nine presentation lessons from steve jobs

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9 sales presentation lessons from steve jobs’ iphone keynote.

Jonathan Costet

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything …” 

Those were the now-iconic words spoken by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his 2007 MacWorld keynote. 

This talk — well worth the 80-minute watch — was Jobs’ introduction (cough cough SALES PITCH) for the OG iPhone (aka, iPhone … aka iPhone 1).

It’s arguably the best sales presentation of all time, the GOAT if you will.

Hyperbole? Maybe, but Steve Jobs (and Apple) – no matter your feeling towards him or the company — have kinda sorta earned the right to hyperbole.

If you are an SDR/BDR or account executive (or anyone who does sales for a living), Jobs’ talk is something you must watch — and rewatch. It’s textbook for presentations, specifically ones that are sales in nature.

As you watch this Steve Jobs keynote (dare I say, Masterclass), be on the lookout for these 9 sales presentation lessons.

Sales Presentation Lesson #1: Demolish the status quo

“The most advanced phones are called smartphones (so they say).”

The problem, according to Steve Jobs? Smartphones are not so smart, and they’re not so easy to use.

He discusses this point around the 4-minute mark of his talk.

He says the current “smart” phones fall into one of the three categories: 

• not so smart
• hard to use, or 
• not so smart AND hard to use

It’s hard to imagine a pre-iPhone world, but the Treo, Moto Q, E62, and other cell phones were quite advanced for their time. They were pretty awesome.

But Jobs challenges that point. He shatters the status quo with a strong statement + powerful visual.

How this translates to sales: Instinct tells us to focus on the product’s benefits — (hopefully) positive and (relatively) easy to talk about.

But … focusing your message on the pain of the status quo is more persuasive than focusing on benefits.

If the status quo is no longer an option (iPhone > “smartphones”), your buyer is more likely to invest in the “new” option.

Accomplish this mindset change through the behavioral economics principle of loss aversion — humans will go to more extraordinary lengths to avoid loss than they will to gain benefits.

Loss aversion tugs on human nature. We will undergo 2x more effort to avoid a loss than to incur a gain . 

Example #1: It’s easier to convince someone to move away from a fire (loss aversion) than to move from a chair to a comfy sofa.

Example #2: People are more motivated to NOT lose $25,000 (loss aversion) than they are to earn $25,000.

Use this psychological bias to your advantage. Your close rates will bump up if you do it right.

Start by showing why the current situation is bad (see “Business School 101” graph above) and demolish the status quo.

Sales Presentation Lesson #2: THEN show the gain

You’ve talked about how the status quo is no more. You’ve got your buyer leaning in (captivated?), on the edge of their seat.

It’s time to show the gain your product or service offers.

Steve Jobs started every demo with some version of the following: “Now what if I wanted to do X? Here’s what that looks like…”

The “I” Jobs was referring to was him in the shoes of the customer. The “what that looks like” is the gain realized from the product/service offered.

Good sales presentations show what the product can do. Great sales presentations show what the customer can do (with the product).

To accomplish this, you must answer these three questions:

• What OUTCOME did the customer achieve?
• What ACTION did the customer take to accomplish this?
• What PRODUCT BENEFIT or INSIGHT made that action possible?

Here’s a sales template to get you started:

But you are not done after showing the gain. Not quite!

Sales Presentation Lesson #3: Keep switching between status quo and gain

Sales Tip #1 (status quo), then Sales Tip #2 (gain). 

Keep going back and forth between the status quo and the gain customers realize with your solution.

“Not the crippled stuff you find on most phones — these are the real, desktop-class applications.” About 9.5 minutes into his talk, Jobs comes back to the status quo, the “crippled stuff” … the industry-standard stuff yet is broken.

And then he hits the audience with the gain iPhone offers.

Status quo.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Steve Jobs repeats this technique throughout the next hour+ of his talk. He keeps coming back to what he hates about the status quo over and over again to better tee up what he’s showing next.

In Nancy Duarte’s 2011 TEDxEast talk, The Secret Structure of Great Talks , she mentions this technique 6 minutes or so into her presentation (bold is mine): 

“At the beginning of any presentation, you need to establish what is. You know, here’s the status quo, here’s what’s going on. And then you need to compare that to what could be. You need to make that gap as big as possible because there is this commonplace of the status quo, and you need to contrast that with the loftiness of your idea. So it’s like, you know, here’s the past, here’s the present, but look at our future. Here’s a problem, but look at that problem removed. Here’s a roadblock; let’s annihilate the roadblock. You need to really amplify that gap. This would be like the inciting incident in a movie. That’s when suddenly the audience has to contend with what you just put out there: ‘Wow, do I want to agree with this and align with it or not?’ And in the rest of your presentation should support that.

“So the middle goes back and forth; it traverses between what is and what could be, what is and what could be. Because what you are trying to do is make the status quo and the normal unappealing, and you’re wanting to draw them towards what could be in the future with your idea adopted.”

The last sentence is the key. That’s your goal: “…make the status quo and the normal unappealing … what could be in the future with your idea…”

Sales Presentation Lesson #4: Lead with the “Oh S$#T” moment

There is no massive build-up, no long lead into the punchline. 

3 minutes into an 80-minute talk (3.75% of the way through!) Steve Jobs drops the iPhone name for the first time.

Too often, in sales pitches, there is a long lead-in, a huge build-up. We talk about our storied company history, our amazing customers, and so on.

Instead, flip your sales product demo upside down.

In this blog post , we share an example of a sales rep pitching a politician on building a new city on top of an empty plot of land in South Dakota. The example shows a typical sales demo.

The problem? It takes 20 minutes to get to the juicy stuff — what the city (in this case) will look like. 

Flipping the demo to lead with the result (a fabulous new city in South Dakota, a revolutionary smartphone called the iPhone) takes the guesswork out.

