Steve Jobs (33 page)

ACT 3

Refine and

Rehearse

So far, we’ve learned how Steve Jobs plans his presenta-

tions. We’ve talked about how he supports the narrative

through his words and slides. We’ve discussed how he

assembles the cast, creates demos, and wows his audi-

ence with one dynamic moment that leaves everyone in awe.

Finally, you’ll learn how Jobs refines and rehearses his presenta-

tion to make an emotional connection with the audience. This

final step is essential for anyone who wants to talk, walk, and

look like a leader. Let’s preview the scenes in this act:


SCENE 14: “Master Stage Presence.”
How you say something

is as important as what you say, if not more so. Body language

and verbal delivery account for 63 to 90 percent of the impres-

sion you leave on your audience, depending upon which study

you cite. Steve Jobs’s delivery matches the power of his words.


SCENE 15: “Make It Look Effortless.”
Few speakers rehearse

more than Steve Jobs. His preparation time is legendary

among the people closest to him. Researchers have discovered

exactly how many hours of practice it takes to achieve mastery

in a given skill. In this chapter, you’ll learn how Jobs confirms

these theories and how you can apply them to improve your

own presentation skills.

165

166
REFINE AND REHEARSE


SCENE 16: “Wear the Appropriate Costume.”
Jobs has

the easiest wardrobe selection in the world: it’s the same for

all of his presentations. His attire is so well known that even

“Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” poked some good-

natured fun at him. Learn why it’s OK for Jobs to dress the way

he does but it could mean career suicide if you follow his lead.


SCENE 17: “Toss the Script.”
Jobs talks to the audience, not to his slides. He makes strong eye contact because he has

practiced effectively. This chapter will teach you how to prac-

tice the right way so you, too, can toss the script.


SCENE 18: “Have Fun.”
Despite the extensive preparation

that goes into a Steve Jobs presentation, things don’t always

go according to plan. Nothing rattles Jobs, because his first

goal is to have fun!

SCE

SCENNEE 1

144

Master Stage

Presence

I was hooked by Steve’s energy and enthusiasm.

GIL AMELIO

Steve Jobs has a commanding presence. His voice, ges-

tures, and body language communicate authority,

confidence, and energy. Jobs’s enthusiasm was on full

display at Macworld 2003. Table 14.1 shows his actual

words as well as the gestures he used to introduce the Titanium

PowerBook
.1 T
he words he verbally emphasized in his presentation are in italics.

The words Jobs uses to describe a product are obviously

important, but so is the
style
in which he delivers the words. He punches key words in every paragraph, adding extra emphasis

to the most important words in the sentence. He makes expan-

sive gestures to complement his vocal delivery. We’ll examine

his body language and vocal delivery more closely later in the

chapter, but for now, the best way to appreciate his skill is to call

on a guest speaker who pales in comparison.

“Who’s Mr. Note Card?”

During the iPhone introduction at Macworld 2007, Jobs invited

Cingular/AT&T CEO Stan Sigman to join him onstage and to

share a few words about the partnership. Sigman took the floor

and sucked the energy right out of the room. He immediately

167

168
REFINE AND REHEARSE

TABLE 14.1
JOBS’S MACWORLD 2003 PRESENTATION

STEVE’S WORDS

STEVE’S GESTURES

“Two years ago, we introduced a

Raises index finger

landmark product for Apple. The

Titanium PowerBook instantly became

the best notebook in the industry. The

number one lust object.”

“Every review said so.”

Pulls hands apart, palms up

“And you know what? Nobody has

Holds up two fingers on right

caught up with it in two years.”

hand

“Almost every reviewer today still says

Chops air with left hand

it is the number one notebook in the

industry. No one is even close.”

“This is important for Apple because

Makes an expansive gesture

we believe that someday notebooks are

with both hands

even going to outsell desktops . . . We

want to replace even more desktops

with notebooks.”

“So, how do we do this? What’s next?

Gestures, moving hand in a

Well, the Titanium PowerBook is a

broad stroke from right to left

milestone product, and it’s not going

away. But we’re going to step it up a

notch to attract even more people from

a desktop to a notebook.”

“And how do we do that? We do that

Pauses

with this.”

“The new seventeen-inch PowerBook. A

Another expansive gesture,

seventeen-inch landscape screen.”

hands pulled apart, palms up

“It’s stunning.”

Pauses

“And when you close it, it is only one

Makes thin gesture with left

inch thick.”

hand

“The thinnest PowerBook
ever
. Let me

Walks to stage right while

go ahead and show you one. I happen

maintaining eye contact with

to have one right here.”

audience

MASTER STAGE PRESENCE
169

STEVE’S WORDS

STEVE’S GESTURES

“It is the most incredible product we

Picks up computer and

have ever made.”

opens it

“The new seventeen-inch PowerBook. It’s

Holds up computer to show

amazing. Look at that screen.”

screen

“Look at how thin it is. Isn’t it incredible?

