Secrets+of+steve+jobs-12624250623795-php...

Apersoncanhavethegreatestideaintheworld.Butifthatpersoncan’tconvinceenoughotherpeople,itdoesn’tmatter.–GregoryBernsSteveJobsisthemostcaptivatingcommunicatorontheworldstage.Ifyouadoptjustsomeofhistechniques,yourideasandpresentationswillstandoutinaseaofmediocrity.Act1:CreatetheStoryAct2:DelivertheExperienceAct3:RefineandRehearseACT1DevelopaMessianicSenseofPurposePlaninAnalogThesinglemostimportantthingyoucandotodramaticallyimproveyourpresentationsistohaveastorytotellbeforeyouworkonyourPowerPointfile.–CliffAtkinson,BeyondBulletPointsTrulygreatpresenterslikeSteveJobsvisualize,planandcreateideasonpaper(orwhiteboards)wellbeforetheyopenthepresentationsoftware.THINKINGSKETCHINGSCRIPTING90HOURS30SLIDESBUILDINGSLIDESREHEARSINGDesignexpertsrecommendthatpresentersspendthemajorityoftheirtimethinking,sketchingandscripting.NancyDuarterecommendsthatapresenterspend90hourscreatinganhourlongpresentationwith30slides.Butonlyonethirdofthattimeisspentbuildingslides.Anotherthirdisrehearsing,butthefirstthirdisspentcollectingideas,organizingideas,andsketchingthestory.CreateTwitter-LikeHeadlines@Ben:Didueatmysandwich?@Laura:Thispresentationisawesome!@Tom:I’mstealingthisidea!@Bob:ROTFL@Sammy:When’slunch?@Carol:Iheartthis.SticktotheRuleof3Act1:CreatetheStoryAct2:DelivertheExperienceAct3:RefineandRehearseSteveJobsdoesmostofhisdemos.Youdon’thaveto.Infact,inmanycases,itmakesmoresensetobringinsomeonewhohasparticularproductknowledge.IntroducetheAntagonistIneveryclassicstory,theherofightsthevillain.ThesamestorytellingprincipleappliestoeverySteveJobspresentation.In1984whenheintroducedtheMacintosh,BigBlue,IBMrepresentedthevillain.Introducinganantagonist(theproblem)ralliestheaudiencearoundthehero.ACT2EliminateclutterSteveJobspresentationisstrikinglysimple,highlyvisualandcompletelydevoidofbulletpoints.ASimplicityistheultimatesophistication.–SteveJobsThat’sright–nobulletpoints.Ever.Newresearchintocognitivefunctioning—howthebrainretainsinformation--provesthatbulletpointsaretheleasteffectivewaytodeliverimportantinformation.AveragePPTSlide:40wordsJohnMedinasaystheaveragePPTslidehasfortywords.BIRDResearchershavediscoveredthatideasaremuchmorelikelytoberememberediftheyarepresentedaspicturesinsteadofwordsorpicturespairedwithwords.PictureSuperiorityEffect(PSE)Psychologistscallit:PictureSuperiorityEffect(PSE)BIRD10%65%Ifinformationispresentedorally,peoplerememberabout10%ofthecontent72hourslater.Thatfiguregoesupto65%ifyouaddapicture.BAccordingtoJohnMedina,yourbraininterpretseveryletterasapicturesowordyslidesliterallychokeyourbrain.SimplifiesComplexInformationLet’stakealookathowSteveJobssimplifiescomplexinformation.HereisanexampleofhowamediocrepresenterwouldlaunchtheMacBookAir.Theywouldtrytosqueezeeverypieceofinformationontooneslide–alongwithdifferentfontstyles,colors,etc.HereisSteveJobs’sslide.What’sthedifference?First,nowords.Whyusewordswhenyou’resimplytryingtoshowthatthecomputerissothin,itfitsinanofficeenvelope?Challengeyourselftousefewerwordsandmorevisuals.Itdoestakemorethought,butyou’llneverdeliveranAppleworthypresentationifdon’t.LexicalDensity-SimplerLessAbstractFewerWordsEasiertoUnderstandSeattlePostIntelligencerrantranscriptsthroughasoftwaretoolintendedtomeasure“lexicaldensity,”howdifficultoreasyitwastounderstandthelanguage.Theyrantwopiecesoftextthroughthetool:SteveJobsMacworld2007andBillGatesCES2007.Jobs’swordsaresimpler,phraseslessabstract,andusesfewerwordspersentence.Hewasmucheasiertounderstand.DressUpNumbersNumbersdon’tresonatewithpeopleuntilthosenumbersareplacedintoacontextthatpeoplecanunderstand.Thebestwaytohelpthemunderstandistomakethosenumbersrelevanttosomethingwithwhichyouraudienceisalreadyfamiliarwith.5GB1,000songsForexamplewhenSteveJobsintroducedtheiPodin2001,hesaiditcamewitha5GBofmemory.Hebrokeitdownevenfurtherbysayingyoucouldcarry1,000songs“inyourpocket.”Jobsalwaysbreaksdownnumberstomakethemmoreinterestingandmeaningful.RevealaHolyShitMomentPeoplewillforgetwhatyousaid,peoplewillforgetwhatyoudid,butpeoplewillneverforgethowyoumadethemfeel.–MayaAngelouMacBookAir•Wearereallyexcitedto:–Introduceareallythin,lightnotebookcomputer–Ithasa13.3inchwidescreendisplay–Backlitkeyboard–IntelProcessorLet’sreturntoMacBookAir.InJanuary,2008,SteveJobscouldhavedescribeditasmostpeoplewould:“We’rereallyexcitedtointroduceareallythin,lightnotebookcomputer.Ithasa13.3incwidescreendisplay,backlitkeyboardandIntelprocessor…blahblahblah.Instead,hecreatedanexperience.Theonemomentinthepresentationthatheknewpeoplewouldbetalkingabout.HeintroducedtheWorld’sThinnestNotebookBytheway,theHolyShitmomentwascompletelyplanned–pressreleaseshadbeenwritten,websitelandingpagescreatedandadvertisementsreadytorun.JobsraisesaproductlaunchtoartformEMOTIONALLYCHARGEDEVENTDOPAMINEAccordingtoJohnMedina,“Thebraindoesn’tpayattentiontoboringthings.”Whenthebraindetectsanemotionallychargedevent,theamygdalareleasesdopamineintothesystem…dopaminegreatlyaidsmemoryandinformationprocessing.It’slikeamentalpost-itnotethattellsyourbrain,rememberthis.EMOTIONALLYCHARGEDEVENTCreateanemotionallychargedeventahea