Webinarmed / BeaconLive Blog

Whilst browsing Twitter posts this morning I stumbled upon a detailed list of Steve Job’s presentation secrets….

1. Begin by storyboarding your presentation. Steve Jobs will initially spend his preparation time brainstorming, sketching and whiteboarding before he every opens PowerPoint. All of the elements of the story that he wants to tell are thought through, elements are planned and collected before the slides are created.
2. Create a single sentence description for every service/idea.Concise enough to fit in a 140-character Twitter post. An example, for the introduction of the MacBook Air in January, 2008, Jobs said that is it simply, “The world’s thinnest notebook.”
3. Create a villain that allows the audience to rally around the hero—you and your product/service. A “villain” doesn’t necessarily have to be a direct competitor. It can be a problem in need of a solution.
4. Focus on benefits. Your audience only care about how your service will improve their lives. Make the connection for your prospective clients. Don’t make them make that mental leap leaving them to figure it out for themselves.
5. Stick to the rule of three for presentations. Almost every Jobs presentation is divided into three parts. You might have twenty points to make about your service, but your audience is only capable of retaining three or four points in short term memory. Give them too many points and they’ll forget everything you’ve said.

**BeaconLive Tip- Use the elevator pitch technique. (explained here) to initially hook your audience’s attention.
6. Sell dreams, not your services. Steve Jobs doesn’t sell computers. He sells the promise of a better world. When Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.” Where most people see the iPod as a music player, Jobs sees it as tool to enrich people’s lives.
7. Create visual slides. There are no bullet points in Steve Jobs presentations. Instead he relies on photographs and images. When Steve Jobs unveiled the Macbook Air, Apple’s ultra-thin notebook computer, he showed a slide of the computer fitting inside a manila inter-office envelope. Keep the presentation that simple.
8. Make numbers meaningful. Jobs always puts large numbers into a context that’s relevant to his audience. The bigger the number, the more important it is to find analogies or comparisons that make the data relevant to your audience.
9. Use plain English. Jobs’s language is remarkably simple. He rarely, if ever, will use the jargon that clouds most presentations—terms like “best of breed” or “synergy.” His language is simple, clear and direct.

**BeaconLive Tip- Define your audience before you  decide what type of language to use! If you are presenting a webinar to a group of engineers, it would be absolutely  acceptable to be using mathematical terms. Use jargon that  will be best understood, but also be careful not to dumb- down what you want to say.

10. Practice, practice, practice. Steve Jobs spends hours rehearsing every facet of his presentation. Every slide is written like a piece of poetry, every presentation staged like a theatrical experience. Yes, Steve Jobs makes a presentation look effortless but that polish comes after hours and hours of grueling practice.

**BeaconLive Tip- Use the Stickies program (as mentioned in the ‘How to: Get Involved with a Webinar’ post)  to keep little reminders or notes on your screen when you’re  presenting.

(“Steve Jobs: 10 Presentation Tactics for Ad Agency New Business.” Web log post. Fuel Lines. 13 Aug. 2010. Web. 18 Aug. 2010.)

With reading these tips, Steve Jobs was transformed from the omnipotent Apple CEO into a distinguished conductor. Orchestrating his presentations in a simple and straightforward way without the attempt to make a direct sale, causes his presentations to be enjoyable and even entertaining to attend. Applying these words of advise to your presentations, adding your own creative flair and expertise, will ensure that you put on an educational and useful event.

What do you do to optimize the enjoyment/interest factor of your web events?