The Presentation Secrets Of Steve Jobs (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Very interesting and helpful. Most valuable advice on how to present effectively. Did you know that Jobs practiced hundreds of hours for a five minute product presentation to get it exactly the way he thought it would have the most positive effect. I agree with using as few words as possible and as many pictures as possible on you slides and mixing the presentation up with music videos and maybe a guest speaker... This book appears well written, very helpful. I recommend "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" to anybody who delivers important presentations and wants the audience to take away as much as possible of what is really important to you! The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs describes tips and techniques on how to give compelling and persuasive presentations. The author compares a Steve Jobs presentation with the typical business professional’s presentation--- The typical business professional delivers information, but a Steve Jobs presentation is intended to create an experience. I need to think about this statement. Many of the presentations that I give are supposed to deliver information. But- how much information can I expect an audience to absorb in 20-30 minutes? Maybe it is better to create an experience and inspire the audience for 20-30 min, with a bit of information sprinkled in. If there are a lot of facts to convey, I can provide a handout. No- my handout should not double as a tiny-font PowerPoint presentation. The book includes three parts. The distinction between the three parts is not always clear.Part 1- Create the Story- Seven chapters that help draft the content and message. Most important- Writing a bunch of bulleted PowerPoint slides is not the same as writing a presentation. The presentation is about the story. The book includes a lot of tips about how to focus on a clear message. The audience needs to understand what you are selling (or promoting) and why they should care. The book describes techniques that make the message personal. One technique is to share your own passion and excitement. Another technique is to repeat a short, catchy headline that conveys a vivid image. Bottom line- same old same old bullet points stink and are not effective.Part 2- Deliver the Experience- Six chapters that provide tips on how to deliver the presentation. The main message- slides need to be simple (a picture, a couple words). The audience should not be reading slides while listening to the presenter. If you present numbers, they need to be meaningful and placed in a memorable context. Steve Jobs used a lot of zippy words, such “cool,” “amazing,” and “awesome.” I get the point and I know it worked for him. However, many of us can’t carry off that type of language. Part 3- Refine and rehearse- Five chapters. The main point in this section—rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.... It takes a lot of rehearsal time to confidently drop the notes and own the stage. This section also includes information about body language, vocal inflection, and stage presence.The book is presented in an understandable format, but there is a lot of overlap among the three sections. The same concepts appear in all three sections. Maybe the author uses repetition as a memory device. My other complaint is the number of long examples that are presented in the book, including many that are repeated. The inclusion of some examples helps illustrate the points and may help me develop my own presentations. However, the number and length of the examples seems excessive. I enjoyed the book and the content will inspire me to try new techniques in my presentations. I wish the author made it a little easier to go back and outline the process. There are notes at the end of each section that convey main points. Maybe the full chapters create the “Steve Jobs experience” and the notes at the end are my take away.
What do You think about The Presentation Secrets Of Steve Jobs (2009)?
Inspiring book. I especially like the transcripts of Steve Jobs presentations.
—USAFZimmerman
You should read this book. Highly recommended.
—Cindy
