Further to my last post, let me post here Steve’s famous speech video in Stanford. Frankly, the content is better than his presentation. So, pay attention to his content not how he presented. I hope this speech will set out your venture in 2008 to find out what you love!!
Let me take this chance to look at it from the presentation skills perspective. Here are what I like:
Opening – He used humor. And it is safe one as it was about himself in not graduating from the college.
Structure – He used simple structure – 3 stories implying 3 points. He said in the beginning ‘Just 3 stories. No big deal.’
Story (even better, personal story) – People always love to hear stories, even the personal ones.
But at the same time, there are some shortcomings. Strangely, Steve is generally very good at presentation and does not commit the following mistakes. Anyway, let’s take it as learning opportunities:
Eye contact – Serious lack of eye contact. Eye contact is particularly important for the kind of messages he was conveying. The messages were supposed to be emotional and personal.
Do not just read – He did not have enough eye contact because he read from the note too much. It was strange. The speech was largely about his life. Well, he should know it very well. There should be no need to refer to the note so much. Watch his other speeches like those in Macworld. He did not need any note even presenting the product features of new iPod.
Again, the main point of this post. I hope this speech will start your venture in 2008 to find out what you love!!