If done effectively, you’ve now piqued interest. It’s your job to maintain that interest throughout the remainder of your pitch.

Start with the outcome and allow the conversation to unfold from there naturally .

In the 3 million web-based sales product demos we analyzed using AI, we found winning product demonstrations mirror the same priorities raised during discovery calls, in priority order.

Start your sales product demo with the problem you spent the most time on during discovery, and go forward from there.

This is called “solution mapping” — helping guide you and your buyers by getting to the stuff that matters most first .

Sales Presentation Lesson #5: Obey the 9-minute rule

9.1 minutes.

For winning deals, 9.1 minutes is the average time to go through an introductory sales meeting presentation deck. 

This number is backed not only by Gong data, but also by science.

Humans are complex creatures, but we are also easily distracted. SQUIRREL!

A recent study showed the average human brain now has an attention span shorter than a goldfish . What? Every time I read that study … Mind. Blown.

In some instances, this 8-second attention span serves as an advantage , but it can be tricky when selling!

While our attention starts to wander after 8 seconds or so, as we mention here , neuroscientists have proven that our brains have a built-in stopwatch that stops around 9-10 minutes.

Notice how every 9-minutes or so, Steve Jobs introduces something in his talk to “perk up” the brain … to change the pace.

To command your customer’s attention, you must introduce a “brain-perking” change of pace, such as a new speaker, a video/live demo, or a dramatic story.

The first significant shift in the Jobs keynote is when he shows a video of the new iPhone in action. Notice he’s gone from talking with images only to sharing a live video.

Brain switch. Powerful stuff.

Jobs continues this “every 9 minutes” switch: Story to demo to story to demo. Jobs talking followed by (then) Google CEO Eric Schmidt talking.

This constant switching throughout the entire 80-minute presentation keeps the audience engaged.

Sales Presentation Lesson #6: Simplify your slides

We’ve all seen ‘em.

We’ve all been on the other side of a slide presentation that is full of words — words the seller reads VERBATIM from the slide.

It’s painful. It’s cringeworthy. It’s a colossal waste of (everyone’s) time.

Yet “busy slides” are still an issue for many-a-sales presentations.

Notice most of Steve Jobs’ slides (from more than a decade ago, mind you): 

• No lists with 17+ bullet points
• No paragraphs of words
• No fancy animations or wild things flying on and off the screen

Steve Jobs’ slides are — for the most part — a short headline + a single image. Each slide = one big idea.

P.S. We have a brand new Sales Presentation Template — for you, for free. Grab this fill-in-the-blanks template to create knockout sales presentations.

Sales Presentation Lesson #7: Load up on pronouns

a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g., I, you ) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g., she, it, this ). — Oxford Languages

Pronouns make things personal.

I. We. You. 

Jobs leans heavily on the use of pronouns. You can hear them peppered throughout all of his presentations. 

“Well, how do you solve this? Hmm. It turns out we have solved it. We solved it in computers 20 years ago. We solved it with a bit-mapped screen that could display anything we want. Put any user interface up. And a pointing device. We solved it with the mouse. We solved this problem. So how are we going to take this to a mobile device? What we’re going to do is get rid of all these buttons and just make a giant screen. A giant screen.”

7 “we’s” in a single paragraph!

He does the same with the pronouns “you” and “I.”

Gong has done some research on words and phrases top sellers use .

The best sales reps speak directly to buyers using the pronouns you, your, and your team 29% more often than their average and underperforming peers. 

A: “Users maximize their time with this workflow.”

B: “You’ll be more efficient with this workflow.”

Can you guess which seller closes more deals?

Users vs. You. A single word can have a significant impact.

Pronouns make the person (or team) on the other end feel more part of the conversation. Pronouns flip the script from generic, vague, and indirect to personal.

Pronouns allow buyers to visualize the product or the experience. It puts them in control.

Sales Presentation Lesson #8: Give signposts at the start

Step 1: Tell them what you are going to tell them. 

Step 2: Tell them. 

Step 3: Tell them what you told them.

Said another way …

Step 1: Preview your key points (“give pointers at the start”). Tease out the main idea.

Step 2: Share your key points and main idea — the meat of each section.

Step 3: Summarize (Sales presentation lesson #9).

Jobs spends a lot of time on Step 2, as any good speaker should.

However, he never misses the opportunity to preview each part of his presentation. He always starts by listing what he’s going to cover before just diving in.

30 or so minutes in, Jobs introduces the SMS section: “Now what I want to do is show you SMS texting” (Step 1).

Yeah, I know. The current smartphone has come a long way with SMS texting!

And then he does it (Step 2)— shows how texting works on the new iPhone.

Previewing upcoming content accomplishes two things: 

• It alerts the buyer “your question will be answered soon.” This allows them to focus on what is being shown instead of guessing what comes next.
• It creates a clear structure — a roadmap if you will. This section is focused; we aren’t just aimlessly meandering.

Note: It’s okay to be direct, “In this next section, I’m going to tell you about XYX.” It may sound a bit robotic, but better to err on the side of directness versus ambiguity and vagueness.

Sales Presentation Lesson #9: Get back to them at the end

When moving through a long presentation, it’s crucial to break things up every 9 minutes (see: Sales presentation lesson # 5) AND summarize what you covered.

Notice how when Steve Jobs wraps up a section, he often leads with, “So again …” This type of language signals, “I’m about to change chapters. Any questions before I move on?” 

He reviews and recaps what he’s just covered.

Jobs does this brilliantly while finishing the “iPod feature” section of his talk:

Note: While this slide appears to be counter to Sales presentation lesson #6 (Simplify Your Slides), it’s okay that he includes more words on this particular slide. After all, it’s a summary — a  takeaway slide — one that may be printed (or have someone take a picture of).