Shuts computer and holds

It’s beautiful, too.”

it up

“This is clearly the most advanced

Smiles and looks directly at

notebook computer ever made on the

audience

planet. Our competitors haven’t even

caught up with what we introduced two

years ago; I don’t know what they’re

going to do about this.”

put his hands into his pockets and proceeded to deliver his com-

ments in a low-key monotone. Worst of all, he pulled note cards

out of his jacket pocket and started reading from them word for

word. As a result, Sigman’s delivery became more halting, and

he lost all eye contact with the audience. He continued for six

long minutes that seemed like thirty. Observers were fidgeting,

waiting for Jobs to return.

A post on CNN’s international blog read: “Sigman . . . read

stiffly from a script, pausing awkwardly to consult notes. By

contrast, the silver-tongued Jobs wore his trademark black tur-

tleneck and faded blue jeans . . . Jobs is one of the best showmen

in corporate America, rarely glancing at scripts and quick with

off-the-cuff jokes.” Bloggers were relentless during Sigman’s talk.

Among the comments: “Who’s Mr. Note Card?”; “Blah, blah,

blah, and blah”; “Painfully bad”; and “A snoozer.”

Sigman left AT&T that same year. Macworld.com wrote:

“Sigman is perhaps best remembered by Apple fans as
completely

negating
Jobs’s Reality Distortion Field in an incident which left almost half of the entire keynote audience sound asleep. He has

been sentenced to a cruel afterlife of being the butt of roughly

99 percent of Scott Bourne’s jokes [Bourne is a Mac pundit and

podcaster] . . . And what will Stan do in retirement? Word is he’s

170
REFINE AND REHEARSE

thinking of giving public speaking workshops to underprivi-

leged youth.
”2

Sigman spent forty-two years at AT&T, rising from the lowest

rungs in the company to running its wireless division. Yet, to

many people unfamiliar with his leadership, Sigman’s appear-

ance at Macworld will be his lasting legacy. It wasn’t Sigman’s fault. He had to follow the master. And, unfortunately, this book

wasn’t out yet to help him prepare!

Three Techniques to Improve

Body Language

Steve Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985 after losing a board-

room battle for control of the company in a power struggle

with then CEO John Sculley. He would remain away for eleven

years, returning triumphantly when Gil Amelio, Apple’s CEO

in 1996, announced that Apple was going to buy Jobs’s NeXT

for $427 million. “I was hooked by Steve’s energy and enthusi-

asm,” Amelio wrote in
On the Firing Line: My Five Hundred Days at

Apple
. “I do remember how animated he is on his feet, how his

full mental abilities materialize when he’s up and moving, how

he becomes more expressive.
”3

Jobs comes alive when he is up and moving onstage. He has

seemingly boundless energy. When he’s at his best, Jobs does

three things anyone can, and should, do to enhance one’s speak-

ing and presentation skills: he makes eye contact, maintains an

open posture, and uses frequent hand gestures.

EYE CONTACT

Great communicators such as Jobs make appreciably more eye

contact with the audience than average presenters. They rarely

read from slides or notes. Jobs doesn’t eliminate notes entirely.

He often has some notes tucked out of view during demonstra-

tions. Apple’s presentation software, Keynote, also makes it easy

for speakers to see speaker’s notes while the audience sees the

slides displayed on the projector. If Jobs is reading, nobody can

MASTER STAGE PRESENCE
171

tell. He maintains eye contact with his audience nearly all the

time. He glances at a slide and immediately turns his attention

back to where it belongs—on those watching.

Most presenters spend too much time reading every word of

text on a slide. During demonstrations, mediocre presenters will

break eye contact completely. Research has discovered that eye

contact is associated with honesty, trustworthiness, sincerity,

and confidence. Avoiding eye contact is most often associated

with a lack of confidence and leadership ability. Breaking eye

contact is a surefire way to lose your connection with your

audience.

Jobs can make solid eye contact with his listeners because he

practices his presentations for weeks ahead of time (see Scene

15). He knows exactly what’s on each slide and what he’s going

to say when the slide appears. The more Jobs rehearses, the

more he has internalized the content, and the easier it is for him

to connect with his listeners. The majority of presenters fail to

practice, and it shows.

The second reason why Jobs can make solid eye contact is

that his slides are highly visual. More often than not, there are

no words at all on a slide—just photographs (see Scene 8 and

Scene 17). When there are words, they are few—sometimes just

one word on a slide. Visual slides force the speaker to deliver the

information to those whom the message is intended to reach—

the audience.

OPEN POSTURE

Jobs rarely crosses his arms or stands behind a lectern. His pos-

ture is “open.” An open posture simply means he has placed

nothing between himself and his audience. During demos, Jobs

sits parallel to the computer so nothing blocks his view of the

audience or the audience’s view of him. He performs a func-

tion on the computer and immediately turns to the audience

to explain what he just did, rarely breaking eye contact for a

long stretch of time. In Jobs’s early presentations, most notably

the 1984 Macintosh introduction, he stood behind a lectern.

He abandoned the lectern soon after and has never used one