Making Sales Presentions Like a Master
Review of “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs”
Nov 1, 2009
Steve Jobs organizes his presentations like a three-act dramatic play, according to Business Week columnist Carmine Gallo, and Gallo organized his book on Jobs' presentation skills in the same manner. Each section of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience details one part of the Jobs presentation model, drawing examples from his many recorded speeches to walk the reader through the process of making one's message memorable. The book is organized well for reading cover-to-cover, and its sections are well organized for use as a reference.
Qualities of a Jobs Presentation
Gallo sets the stage for the many readers who have not seen Steve Jobs speak by explaining why he is in such demand as a speaker, and by suggesting the use of the thousands of Jobs videos on YouTube as a reference companion to the book. Some of what sets a Jobs presentation apart from others:
- Visual slides which contain few words
- A clear purpose that the audience can identify with
- Use of a hero and villain
- Words and numbers that connect with the listeners
- Use of props and costuming
- Big surprise ending
The three acts (or parts) of the book, which drill down into these are a number of other aspects that Jobs considers when he presents, are entitled Create the Story, Deliver the Experience, and Refine and Rehearse. Between them Gallo has included “intermissions,” which are brief but relevant asides about presenting, and even includes a surprise encore to keep the reader guessing, much like Jobs does while on the stage.
Examples of Great Presentations
Throughout Presentation Secrets, Gallo pulls examples from his subject's keynote addresses, presentations, and speeches to explain the techniques he describes. From the initial launch of the Mac in which the computer itself introduced Steve Jobs to the audience, to the 2008 presentation during which Jobs removed the new MacBook Air from a manila envelope on stage, Gallo successfully illustrates the dramatic flair that Jobs employs to make his company's technology seem all the more impressive and desirable. Following Gallo's advice to watch some of Jobs' many presentations which are available on YouTube makes his visual and dramatic style easy to appreciate.
Maintaining Audience Focus
In addition to providing and referring to numerous examples, the author dissects the presentation model that Jobs uses. This is no easy task, as variety is a cornerstone of the Jobs model, but the book accomplishes it admirably. Gallo takes case studies of his own clients and explains how he was able to apply Jobs-like presentation methods to their work to spice it up. This makes it much easier for the reader to mentally bridge the gap between a keynote address at MacWorld and a sales presentation to a few prospective clients. Steve Jobs is a powerhouse speaker, but this book makes his techniques scalable for businesses of all sizes.
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