This summary slide check-in is essential.

Why? Gong data show that superstar sales reps are bombarded with questions during their demos compared to their peers .

In fact, top reps get 28% more questions from their buyers during product demos and technology-related discussions than “average” sales reps.

Pausing in between sections, summarizing what you’ve just covered, and allowing time for questions is essential to your success as a salesperson.

Our gift to you: Sales Presentation Template

Steve Jobs — love him or not — was one of the most talented business presenters of all time.

He balanced confidence and hyperbole with killer content and a style that kept his audience’s attention … for more than 8 seconds.

Take the 9 sales presentation tips from his 2007 iPhone keynote and incorporate them into your next sales presentation. 

Download our fill-in-the-blank Sales Presentation Template for some added flex, and start prepping your next product demo today.

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Nine Presentation Lessons From Steve Jobs

As we all know that Steve Jobs is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all times. His ideologies and business ethics continues to inspire us all. It’s not a secret that Steve J obs was not very comfortable with public speaking and so he came up with the present techniques which are now presentation lessons for us. This technique involved conceptual clarity and brought to the fore interesting foresight.

Steve Jobs outlined nine rules to make the presentation that will leave a lasting impression:

• Show your passion:

Steve Jobs was incredibly passionate about his products and so he made sure that his audiences were aware of it too. He made sure that his audience felt comfortable and a part of the project in inclusive terminology. He would use simple terms like ‘cool’, ‘gorgeous’ because he believed his products reflected that in spirit. His main objective to show the enthusiasm was to get the audience excited about it.

• One sentence summary of the product

One sentence summary often referred to as ‘twitter- friendly headlines’, perfectly delivers the main message and intention behind the product. Steve Jobs used the sentence ‘Apple reinvents phone’ on many of his slides when he launches the first iPhone in 2007. The sentence made headlines to almost all the social media and media outlets.

• The ‘three’ rule

Steve Jobs believed that number ‘3’ is a pretty powerful number. It is easy to understand that 20 and gives more information than 2. He would divide the products presented in three descriptive groups: about the product itself, the functions it can provide and the whole lot of universe it opens in the communication world.

• Bring the Villain

To highlight the hero, every story needs a villain. This applies everywhere. One needs to bring out the negative side of the existing product. The negative side is going to make the audience wonder if they need an upgraded version of it or a new product entirely. People don’t know what they need until they are made to see that they might need it.

• Bring the hero

After you have highlighted the villain, bring the hero. The product will be welcomed more enthusiastically than otherwise. The hero or the benefit will be something they will be looking forward to get their hands on.

• Simple and visual slides

Keep the data of your slide simple and easy to understand. The average PowerPoint slide has 40 words. Steve Jobs finished his first slide in 19 words. Limited word usage garners more interest. Adding pictures put more emphasis on the slides and makes it easier for the audience to understand.

• Tell them stories

How do you keep the audience captivated and not get bored while watching a presentation? Tell them little stories of how you came up with the idea of the product or when you felt the need to have the product in your life. It is one of the easiest ways to connect with the audience. Tell those stories every 10 or 15 minutes so they don’t feel bored.

• Prepare and practice

Before giving the presentation to the audience, practice the presentation beforehand on the room or presentation venue. This will help you in getting to know the stage and room which will help you in giving the presentation more confidently.

• Don’t read from notes

The bullet points of your presentations are your notes. Memorize your presentation in such a way that you don’t have to refer to some note cards. Giving a presentation without referring to points and information shows how confident and involved you were with the product. It gives the audience a positive feeling about the product.

Editor’s Note: This guest article is originally written by Graphitales.com

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5 Presentation lessons you can learn from Steve Jobs

Become a storyteller.

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Steve Jobs was a master of public speaking, and although it may seem like he had all the secrets to a successful presentation, he used some rather basic ideas about how to do it that… ... read more Steve Jobs was a master of public speaking, and although it may seem like he had all the secrets to a successful presentation, he used some rather basic ideas about how to do it that you can use today. Here are five presentations from his keynote speeches that you can learn from. close

Steve Jobs was one of the most innovative leaders of our time. Among other things, there is a lot that can be learned from him when it comes to presentation design and what aspects of his presentations made them so memorable and entertaining. Some would argue that he was the one person who completely changed our minds about what makes a presentation great—in a world of long, boring, and unimaginative slides, he used presentation techniques that followed a completely different approach.

In this piece, we thought it would be a good idea to go over the five principles that Steve Jobs followed when it came to presentation design and delivery. So let’s jump right into it.

How did Jobs give incredible presentations? 

Steve Jobs was known for the friendly and open demeanor he had while presenting. He avoided technical vernacular and kept his ideas straightforward with quick, memorable titles. Jobs was a showman. He was enthusiastic and told stories, he had confident body language and told jokes, which made him appear more approachable. What can we learn from him as we practice and prepare our own presentations?

01 Use a compelling theme & title

Come up with a headline and general theme for your presentation that run through the entire deck as an underlying message. This headline should be short enough to be easily memorable and tweetable. Think back to Steve Jobs’ iPhone launch in 2007, when his headline was “Your life in Your Pocket.” This quick slogan summed up his whole message and was memorable enough for the audience to carry with them even after the presentation. Think about the theme of your presentation. What do you want the audience to walk away remembering? Now simplify it into one, all-encompassing catchphrase.

02 Engage the audience by telling a story

Tell a story that hits people at an emotional level. It’s a well-known fact that stories are one of the most powerful tools that leaders use to inspire, motivate, and educate. This is because stories are far easier to remember than facts and figures. And research, according to psychologist J erome Bruner, points to the fact that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are embedded in or contextualized with a story .

