My father-in-law gave me a great Christmas gift- a copy of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience
The book is a nicely structured analysis of one of the technology world’s most fascinating personalities, Apple co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs. The author, Carmine Gallo, is a professional communication skills coach. He takes readers through the entire lifecycle of a Steve Jobs presentation, starting from planning (“Create the Story”), delivery (“Deliver the Experience”) and preparation (“Refine and Rehearse”). There are other books that focus on creating slides or giving demos – this book is comprehensive and covers the entire experience.
Steve Jobs speaks to a general audience and Mr. Gallo writes frequently about how Steve communicates about technical features in a non-technical way. For example, the original iPod was “1,000 songs that fit into your pocket“, not “a digital audio player with a 5 GB hard drive”. In contrast, I’m usually speaking to a technical audience that wants a deep understanding of technology – they’re not looking to buy anything. So not all of the material translates to what I do. But regardless of what kind of presenter you are, holding the audience’s attention is the first order of business. The book has already influenced how I communicate to non-technical audiences, especially when I train business users how to use SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence. And I’m looking forward to giving the book a second reading. I’ll also be checking out the hours of Steve Jobs presentations on YouTube. And editing my recent GBN 2009 presentations for a second go-around with other audiences.
If your career involves communicating and connecting with an audience, large or small, this book is an excellent addition to your bookshelf.
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