Apple, Jobs and Presentations

Drop the crammed PowerPoint slides

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “presentation”? It will most probably be PowerPoint slides filled with useless content that bores everyone. Giving good presentations is an art in my opinion. And most of us want to be those adroit artists but are unfortunately following the bland traditional methods of presenting. Presentations are a way to connect with your audience. Good presentations connect with the audience emotionally and mentally. But not all presenters can achieve that. Only the remarkable ones can.

Who can you look up to regarding presentation skills? Steve Jobs. Jobs had the perfect mix of professionalism and being alluring in his presentations. He was truly an artist when it came to presentations. He was indeed remarkable.
I’ll share some of the things that Jobs did in his presentations that we can all try to incorporate in our presentations in order to set ourselves apart from others.

1. Drop the PowerPoint slides

People believe that more slides filled with tons of content is the right way to go. Unfortunately, that isn’t really required and all it does is bore the audience. Jobs never liked PP slides. But when he was required to use slides, he did so in the most effective way possible. Short and to the point headings with the required image only. Let’s recall the time when he introduced the iPhone back in 2007. He did not use tons of slides to showcase the phenomenal features of iPhone. Instead, he did what was required to get the message to the audience in an effective way and give them exactly what they required. So, he put up the heading “Your life in your pocket” which was short and concise but was enough to let the audience know what it was all about and he didn’t use never-ending slides. Lesson being: don’t bore the people with slides. Nobody likes them. Instead, talk more and connect with them on a deeper level so that they listen to you and get the message.

2. Tell Stories

Jobs never bored the audience with strictly professional terms and content. Instead, he used to tell stories that the audience could even relate to. He was a great storyteller. Like he once told the audience while interacting with them that he was once at a cafe and was using an iPad and he saw a girl noticing him (checking him out). So, you get the gist. He knew exactly how to interact with the audience and how to connect with them on a deeper/personal level. His slides had very little words. He did all the talking.

3. Less words

When it came to the main topic of the presentations for Jobs i.e the products, he made sure that he used as little words as possible to introduce the products. This was the right way because too many words might actually bore the audience. Imagine if Jobs was to talk about the technical aspects of every product in great detail. It would most definitely be very boring. So, whatever the main point of your presentation is, convey that in an efficient manner using less but effective words. Jobs presented the iPod to the world as “Thousand songs in your pocket.” and the iPhone as “Music, calls and internet.” — Less words but great impact.

4. Body language

Body language matters a lot when you are giving a presentation. If you are not relaxed in regards to your body language, it’s an indicator that you’re most likely going to screw up your presentation. Put up a smile, walk around a little and make eye contact with your audience. If you do these things, you will feel confident which will lead to a great presentation. Practice your body language before the presentation. The key points that I observed in Job’s body language were: Smile. Walk around. Eye contact. This doesn’t mean that you keep walking around and keep smiling and keep staring into the eyes of the audience continuously. No, don’t do that. Maintain a balance in everything. There are tons of articles and videos on the internet that’ll help you in improving your body language during presentations. (Harvard Business Review articles are really helpful.)

Conclusion

I’m not claiming that the only way to give a good presentation is to follow the style of Jobs. All of us have our own ways to interact with the audience. But the style that Jobs adopted in his presentations is truly remarkable and if we follow it, we’re likely to become better presenters. Jobs was a remarkable storyteller. He connected with the audience. He never bored the audience and kept them engaged. Make sure you work on improving your presentation skills because they are essential in professional life. Watch videos and read articles that are available for you on the internet. And just like Jobs, you should also do your best to “be remarkable” in whatever it is that you do.