Like Steve Jobs, you could frame your narrative around defeating an antagonist—the problem at hand. Introduce yourself or your company as the hero. Paint a picture of how your product or service defeated this problem and emerged victorious.

03 Simplify bigger numbers

Simplify large numbers. This ensures that people can grasp the facts better. For instance, Steve Jobs would say, “We sold 2 million iPods in the first 59 days.” And then he would give context by adding, “That’s nearly 34 thousand iPods sold every single day.” In February 2013, Apple reached 25 billion songs downloaded from iTunes, and he simplified the number so it was easier to understand. For instance, he’d say, “On average, that’s 15,000 songs every minute.” His whole approach was about simplifying big ideas. Don’t leave the audience confused, connect the dots and explain the relevance these numbers have to them.

04 Use compelling visuals

Studies find that using images boosts information retention. Since most people are visual learners, they can pick up on the information shared in a presentation when shared as an image.

Jobs used big, bold, and clear pictures and rarely used more than two images on a presentation slide. In the 2007 launch of the iPhone, he used three images to highlight that the iPhone could do all three things—be a phone, a music player, and give you internet access. Then he quickly moved on to his normal procedure of using one striking image.

05 When it comes to words, less is more

Use fewer words. If you want a presentation like Steve’s, you will have to edit and re-edit your words. Leave only the most important phrases and cut out everything else. The idea is to communicate your message in the most impactful and memorable way possible, rather than having your audience read slides full of text. So he would use words like “magic” instead of the full, grammatically correct sentence “it works like magic,” and similarly, he would use “no stylus” instead of “it has no stylus.” You get the idea!

Jeff Black, the founder of the leadership development company Black Sheep, says that Steve’s presentations boiled down to three key factors: powerful storytelling, emotional connection, and obsessive preparation. Black says the late Steve Jobs was a masterful storyteller. “He was the messenger, he was the star of the show — not the PowerPoint slide.”

And one more thing… the average PowerPoint slide has on average forty words. Steve Jobs would use an average of nineteen words across 10–12 slides. That’s the presentation zen.

If you are interested in learning more about designing a presentation like Steve Jobs, we recommend the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.” Or you can just reach out to   professional presentation design services in Dubai and across the GCC—we specialize in not only delivering your message but also helping you tell your story and push your brand forward.

Let us design your presentation!

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Book Insights • 15 min read

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great In Front of Any Audience

Carmine gallo.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Welcome to the latest episode of Book Insights from Mind Tools.

In today's podcast we're looking at The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, subtitled How to Be Insanely Great In Front of Any Audience, by Carmine Gallo. It explores what makes Apple's CEO and co-founder such a captivating speaker – and how we can learn from his techniques.

When it comes to presentations, most people who've seen him speak agree that Steve Jobs is a legend. His talks do much more than just give information. They're events. They inspire, excite, spark imagination, and build a following.

Seeing Jobs speak is like spending an evening watching a high-quality theater production. And this is a big reason why people will spend all night, in freezing temperatures, waiting in line just so they can get a good seat.

So, how does he do it? How does Jobs manage to turn a relatively dry subject like computers into a seductive experience that everyone wants tickets to go see?

Well, that's what this book sets out to explain. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs passes on the tips, techniques, and tricks that make the legendary leader's presentations so inspiring and effective. Reading this book is like getting coaching sessions from the master himself.

Here, you learn how Jobs crafts his messages, presents his ideas, generates excitement, and creates a memorable experience for his audience. And, it's all laid out in an easy-to-digest format that allows you to quickly find what you need.

The author highlights dozens of relevant examples from speeches that Jobs made as early as 1984. We get to read in detail what he said, what he did, and how it relates to the lesson or technique the author is focusing on. These examples make it easy to see how these strategies would work in real life.

The book is fun, highly readable, and chock full of useful information. There are plenty of insightful tips in here, and even if you consider yourself a master presenter, you're sure to learn something new.

What's so helpful about this book is that it applies to more than just presentations. The author points out that these strategies can be used in closing a deal, creating an ad campaign, and even interviewing for a job.

The best news? This book reads incredibly fast. The author wrote the book like Steve Jobs presents. He keeps your attention, gives compelling information, and wraps it all up into a story that's so interesting you really can't put the book down.

The author, Carmine Gallo, is a presentation and communication-skills coach for some of the world's top brands. He's a regular contributor to several major networks, including NBC, CBS, and MSNBC, and is a columnist for businessweek.com. In fact, this book is based on an article Gallo wrote for that website, analyzing why Steve Jobs' presentation style is so successful. Gallo watched hours of Jobs' keynote speeches to identify the elements that made them great.

So, keep listening to find out why bullet points will kill your presentation, why your speech really needs a villain, and why it's so important to put intermissions into your talks.

The author has divided this book into three acts, much like a stage play. Why? Well, that's how Steve Jobs views his speeches: as plays.

Act one has seven chapters, and is all about creating your story. Act two has six chapters, and covers how to deliver an experience to your audience. The last act, with five chapters, is on refining and rehearsing your presentation.

When it comes time to map out a presentation, the author says that most people make a big mistake right off the bat. They don't plan their story.

What sets Steve Jobs apart is that when he gives a presentation, he doesn't just lay out facts. He tells a story.

Think about this for a minute. When Jobs unveiled the iPod, he wasn't just unveiling a new device that carried music. He unveiled an entirely new way for us to listen to and enjoy music. He made us realize how the music we experienced would enrich our lives.

Yes, he talked about the iPod's small size and amazing hard drive. But he wove this information into a story about how much better our lives were going to be with this product.

It's a subtle, but very important point.

If we want to give a compelling presentation, we have to spend a lot of time really crafting a story. And this is what the first seven chapters help us do. We learn how to create a "passion statement" that identifies the heart of our message, how to write killer headlines that will start our presentation off with some serious buzz, and how to draw a roadmap for our audience, so they know what's coming.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg of what's in this first section.

