Here’s a summary of an excellent article by Carmine Gallo that’s part of a BNET Crash Course, How to Present Like Steve Jobs:
Comparing a Steve Jobs presentation to most presentations is impossible — he’s in a league all his own. Apple’s chief executive is arguably the most charismatic pitchman in business today. His presentations are brilliant demonstrations of visual storytelling that turn customers, employees, and the entire computer industry into evangelists.
Wow your audience the next time you take the stage with these four steps…
Step 1 – Ignite Your Enthusiasm
Goal: Engage your listeners’ passion by tapping into your own. Steve Jobs is passionate about designing cool, fun, and easy-to-use computers, digital music players, and now phones. And he’s not too bashful to admit it. His words and phrases reflect his enthusiasm.
Step 2 – Navigate the Way
Goal: Present your theme as a mantra to help your listeners remember it easily. Jobs has always been able to craft a vision so vivid and powerful, he rallies his listeners to the better future he sees and, in so doing, persuades them to go along for the ride.
Step 3 – Sell the Benefit
Goal: Explain the real-world problem, then offer your solution. Once Jobs reveals his one-liner — his core vision — he immediately launches into a discussion of why the world needs a new phone. A solution is inspiring only when it cures a real-world pain.
Step 4 – Paint a Picture
Goal: Use a captivating storyline to structure your presentation. Jobs tells the iPhone story by using several techniques:
1. Stick to the rule of three. We remember lists in groups of three.
2. Tell personal stories.
3. Keep it visual.
4. Rehearse.Jobs rehearses presentations for hours. Nothing is taken for granted. He knows the flow of his story, how he is going to build up to a big moment, what he is going to demonstrate, and how he will open and close the presentation. He appears effortless — but only after hours of rehearsal. Motivation takes preparation.
Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook; Nobody launches revolutionary products without an optimistic outlook. Since his earliest days of tinkering with computers, Jobs has had an unshakable belief that his products would change the world. In each of his presentations, Jobs speaks the language of hope and opportunity.
