This week’s entry is all about Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Every year, thousands of apple fanatics will come from various states and countries to hear him speak at the Worldwide Developers’ Conference (or more popularly known as WWDC). The highlight will be Steve’s keynote where he gives a lowdown on what Apple is up to. If you have the time, go watch him.
(Steve in action @ WWDC 2006) There are plenty of presentation tips to milk from watching Steve deliver his keynote. I will like to bring up three in particular.

1. Practice, practice and more practice
When you watch Steve’s keynote, you will think that he is a natural on stage. Everything appears to be easy for him. The truth is he practiced a godzillian times. Informality stems from certainty. Only when you are familar with what your script and your slides, can you be conversational and relaxed on stage. Being well prepared gives you room to manuvere and respond to changes.

Some people think that in order to appear informal and candid, they should just practice once. I think that’s foolish. Winging it will only get you into serious trouble. If you watch Steve’s keynote, you will notice that his speech is seamless with the slides. Each time he says something, the relevant slide will appear, almost on cue. Every slide is well timed to his speech. Even the demonstrations are well rehearsed. He knows what to click. And as he clicks, he knows what he needs to say. Nothing surprises him coz’ he has done his work. Now that’s practice!

On the contrary, I have seen presenters saying something, with the slide showing something else. And then when they realized their folly, they start fumbling. Not exactly a smart thing to do. Or worse, I ever met presenters who are as surprised as we are about their slides. It appears that he had also seen his slide for the first time! So whether you like it or not, practice is essential. It takes away ambiguity. It grants you confidence on stage. It gives you excess energy to connect with the audience. Now that’s a smart investment of your time!

2. One more thing…
In every keynote, just when you thought the presentation is coming to an end, he will surprise you with “one more thing”. That one more thing - without fail - will always be the highlight of his keynote. It could be an announcement of a business deal that no one knows about (for example with Disney), the launch of a long awaited product or the introduction of a band. And the audience love him for that.

In your presentation, do you end on a high note? Or do you end with the oh-so-boring thank you? Say you are giving a presentation to your board of directors, you can save the best result for the last. “Oh and one more thing, the value of your shares has quadrupled.” Or in a sales presentation, you can end by throwing in a bonus that your clients cannot resist. “And just for today, you will get all these for half price … In your prepared speeches, you can end off with a personal story, an inspiring quote or a video clip that reinforces your message.

Some people love to end their presentations with Q&A. My suggestion is to avoid that. It is too risky. If you flunk your Q&A, that’s what the audience is going to remember, no matter how well you did earlier. Even if you did well in your Q&A, the audience will only remember you as being competent. However, they may not remember your message. And worse, if you thank them at the end, you will make your audience think that they are obligated to listen to you. So the next you give a presentation, try new ways of ending your presentation. Surprise your audience and they will love you for it.

3. Love your products
One of the reasons why Steve’s presentations are so impactful is because he speaks out of lurve! His love for Apple’s products is so strong that it becomes infectious. I want to make a distinction here. His love doesn’t stem from pride. It comes from belief. He knows that his products are amazing. And that belief drives his presentation.

In the world of presentation, your message is your product. In order to win your audience over, you got to be first won over by your message. Here’s the acid test. Ask yourself the following questions: (1) Do you believe in your message? (2) Has the message impacted you? If your answer is no for either one, the chances of impacting your audience is greatly reduced. There are two ways around it. The easier way is to speak of something that you sincerely believe in or are passionate about. The harder way is to find means to connect with your message. Check out an article I wrote last Oct that explains how you can do so: Return to Source: Uncovering your Message(s)

Oh and one more thing! (grins) There are MORE presentation tips installed for you to help you win your audience over. See links below.

How to wow ‘em like Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs presentation style… and all that jazz
Speaking from the Heart

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