Now, one big mistake most of us have made is stuffing our presentation full of bullet points. The author says bullet points will kill a presentation faster than anything.

Why? Because they do nothing to engage the audience. If you want to improve your presentations, then avoid the crutch of bullet points at all costs.

Another great tip in this first act is about villains. And what do villains have to do with presentations? Well, according to Steve Jobs, they're essential. Remember, Jobs looks at his presentations as plays, or stories. And, few stories are complete without a villain, right?

The author says your message is your hero. And, a hero needs an enemy. So your villain's going to be an opposing message, problem, or product. When your audience sees the problem, or villain, they're going to rally more around your hero.

For instance, when Jobs unveiled the iPhone he presented his villains in dozens of subtle ways. Of course, his villains were the current phones on the market. But by bringing up the problems most people had with these phones, and the solutions the iPhone offered to these problems, the audience could clearly see why it was so much better. And, they got emotionally involved.

If you want to know how to create your own villain for your presentation, you'll have to read the book. But don't worry. It can take as little as thirty seconds to create one, and it's well worth the effort.

Now when it comes to pacing your presentation, it's important to keep in the mind the ten-minute rule. Research has shown that audiences basically check out after ten minutes. Not nine minutes, or eleven, but ten.

Jobs understands this rule, which is why he puts intermissions into his presentations every ten minutes. These aren't intermissions where people get up and walk around. These are intermissions that give the brain a break. They're videos, demonstrations, or even another speaker.

These little breaks change the pace of the presentation and let the audience experience a new stimulus. This keeps their interest for the next ten minutes.

Now, when it comes to actually delivering an experience to your audience, there's a lot to keep in mind. And the author keeps the pace going in this second act, as he shows us how to keep our audience engaged while we're talking.

One thing that Steve Jobs does really well is keep things simple. The author says this simplicity is part of why Jobs, and Apple itself, is so successful. Simple is beautiful.

So, we need to keep our slides as simple as possible. The author says that a major mistake many people make with their PowerPoint slides is to add lots of words. What does Jobs do? He subtracts, and subtracts some more.

The author gives us some really helpful tables here that illustrate how Jobs' words correspond with what his slides say. And, these have been taken directly from some of his keynote speeches.

On the left hand side of these tables we get to see exactly what Steve Jobs said. On the right, we get to see what his slide, for that section of the speech, actually said.

This layout enables us to see instantly how concise Jobs' slides really are. Many only contain one word, one picture, or one piece of information, like a statistic. There are no bullet points, ever. And zero sentences.

The slides are used simply to reinforce the story coming out of his mouth. That's it. They don't attempt to pass on important information. That's what Jobs is there to do.

When we're presenting, the focus should be on us, not our slides. And if we've created what the author calls lazy slides, or slides with too much information, then we've succeeded in splitting our audience's attention. Should they read the slides, or pay attention to what we're saying?

Don't make them choose. Keep your slides short and relevant.

Now, if you're giving a presentation, you probably have some numbers to pass along. It could be revenue stats, employee turnover percentages, or the number of complaint calls over the past six months.

Whatever they are, numbers are often pretty essential to a presentation. The problem with numbers is that they're boring. And, people often have a hard time making them mean anything.

For instance, when Jobs introduced the iPod, he told everyone that it had five gigabytes of space.

Well, that's great, but that number didn't mean much to his audience. After all, how big is five gigabytes? Most people aren't really sure.

Jobs knew he couldn't leave it at that. So, he immediately put that number into a context the audience could understand. He told them that with five gigabytes of space, they could hold 1,000 songs in their pocket.

The audience went wild.

The author says that numbers rarely resonate with people, so it's vital that we put them into a context that people can relate to. Fortunately, we get plenty of strategies for how to do this.

One thing to keep in mind when dressing up your numbers, as the author calls it, is to keep things specific. For instance, in a later speech Jobs could have said the newest version of the iPod holds thousands of songs. But thousands is so, generic. Instead, he told the audience that the thirty gigabyte iPod will hold 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, or up to 75 hours of video.

Those numbers are very specific. Because of this, they impact the audience more.

This section is crammed with useful information. We get to learn the importance of using zippy, emotional words. We learn why Jobs always gives credit where credit is due, and why doing this gets his audience more involved. And, we get to learn everything we ever wanted to know about props, and how to use them effectively.

The last section, act three, is all about refining and rehearsing your presentation. And according to the author, this is the most crucial part of giving a great talk.

One important point the author highlights is body language. What you say is not nearly as important as how you say it.

Here, we get three important tips for improving our body language on stage.

The first thing we have to do is maintain eye contact. Yes, this one is probably in every presentation book out there, but it's repeated for a good reason. Eye contact is essential for keeping your audience engaged and connected with you. Jobs is a master at maintaining eye contact.

Another thing we have to do is to keep our posture open. This means not standing behind a lectern or crossing our arms. Jobs never puts anything between him and his audience. Even when he's doing a demo, he tries to face the audience as much as possible.

The last tip for improving our body language is to use hand gestures. In his speeches, Jobs emphasizes nearly every sentence with a gesture that compliments what he's saying.

According to the author, research shows that hand gestures not only keep the audience engaged, but they actually help presenters speak better, by clearing up their thought processes.

We get more helpful tables in this chapter. Here, the author breaks down a speech Jobs made in two-thousand seven. We get to see exactly what he said, and how it was delivered.

It was a brilliant move for the author to pepper the text with these tables throughout the book. This one could really help readers with their own delivery and pacing.

Now, Jobs is legendary for prepping for his speeches. He makes it look effortless, but a lot of time and effort goes into his events to make it look that way. In fact, before he gives a speech, he practices for hours a day, over the course of several days. His fun, informal style only comes after some serious effort on his part.

