Steve Jobs (34 page)

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since (with the exception of his 2005 Stanford commencement

address). See Figure 14.1.

HAND GESTURES

Jobs emphasizes nearly every sentence with a gesture that com-

plements his words. Some old-fashioned speaking coaches still

instruct clients to keep their hands at their sides. I’m not sure

where this started, but it’s the kiss of death for any speaker hop-

ing to captivate an audience. Keeping your hands at your sides

will make you look stiff, formal, and, frankly, a little weird.

Extraordinary communicators such as Jobs use
more
gestures

than the average speaker, not fewer. There’s even research to

back up this observation.

Dr. David McNeill, at the University of Chicago, is known for

his exhaustive research in the area of hand gestures. He’s made it

his passion since 1980. His research has shown that gestures and

language are intimately connected. In fact, the
use
of gestures can help presenters speak better by clearing up their thought

process. Yes, he says, it actually takes concentrated effort
not
to Figure 14.1 Steve Jobs engages his audience with strong eye contact,

hand gestures, and an open posture.

JOHN G. MABANGLO/AFP/Getty Images

MASTER STAGE PRESENCE
173

use gestures. McNeill has found that very disciplined, rigorous,

and confident thinkers use hand gestures that reflect the clarity

of their thinking—it’s like a window to their thought process.

Use hand gestures to emphasize your point. Be careful,

however, that your hand gestures do not become robotic or

overrehearsed. In other words, don’t copy Jobs and his manner-

isms. Be yourself. Be authentic.

Say It with Style

Steve Jobs uses his voice as effectively as his gestures. His con-

tent, slides, and demos create excitement, but his delivery

ties the package together. When he introduced the iPhone in

January 2007, he told a magnificently woven story, and his

vocal expression provided just the right amount of drama. We

reviewed the announcement and its slides in previous chapters.

Now let’s focus on
how
Jobs said what he said. It is a package
Is That a CEO or a Preacher?

Few among us have the public-speaking confidence to rival

Cisco CEO John Chambers. People are often shocked the first

time they watch him give a presentation. Like a preacher,

Chambers roams among the audience. He spends only a

minute or two onstage at the beginning of his presentation

before stepping into the crowd. Chambers walks right up to

people, looks them in the eye, calls some by name, even places

his hand on someone’s shoulder. Very few people have the

confidence to pull this off.

I know as a fact that Chambers’s confidence is the result of

hours of relentless practice. He knows every word on each of

his slides, and he knows exactly what he’s going to say next.

Observers have said watching a Chambers presentation is an

“astonishing” experience. Be astonishing. Rehearse your pre-

sentation, and pay close attention to your body language and

verbal delivery.

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deal, after all. Great slides mean little without a great delivery. A

great story will fall flat if delivered poorly.

Table 14.2 illustrates Jobs’s vocal delivery. It’s from the same

iPhone presentation featured in Scene 13, with a focus on his

actual delivery. The words Jobs chose to emphasize are italicized

in the first column; the second column lists notes on his deliv-

ery, including the moments when he pauses right after a phrase

or sentence
.4 P
ay particular attention to pacing, pausing, and volume.

Jobs varied his delivery to create suspense, enthusiasm, and

excitement. Nothing will do more to destroy all of the work you

put into crafting a spectacular presentation than to deliver it in

a boring monotone, which Jobs most certainly does not.

Jobs’s voice complemented the drama of the plot. He uses

similar devices in every presentation. This section details four

related techniques that Jobs uses to keep his listeners engaged:

inflection, pauses, volume, and rate.

INFLECTION

Jobs changes his inflection by raising or lowering the pitch of

his voice. Think about how flat the iPhone launch would have

sounded if all of his words had been delivered with exactly the

same tone. Instead, Jobs raised his pitch when he said, “Are you

getting it?” and “This is one device.” Jobs has some favorite

descriptors that find their way into many of his presentations:

unbelievable
,
awesome
,
cool
, and
huge
. These words would not carry the same impact if the tone in which they are delivered

sounds exactly like the rest of the sentence. Jobs modifies his

tone frequently, keeping his listeners on the edge of their seats.

PAUSES

Nothing is more dramatic than a well-placed pause. “Today we’re

introducing a third kind of notebook,” Jobs told the Macworld

audience in January 2008. Then he paused a few beats before

saying, “It’s called the MacBook Air.” He paused again before the

delivering the headline: “It’s the world’s thinnest notebook.”
5

Jobs does not rush his presentation. He lets it breathe. He

will often remain quiet for several seconds as he lets a key point

MASTER STAGE PRESENCE
175

TABLE 14.2
JOBS’S 2007 iPHONE PRESENTATION

STEVE’S WORDS

STEVE’S DELIVERY

“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two

Pause

and a half years.”

