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When
Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage last month at the
MacWorld 2008 Conference in San Francisco, he wowed the
conference with the unveiling of the new MacBook Air,
billed as the world’s thinnest notebook computer.
More
importantly from our perspective, Jobs gave the business
world a lesson in how to use visual aids in support of a
presentation. (To
see is presentation click here.)
His slides were simple. His graphics were stripped down
to their essence. And he did a masterful physical
demonstration.
His slides were simple.
Most
business presentation slides are too complex. Perhaps
the most striking thing about Jobs’s slides were their
simplicity. When he had text, he limited it to a
few key words with nothing else on
the slide. When he wanted to describe the MacBook
Air,
his slide had four white words against a black
background: “The World’s Thinnest Notebook.”
When he
wanted to detail technical specifications of other
thin notebooks, he revealed a simple spreadsheet, line
by line. The first line said “Weight: 3.0 lbs.” Then he
revealed the second line: “Thinness: 0.8 inches – 1.2
inches.” Etc.
When he
showed a notebook computer, there was a simple
photograph with nothing else. He didn’t allow too much
stuff on the slide to clutter his message.
His graphics were stripped down to the essence.
Most
business slides put far too much information in graphs,
making it hard for the audience to understand the
point.
Jobs’s graphics were stripped down and easy to
understand. He showed a graphical side view of the
MacBook Air to compare its thinness with the
competition. The graph showed only on thing: how the thickest
part of the MacBook air is still thinner than the
thinnest part of the competition's laptop. The audience “oohed”
at the graphic.
He did a great live demonstration.
Few
presentations rely on physical demonstrations. Yet Jobs
showed how such demonstrations can be incredibly
effective. To demonstrate the thinness of the MacBook
Air, he slid the laptop out of an inter-office mail
envelope. The audience laughed with delight. And the
video of Jobs sliding the computer out of an envelope was used all over the media.
Steve
Jobs has a famous and powerful speaking style. But it’s
not just his style that makes him stand out. It’s also
his deft use of visuals.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate
in a way that connects and persuades. If you’re
interested in becoming a great communicator give us a
call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net. |