How much effort? Well, the author describes it as "grueling." When was the last time you put in grueling hours of practice to prepare for a speech?

For most of us, the answer is probably never. But practicing again and again is vital to looking natural on stage.

What else is in here? Well, the author teaches us five strategies for rehearsing off-the-cuff remarks. We learn how to handle nerves, what we should be wearing on stage, and five steps for tossing our script and speaking from memory.

Like all the sections in this book, this is one you won't want to miss.

If you haven't been able to tell by now, we really loved this book. There's so much information in here, and there's no way we could come close to covering it all.

When it comes to what readers will like best about The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, it's hard to pick. There's no doubt the information is top-notch, and we were impressed by the sheer volume of tips and techniques here. We also loved the fun style and fast pace of the book. You really don't feel like you're reading a book on giving speeches. This is definitely a book that you'll burn through quickly.

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, by Carmine Gallo, is published by McGraw Hill.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. If you'd like a transcript, log on to www.mindtools.com. And thanks for listening.

Article image by Matthew Yohe at en.wikipedia

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11 Presentation Lessons You Can Still Learn From Steve Jobs

by [email protected] | Oct 4, 2012

Earlier this year a Wall Street Journal article titled Bio As Bible featured managers who are imitating Steve Jobs based on what they’ve learned in Walter Isaacson’s biography and also from one of my books, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs. While I’m very proud that the WSJ highlighted my content, dressing like Jobs is not going to inspire your audience. However, there are many other presentation techniques that you can and should copy from Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was an astonishing presenter because he informed, inspired, and entertained. In this article I outline 11 techniques from one presentation, the iPhone launch in 2007. If your presentation is tomorrow and you only have time to incorporate a few ideas, then spend 7 minutes to watch this video where I highlight just three techniques from the same presentation. If you want the whole enchilada, read on.

Express your passion. Steve Jobs was passionate about design, he absolutely loved his new product, and he wore his enthusiasm on his black-mock sleeve. “It looks pretty doggone gorgeous,” he said with a big smile after showing the iPhone for the first time. Jobs often used words such as “cool,” “amazing,” or “gorgeous” because he believed it. Your audience is giving you permission to show enthusiasm. If you’re not excited about your idea, nobody else will be.

Create a Twitter-friendly headline. Jobs used a technique I’ve labeled the “Twitter-friendly headline,” a one-sentence summary of a product that perfectly captured the main message he wished to deliver. Shortly after showing the new phone, Jobs proudly proclaimed, “Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” The headline, “Apple reinvents the phone” was the only sentence on the slide. He repeated the headline several times during the presentation. A Google search for the phrase turns up about 25,000 links, most of which are directly from articles and blog posts covering the launch presentation.

Stick to the rule of three. Jobs instinctively understood that the number “3” is one of the most powerful numbers in communications. A list of 3 things is more intriguing than 2 and far easier to remember than 22. Jobs divided his iPhone presentation into three sections. He spoke about the iPod functions of the new iPhone, the phone itself, and connecting to the Internet. Jobs even had some fun with three. He stepped on stage and said, “Today we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first, a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second, is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device.” As the audience applauded, Jobs repeated the three ‘products’ several times. Finally he said, “Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, they are one device and we are calling it iPhone!”

Introduce a villain. All great stories have a hero and a villain. A Steve Jobs presentation was no exception. In 2007, why did the world need another mobile phone, especially from Apple? Jobs set up the narrative by introducing a villain—a problem in need of a solution: “Regular cell phones are not so smart and they are not so easy to use. Smartphones are a little smarter, but are harder to use. They are really complicated…we want to make a leapfrog product, way smarter than any mobile device has ever been and super easy to use. This is what iPhone is.”

Sell the benefit. After expanding on the villain (the problem), Jobs introduced the hero (the benefit). The benefit included the new user multi-touch user interface. According to Jobs, “It works like magic. You don’t need a stylus. It’s far more accurate than any touch display that’s ever been shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It’s super smart. You can do multi-finger gestures on it. And boy have we patented it.”

Build simple, visual slides. The average PowerPoint slide has forty words. In the first three minutes of Steve Jobs’ iPhone presentation, he uses a grand total of nineteen words (twenty-one if you include dates). Those words are also distributed across about twelve slides. For more tips on using ‘picture superiority’ in your slide design, please read my earlier article on Jeff Bezos and the end of PowerPoint as we know it.

Tell stories. Before Jobs revealed the new phone, he spent a moment to review the history of Apple, telling a story that built up to the big event. “In 1984, Apple introduced the first Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple. It changed the whole computer industry. In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. It didn’t just change the way we all listen to music. It changed the entire music industry.” Stories can be brand stories, customer stories, or personal ones. In one very funny moment, Jobs’ clicker failed to advance the slides. After a few seconds of trying to fix it, he paused and told a short story of a how he and Steve Wozniak used to pull pranks on students at Wozniak’s college dorm. Woz had invented a device that jammed TV signals and they used it to tease students when they were watching Star Trek . It brought some levity to the keynote, the problem was fixed, and Jobs effortlessly moved along.

Prepare and practice excessively. The clicker snafu that I just described teaches another great lesson for all presenters. Jobs casually laughed off the glitch, told a story, and got back to his presentation when his team resolved the issue. He never missed a beat and certainly didn’t get flustered. Jobs was legendary for his preparation. He would rehearse on stage for many hours over many weeks prior to the launch of a major product. He knew every detail of every demo and every font on every slide. As a result the presentation was delivered flawlessly. People often tell me, “I’m not as smooth as Jobs was.” Well, neither was he! Hours and hours of practice made Jobs look polished, casual, and effortless.

