Apple’s Steve Jobs shares some Secrets

We are all aware of how successful Steve Jobs is…. you know Mr. Jobs of Apple. I came across a wonderful ebook in which Mr. Jobs gives some pointers on how to make great presentations. As with any advise, you have to apply it to your situation and you have to practice it to hone your personal skill.

excerpts from: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

For more than three decades, Jobs has transformed product launches into an art form. Whether you’re a CEO, manager, entrepreneur, small business owner, or sales or marketing professional, Steve Jobs has something to teach you.

1. Plan in Analog – Steve Jobs made his mark in the digital world of bits and bytes, but he plans presentations in the old world of pen and
   paper.
2. Create a Twitter-Friendly Description – Steve Jobs creates a single sentence description for every product. These headlines help the audience categorize the new product and are always concise enough to fit in a 140-character Twitter post.
3. Introduce the Antagonist – In every classic story, the hero fi ghts the villain. The same holds true for a Steve Jobs presentation. In 1984, the villain was IBM, known as “Big Blue” at the time.
4. Focus on Benefits – Your listeners are asking themselves one question: Why should I care? Steve Jobs sells the benefit behind every new product or feature—and he’s very clear about it.
5. Stick to the Rule of Three – Nearly every Steve Jobs presentation is divided into three parts. The number “three” is a powerful concept in writing. Playwrights know that three is more dramatic than two; comedians know that three is funnier than four, and Steve Jobs knows that three is more memorable than six or eight.
6. Sell Dreams, Not Products – Steve Jobs doesn’t sell computers. He sells the promise of a better world. When Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.”
7. Create Visual Slides – There are no bullet points in his presentations. Instead Jobs relies on photographs and images. Where the average PowerPoint slide has forty words, it’s difficult to find seven words on ten of Jobs’s slides. The technique is called “Picture Superiority”
8. Make Numbers Meaningful – In every Apple presentation, big numbers are put into context. The bigger the number, the more important it is to find analogies or comparisons that make the data relevant to your audience.
9. Use Zippy Words – Steve Jobs speaks in plain English. In fact, he has fun with words. He described the speed of the new iPhone 3G as
   “amazingly zippy.” Where most business presenters use words that are obtuse, vague or confusing, Jobs’s language is remarkably simple.
10. Reveal “Holy Smokes” Moment – Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that neuroscience call an “Emotionally Charged Event.” The emotionally charged event is the equivalent of a mental sticky note that tells the brain, “Remember this!”

View the full eBook here