many as 220 slides in one sales presentation. I thought I was going to shoot myself. They're like: "What do you think?" I'm like: "I think I just found the cure for insomnia. 




3. Finally, WATCH it a third time without reading the transcript. Then try to tell another person in English what the video is about including the 4 key points.

Glossary:

visual aid: any tool that helps to make something more clear visually
riveted: captivated
scrap: discard something
bonkers: crazy

ENGLISH: The Global Language of Business

Ok, English Users, it's official.

English has now been designated as the global language of business. Now, we know what you're thinking.

Wasn't it that already? People who work in business should know some English. What's new about that?

Well, since you asked, what's new is that more and more multinational companies are making English their common corporate language. This means all international business is conducted in English.

This is already happening in companies like Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia, Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing, to provide a few examples. Did you notice that not all companies are American or British? 

Because in the 21st century English is no longer just the language of English speaking countries. The bottom line is practicality. And guess what? The country that is at the forefront of this change is... China. One might wonder with the economic power that they have, why they aren't trying to push for more Chinese in business operations.

The answer is simple. Practicality. Just like the language of music is Italian; or Latin the language of biological and medical classification or French the language of cuisine. Today, now, in the 21st century, the language of business, logistics and technology is English. But what does this really mean?

For one, it ought to be a wake up call to all small or regional economies as well as companies from those countries that wish to expand globally. The message is simple. If you want to do business, move things around or be technologically connected with the rest of the world, you and all your staff need to do it in English.

Likewise, if you work in a multinational company, the pressure will be on you to improve your English and in some cases, the company may not pay for it. 

But fortunately, at PLS, we have a number of effective and attractive training methods, including the Dynamic Online Training method from our partners at English Attack! that we spoke about in our last post.

And by the way, don't think that native speakers from English-speaking countries can just sit back and not worry about all this. There's plenty for them to do as well. First, they will have to slow down and be far more considerate when speaking to non-native English speakers. It also means they need to keep the language simple.

The goal is to make communication and performance go hand in hand across different regions of the world and business objectives. And as English Users, you're already a one step ahead of the rest.

So Congratulations!

Now if you'd like to read more about this topic, we highly recommend a recent CNN feature on their business page that goes into it further.

And to close it off, here is an interview with Tsedal Neeley, the Harvard Business School assistant professor who explains why every company needs a language strategy. Every company, including yours.