Avoid reading from notes. The introduction of the iPhone lasted about 80 minutes. Not once did Jobs read from a teleprompter or notecards. He had internalized the content so well that he didn’t need notes. During the demos, however, he did have a very short list of bullet points hidden from the audience’s view. Those bullets served as reminders and they were the only notes he relied upon.

Have fun. When Jobs first told the audience that Apple was going to introduce a mobile phone he said, “Here it is.” Instead of showing the iPhone, the slide displayed a photo of an iPod with an old-fashioned rotary dial on it. The audience got a kick out of it, laughing and clapping. They had been played and Jobs was enjoying their reaction. There were many funny moments, including a crank call. Jobs was demonstrating the maps feature to show how easy it was to find a location and call the number. He found a Starbucks nearby and called it. A woman picked up the phone and said, “Good morning, Starbucks. How can I help you?” Jobs said, “I’d like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding. Wrong number. Bye bye.” The audience loved it. I’ve never seen Jobs enjoy himself more in a keynote.

Inspire your audience. Jobs liked to end his keynotes with something uplifting and inspiring. At the end of the iPhone presentation he said, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I’ve been so excited about today…There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ We’ve always tried to do that at Apple since the very, very beginning. And we always will.”

Steve Jobs educated, entertained, informed, and inspired his audiences in every presentation. So can you. It takes work, planning, and creativity, but if someone is willing to listen to your ideas it’s worth the effort to make it great.

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Presentation Lessons from Steve Jobs

• By: Scott Schwertly

Anyone interested in taking their presenting skills to the next level could do worse than emulating the style of Steve Jobs. Not only has this guy built an empire and turned the whole country on to the importance of cool design, he’s a knockout speaker in front of his standing-room-only crowds. Some guys have it all. If you’ve never had the chance to see the master in action, you might be pleased to know that Jobs isn’t really doing anything special. But he is doing everything that makes a presentation work. And he’s doing it very, very well.

Create Immediate Rapport

Jobs routinely makes his entrance unannounced, with no music or fanfare. He also holds off on the PowerPoint and the visuals in order to address the audience directly. He’s humble, he’s welcoming, and he puts the emphasis on the people in the seats, reassuring them that they are the reason he is excited about all the new developments he’s about to show them.

Throw Them a Bone

We all cringe when presented with a slide outlining the agenda of a coming presentation. Imagine if the entire plot of a film was revealed just as the opening scene began. Time to hit the buffet! Jobs is great at remaining ambiguous, but still letting an audience know what they are about to see. Keep it general. Keep ’em guessing. But keep ’em engaged!

Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm.

Just as most presentations tend to be too long, most presenters tend to lack the requisite amount of enthusiasm to keep and audience engaged. Using energetic language (“incredible”, “ground breaking”, “unbeatable”), and not being afraid to gesture and move about the stage with purpose, will energize your presentation and your audience. Don’t be insincere, but be passionate!

What Does It Mean?

All too often, our presentations can get mired down in statistics and data. There will be plenty of time for specific questions about numbers during the Q&A. Present your numbers quickly and immediately jump to a meaningful interpretation so your audience can see their relevance to the bigger picture. Don’t tell them “what”. Tell them “why”.

Don’t Pancake

One of my favorite comedians once commented that comedians had to start strong and end strong. “Not like pancakes, where you’re really excited at first but by the end you’re @#^#^# sick of ’em!” This same theory applies to a great presentation. You need to be dynamic right out of the gate, but if you end with a fizzle, it’s all for naught. Save your best for last!

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Scott Schwertly

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How To Be A Master Presenter?: 5 Lessons from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs as the cofounder of Apple, completely changed the way we use computers and technology.

But, besides being a genius entrepreneur, he was also known as a master presenter.

Steve Jobs’ speech at Stanford Commencement Address is one of the most watched speeches on the internet.

People would wait for the presentation from Steve Jobs as much as for a new product from Apple.

In this blog, you’ll learn 05 techniques and practices Steve Jobs used to deliver memorable presentations. We’ll be looking at the things he did to make his talks engaging, interesting, and persuasive.

So, let’s jump right in and learn how to present like Steve Jobs!

• Simplify the Message
• Use Visuals Effectively
• A Compelling Story
• Engage the Audience

Final Thoughts

1. simplify the message.

In 2001, when Apple launched iPod, Steve Jobs did not begin with its technical specifications, storage capacity, or battery life in his presentation.

Instead, he conveyed a simple message, “A thousand songs in your pocket.”

Steve Jobs had a great ability to simplify complex messages.

He used straightforward language to break down complex ideas into bite-sized pieces, making them more accessible to the audience.

Your audience will tune out of your presentation if they find your ideas difficult to follow.

Clarity is the most important aspect of any effective presentation.

Now, simplifying your core message may take many iterations.

• First, identify your main idea and distill it into its essence.
• Consider what your audience needs to know.
• Avoid technical jargon or complex vocabulary.
• Use analogies or metaphors to explain ideas.

For example, let’s say you’re delivering a presentation to your company’s executives about the importance of cybersecurity.

The message you want to convey is that cybersecurity is critical for protecting the company’s sensitive information and reputation.

You could phrase it like, “Our company’s security and reputation are at risk without strong cybersecurity measures in place.”

When you distill your message down to its essence, you will communicate what’s most important to the audience. So your speech becomes clear, concise, and memorable.

2. Use Visuals Effectively

Steve Jobs was a master at using visuals to enhance his message. His keynotes always included clever slides that grabbed his audience’s attention.

To create powerful visuals for your own presentations, start by focusing on simplicity.

Avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or unnecessary details.

Remember that your visuals should complement your message, not detract from it.

Jobs understood that the average PowerPoint slide has too much text. He always used minimal text and instead relied on images and diagrams.

For example, in his iPhone presentation, Steve Jobs’ PPT used a total of nineteen words in the first three minutes.

