October 15th, 2011
Steve Jobs’ death has certainly caused the world to reflect on his brilliant career as a technology innovator but we should also remember that he was a brilliant communicator.
What lessons can we take from Jobs that can help you as a communicator and speaker?
Jobs had developed his own, very distinctive style that appeared cool, and laid back but at the same time highly polished. He knew how to create impact by keeping it simple. He had an amazing ability to speak with passion and make his ideas understandable and memorable through telling stories and demonstrations.
His Stanford commencement speech in 2005 was a classic and now very poignant example of how he did this.
Jobs Commencement speech
He was quite understated and his speech was simply based on three stories, personal stories from his life, with which he imparted some very powerful messages to the young people he was addressing and indeed to the wider world audience.
He kept it simple with his message and his graphics. He only focused on one idea at a time and did not muddle what he was saying by having busy PowerPoint slides behind him. His slides were simple and elegant .Jobs hardly ever used words on his slides; he let the image paint the picture and reinforced it with stories.
Jobs never let the fact that he was a techie and generally speaking to a tech audience turn his speeches stale with an overload of jargon and unnecessary complexity. In an age of information overload he knew how to create a clear signal that cut straight through all the noise. He knew that he needed to connect on a human level and speak about what a normal person really wanted out of a product rather than just reciting lists of impressive specs and stats.
His stagecraft was also simple. He usually worked with quite a bare, empty stage, not a fancy corporate set. That way he ensured audience focus was fixed on him and his message. The way Jobs walked around the stage freely, comfortably and relaxed is a lesson that everyone should learn and follow. You never saw him stationary, or with a death grip on a lectern like so many other corporate presenters!
Finally, and this is a lesson everyone should follow, Jobs rehearsed his speeches. You may think looking and sounding relaxed may have come naturally for him but he put in days and hours into rehearsing for every major speech and product launch. Simplicity and clarity are a function of hard work, or as Mark Twain put it, “I would have written you a short letter but I didn’t have time”.
So while much of what history will write about Steve Jobs will focus on his technology innovation and business skills let’s not forget that a large part of his legacy is that of a great communicator from whom we can all learn.
Posted in Communication, LESS is MORE, speech | No Comments »
October 29th, 2009
Founder of Wikipedia
I saw Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia speak today. Technically he wasn’t a great speaker. He was pretty much lectern bound, didn’t have great eye contact with the audience and he used very US centric examples of the evolution of TV shows (from I love Lucy to Seinfeld) to illustrate his point. Not an enormously audience centric, rapport building move for a European event. All that having been said I actually enjoyed his speech. He carried it with the sheer force of his energy and passion for his subject. He’s clearly a remarkable man. He’s created the number 4 website in the world, that’s not for profit but for the common good, and he’s done it with a staff of about 23 and an army volunteers. His best line, which he has been using for years now but is still worthwhile was, “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.” that’s a prety good opening “hook”. He had some interesting ideas on how real thought leaders in any given field are using the Internet (and more specifically his latest venture Wikia) to spawn and support communities and to generate deeper and expert content.These people “influence the influencers”. He suggests that this is only possible because, for example previously, people with an esoteric desire to hack their Canon camera could not have found each other to share ideas on how best to do this! (such a site really does exist!) He also gave a great example of how Wikia has provided an umbrella for social enterprises to bring people and dissperate agencies together to support needy groups such as the homeless. He used real examples, specifics sites and people to tell some great stories to support his belief. His other big theme was the belief in the benevolence of people. That you had to make positive assumptions and work on that basis, particularly in open source / web 2.0 environments because to not do so stiffles innovation and growth. In summary, an interesting man who’s knowledge, energy and enthusiasm made up for any technical shortfalls.
Posted in emotion, speech, stories | No Comments »
January 26th, 2009
It was the most historic speech the world has seen in a while; it was a speech that some people thought they would never hear in their lifetime. President Barack Obama made history being sworn in as America’s first African-American president.He delivered a speech that will be remembered by supporter and foe as ushering in a new era of leadership and communication.
On the Obama scale of speech making you could argue that this one was average. It lacked some of the classic (ask not what your country…style) lines, or sound bites that we’ve previously seen. His tone was somber, at times grim “Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” He was delivering a sobering message that things must change. This was not campaign trail razzmatazz but weighty leadership. However he balanced the tough messages, the gritty realism with enough hope and optimism and a call to action for the entire country to be realistic, credible and inspiring. “For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies”
Whatever message Obama is delivering he does it excellently. He pauses brilliantly, changes his pace, speed, tone and volume for maximum dramatic impact. Everything about Obama’s body language and use of his voice conveys confidence, authority, and command. Could it be that here is a man that combines both political substance and communication style??
Posted in Obama, speech | No Comments »