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product

Pause

comes along that changes everything.”

“Apple has been very fortunate. It’s been able to

Pause

introduce a few of these into the world. In 1984,

we introduced Macintosh. It didn’t just change

Apple; it changed the whole computer industry.”

“In 2001, we introduced the first iPod.”

Pause

“It didn’t just change the way we all listen to

Pause

music; it changed the entire music industry.”

“Well, today we’re introducing three revolutionary

Pause

products of this class. The first one”

“is a wide-screen iPod with touch controls. The

Pause

second”

“is a revolutionary mobile phone.”

Voice grows louder

“And the third”

Pause

“is a breakthrough Internet communications

Pause

device. So, three things: a wide-screen iPod with

touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone,

and a breakthrough Internet communications

device.”

“An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communciator.”

Voice grows louder

“An iPod, a phone—are you getting it?”

Speaks faster, voice

grows louder

“These are not three separate devices. This is one

Voice grows louder

device,”

still

“and we are calling it iPhone.”

Voice gets even louder

“Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone!”

Loudest volume of

the presentation

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sink in. Most presenters sound as though they are trying to rush

through the material. In many ways, they are, because they

scripted more material than the time allows. Jobs never hur-

ries. His presentation is carefully rehearsed to give him plenty of

time to slow down, pause, and let his message take hold.

VOLUME

Jobs will lower and raise his voice to add drama. He typically does

this when introducing a hot new product. He often lowers his voice

as he builds up to the announcement and then raises his volume to

hit the big note. He’ll do the opposite as well. When he introduced

the first iPod, he raised his voice and said, “To have your whole

music library with you at all times is a
quantum leap
in listening to music.” He then lowered his voice and delivered the knockout:

“But the coolest thing about iPod is your entire music library fits

in your pocket.”6 Just as inflections and pauses keep your audience

riveted to your every word, so does the volume of your voice.

RATE

Jobs speeds up the delivery of some sentences and slows down for

others. Demonstrations are typically delivered at his normal rate

of speech, but he slows down considerably when he delivers the

headline or key message that he wants everyone to remember.

When Jobs introduced the iPod for the first time, he lowered his

voice nearly to a whisper to emphasize the key takeaway. He also

slowed the tempo of his sentences to build the drama. Table 14.3

offers highlights
.7

Act Like the Leader You Want to Be

Do not make the mistake of believing body language and vocal

delivery are unimportant, “soft skills.” UCLA research scien-

tist Albert Mehrabian studied expression and communication

for his book
Silent Messages
.8 H
e discovered that nonverbal cues carry the most impact in a conversation. Tone of voice—vocal

expression—was the second most influential factor. The third,

and least important, were the actual words spoken.

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TABLE 14.3
EXCERPT FROM JOBS INTRODUCING THE iPOD, WITH

DELIVERY NOTES

STEVE’S WORDS

STEVE’S DELIVERY

”Now, you might be saying, ‘This is cool, but

Slows down rate of speech

I’ve got a hard disk in my portable computer,

my iBook. I’m running iTunes. I’m really

happy. I don’t get ten hours of battery life

on my iBook, but iBook has better battery

life than any other consumer portable.’ ”

“ ‘So, what’s so special about iPod here?’ ”

Pauses and lowers volume

“It’s ultraportable. An iBook is portable, but

Speeds up rate of speech

this is ultraportable. Let me show you what

I mean.”

“iPod is the size of a deck of cards. It is 2.4

Slows down and lowers

inches wide. It is four inches tall. And barely

voice

three-quarters of an inch thick. This is

tiny. It also only weighs 6.5 ounces, lighter

than most of the cell phones you have in

your pockets right now. This is what’s so

remarkable about iPod.”

“It is ultraportable.”

Almost at a whisper

To a large extent, how Steve Jobs speaks and carries himself

leaves his audience with a sense of awe and confidence in him

as a leader. U.S. president Barack Obama once said the most

valuable lesson he learned as he worked himself up from a com-

munity organizer to the most powerful person on the planet

was to “always act confident.”

People are making judgments about you all the time, but

especially in the first ninety seconds of meeting you. How you

deliver your words and what your body language says about you

will leave your listeners disillusioned or inspired. Steve Jobs is

an electrifying communicator because he is expressive in both

voice and gesture.