These words were spread across about twelve slides, each of which had a single image or a simple diagram.

During the presentation of Apple’s new phone, Steve Jobs declared with great enthusiasm,

“Today, we are going to reinvent the phone.”

This statement was highlighted in a slide with the headline, “Apple reinvents the phone.”

Additionally, in his famous iPod launch presentation , he used a series of slides that showed the evolution of music players over time, leading up to the unveiling of the iPod.

Overall, the use of clever slides was a key factor in Jobs’ success as a presenter.

By keeping your slides simple, visual, and engaging, you will capture the audience’s attention.

3. A Compelling Story

Steve Jobs always worked hard on how he would convey the content in his presentation.

He was a master storyteller. Jobs often used elements of storytelling to keep his audience engaged.

In every great story, there is a hero and a villain.

Steve Jobs’ 2007 presentation had both. Jobs explained why the world needed another mobile phone from Apple.

He first introduced a villain —  the problem of regular cell phones being hard to use.

Then, Jobs explained the iPhone would be super easy to use. The hero was the new multi-touch user interface that worked like magic. It was super smart, and users could perform multi-finger gestures.

All Steve Job presentations would have a narrative arc with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This approach helped him keep his audience hooked.

To tell a compelling story in your own presentation,

• Use specific details and vivid language.
• Build suspense through foreshadowing or withholding information.
• Add unexpected twists or turns to your story.
• Use humor to break up the monotony.
• Use visuals or props to illustrate your story.
• Share a personal experience or anecdote.

Remember, telling a compelling story is all about making a connection with your audience. So, be yourself, have fun, and let your personality shine through!

4. Engage the Audience

Steve Jobs was a master at engaging his audience. He knew how to use humor , suspense, and surprise to make his presentations memorable.

Steve Jobs would engage the audience in three ways.

• Create curiosity about a product at the beginning.
• Reveal the product.
• Inspire the audience at the end.

Before revealing a product, Jobs would create immense curiosity among the audience right from the opening statement.

For example, he started his 2007 iPhone launch with,

“This is a day I have been looking forward to for two and a half years.”

Just before revealing the product, he piqued the curiosity with his humor. He teased the audience by showing a picture of an iPod with a rotary dial attached. This created excitement and anticipation among the audience.

Humor can help you connect with your audience and break the ice. Use it strategically to lighten the mood and keep your audience engaged.

And at the end, he shared a quote to leave the audience uplifted and inspired. He said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Remember that your audience is there to hear what you have to say but also to be entertained and informed. Make sure you have their attention and keep it throughout your presentation.

5. Practice

What is the secret of good presentation?

Practice, practice, and practice!

Steve Jobs was known for his intense preparation for keynotes.

He would spend weeks rehearsing and refining his presentations. He knew every detail of every demo and slide, which helped him deliver a flawless presentation.

People might think Jobs was naturally smooth. It was his hours of practice that made him look polished, casual, and effortless.

During a presentation, Steve Jobs’ clicker stopped working. Even after a couple of attempts, it didn’t work. Jobs did not panic or show any awkwardness.

In fact, Steve Jobs laughed at it and quickly shared a small anecdote about his friend Steve Wozniak.

He recalled how Steve and he used to pull a prank with the TV jammer that they invented.

The problem was fixed, and he smoothly got back to the presentation.

Now, such confidence comes from intense preparation.

To practice effectively for your own presentations,

• Start by rehearsing your material multiple times until you are comfortable with it.
• Try practicing in front of a mirror or recording yourself on the video to identify flaws.
• Practice in front of a live audience to get feedback and refine your presentation.

By putting in the time and effort to perfect your presentation, you will be better equipped to deliver a powerful and memorable message to your audience.

One effective way to improve your presentation is to practice with a personal coach. If you are looking to learn from a communication expert, BBR English is the right place.

We offer live 1:1 sessions on public speaking with an expert. In these interactive sessions, you’ll discover techniques to improve your delivery, body language , vocal variety, structure, and much more. With feedback from corporate experts, you’ll master your presentation skills in no time.

Book a counseling session now and start becoming a better presenter today

Steve Jobs’ leadership and presentation style left an indelible mark on the world of business. By studying his techniques, you will become a more effective communicator.

Remember, the ability to communicate effectively is a valuable skill that can make all the difference in your career.

Whether you’re giving a sales pitch, a TED talk, or a job interview, the principles of presentation mastery that Steve Jobs embodied will help you succeed.

If you want to be a great presenter like Steve Jobs, you have to put in the work.

According to Ken Kocienda’s book Creative Selection, there is an anecdote about how Jobs readied himself for the MacWorld 2003 keynote, which marked the debut of the Safari Web browser by Apple.

I will leave you with an anecdote to inspire you.

“Three weeks or a month before the keynote itself, Steve would start rehearsing with portions of his slide deck in some venue at Apple, often in Town Hall, the auditorium on the Infinite Loop campus. Slowly, day by day, he would build the show by stepping through it as he wanted to present it at the keynote. This was one of Steve’s great secrets of success as a presenter. He practiced. A lot. He went over and over the material until he had the presentation honed, and he knew it was cold. When Steve spoke to a slide, he went fully into his keynote persona. His tone of voice, his stance, his gestures, everything was exactly as if he were presenting to a packed house. For as long as everything proceeded to his satisfaction, he kept going. As needed, he stopped, stepped out of character, reduced the volume of his voice, and asked executives seated in the front row, like Phil Schiller, the company’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, what they thought of some turn of phrase or whether they believed ideas flowed together smoothly. Feedback received, Steve would pause quite deliberately for a second or two, go back into character, and resume his keynote persona.”

Thank you for reading!

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9 Presentation Lessons from Steve Jobs

Create Memorable Presentations that Reel in your Audience.

June 28, 2022