Disclaimer: I am an Apple lover and a big fan of Steve Jobs, very grateful and appreciative of products that I have found to be transformative. I greatly respect his dedication to the passionate pursuit of excellence.
I have always admired the oratorical skills of Steve Jobs, particularly the brilliant Apple keynote speeches and his iconic commencement address at Stanford. I do
my fair share of public speaking and aspire to have the smooth style, brevity and enthusiasm that are intrinsic to the grand master. Carmine Gallo does an inspiring job in deconstructing the key elements of the Jobs' oratorical techniques so as to understand how to deliver a phenomenal presentation. This book was an easy and interesting read and I found it to be of great utility and immediately integrated the tenets and secrets of Steve Job's rhetorical skills and passionate style into my own public addresses, whether the audience be one person or an auditorium-full of people. In the following words, I will summarize the salient points made by Carmine Gallo.
Regarding the use of data during a presentation, make it specific, relevant, and contextual. Speak in simple, clear, and direct language. Unclutter and eliminate redundant language, buzzwords, and jargon. Edit, edit, and edit some more. Gallo references Kawasaki's qualities of an outstanding demonstration: simple, short, sweet, swift and substantial.
Make an effort to stroke the dopamine receptors of your audience. After all, your customers are your sales force and the most potent evangelists for your cause.
Dopamine greatly aids memory and information processing and if you can get the brain to put a chemical "post-it" note on an idea, it will be more robustly processed and easily remembered. Powerful terms, when integrated them into your talks, will help release the dopamine, as will an emotionally charged delivery. SJ loved the following zippy words: amazing; incredible; gorgeous; insanely great; coolest; buckle up; put on your shoulder harness; lust object; stunning; miraculously engineered.
Presentation skills are fundamental. It is important to maintain good eye contact and positive body language: an open body without fidgeting or other distracting habits without looking back at slides or hiding behind the lectern. The delivery should vary the vocal volume, inflection, and cadence. Filler words should be avoided and pauses should be used in their place. Unleash your inner Zen by using very few words and plenty of compelling visuals. An energetic delivery is quintessential--passion in the voice, a bounce in the step, and a smile on the face are inspirational. Enthusiasm makes one likable. Share your passion for your, subject and your enthusiasm will be contagious.
One's speaking style should be informal and casual. Never read slides or turn your back to the audience. Slides should be highly visual with one key idea only. Memorize the one key idea per slide. Practice the entire presentation without notes simply using slides as prompter. Spontaneity is the result of planned practice!
Steve Jobs consistently adheres to the rule of three: the human mind can only consume three points of information in short-term memory. Our brains crave meaning before detail, so deliver the big picture before filling in the details. If you can't describe your product or service in 140 characters or less, go back to the drawing board. Every great book or movie has a hero and a villain. Consider a presentation in the same way--a theatrical event complete with a protagonist and antagonist. Jobs uses the rhetorical device of raising a question and providing the answer. Your audience is asking what's in it for me? Don't leave them guessing. The villain can be a competitor or in many cases a problem in need of a solution.
Most presenters have more information than they can easily convey in a short amount of time. Don't try to squeeze in everything. Simplify communications. If you want to deliver a Jobs-worthy presentation, avoid content overload. The 10-minute rule simply states that your audience will lose attention after 10 minutes. At the 10-minute mark introduce a break in the action: a video, stories, another speaker, and a demo all can be effective. A prop is anything to take the attention away from the presentation and gives the audience a break from the slides. They appreciate the diversion.
In summary, Carmine Gallo's book is a winner and will prove to be of great help in improving the communication skills of anybody doing a presentation. I only wish that the presenters at many of the medical lectures that I have attended had read this book!
Andrew Siegel, M.D.
AUTHOR OF: PROMISCUOUS EATING--UNDERSTANDING AND ENDING OUR SELF-DESTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
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Reviews with images
"The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" (McGraw Hill)
"The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" explores the methodology of what is behind one of the great corporate communicators of this generation. For years now, audiences have sat in amazement as Jobs does his annual Apple and MacWorld presentations with minimal slide shows and maximum impact. Gallo deconstructs what makes these presentations uber-effective and how you can learn from these examples to improve your public communication.The first, and most obvious method, is utilizing the `less is more' philosophy, which Jobs is the master of. Often times Jobs reduces his message to a single word on a simple black backdrop to make his point. As with "Innovative Secrets," Gallo explores the beauty of simplicity and how it is easier said than done. At one point, the author compares the speeches of Jobs vs. tech rival Bill Gates and illustrates how Gates gets mired in longer sentences with harder words, employes `lexical density' and falls victim to the `fog index,' while Jobs keeps is short, tight and simple. Gallo goes so far as to analyze Jobs right down to the phrases, gestures and even the pauses that Jobs makes to burn in his message. The book gives helpful hints on how to assemble, rehearse (and videotape) your presentation in advance to have the best chance of making the most impact on your audience. For the many people that are looking to study what makes a Jobs presentation "insanely great," this is clearly the book for you.
Top reviews from other countries
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One book for a better presentation skill
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Some Great Insights, If You're Willing to Put in the Work
Reviewed in Canada on May 6, 2015Grumpy of Gosport
How the man did it!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2013