Behind the magic curtain
Next week Steve Jobs of Apple will grab media attention with another simple-looking stage show. Mike Evangelist tells the insider secrets of his gruelling preparation
From The Guardian
If the chief executive of Cadbury-Schweppes speaks at a conference, or Nike's boss introduces a new kind of trainer, you might expect to see it covered in specialist magazines, then quickly forgotten.
But on Tuesday a chief executive will stand up and announce something, and within minutes it will be scrutinised across the web and on stockbrokers' computers. It will be in newspapers. They'll talk about it for months.
That chief executive is Steve Jobs, and I know why that speech makes an impact. To a casual observer it is just a guy in a black shirt and jeans talking about some new technology products. But it is in fact an incredibly complex and sophisticated blend of sales pitch, product demonstration and corporate cheerleading, with a dash of religious revival thrown in for good measure. It represents weeks of work, precise orchestration and intense pressure for the scores of people who collectively make up the "man behind the curtain". I know, because I've been there, first as part of the preparation team and later on stage with Steve. >>more
How to Get a Standing Ovation
from Guy Kawasaki
When I started public speaking in about 1986, I was deathly afraid of public speaking--for one thing, working for the division run by Steve Jobs was hugely intimidating: How could you possibly compete with Steve? It's taken me twenty years to get comfortable at it. I hope that many of you are are called upon to give speeches--it's the closest thing to being a professional athlete that many of us will achieve. The purpose of this blog entry is to help you give great speeches.
Speech Making Success Tip:
One of the most powerful tools in public speaking is to be believable. One of the ways to achieve this is to use open body language. It communicates openness and sincerity.
You already have an excellent memory. You just don't know how to use it!
BULD YOUR MEMORY - The site that unleashes the incredible hidden potential of YOUR memory! By Mark S. D'Arcy
Tom Peters on Great Presentations
I'm going to add some stuff to my "PE56" list, thanks to your Comments.
But let me begin with something that may be personal: Why I use PowerPoint. You say, "Hey Tom, you're the guru." I say that my conclusions are much more credible when I back them up with Great Sources. I say pretty radical stuff. I say "Get radical!" That's one thing. But then I show a quote from Jack Welch, who, after all, ran a $150 billion company (I didn't): "You can't behave in a calm, rational manner; you've got to be out there on the lunatic fringe." Suddenly my radicalism is "certified" by a "real operator."
Also, I find that people like to get beyond the spoken word, and see a SIMPLE reminder of what I'm saying.
Also, we post all my slide shows so attendees (or anyone else) can go back at their leisure and recall the logic of the presentation and "steal" some Cool Quotes to use in their presentations!
So here are a few things, thanks to you, that I'm going to add to "PE56":
If your mind is feeling particularly stuffy, go for a short walk. Mild exercise helps gets your blood flowing and gives your mind a little more energy. It's easy for the mind to get stuck on one thought and be unable to let it go. Getting outside in the fresh air will help flush out your mind and get you into a creative mindset.
An Effective Style To Use In Public Speaking: Audience Participation
By: James Masterson
An effective public speaker should be able to utilize devices that will be able to capture the attention of the audience. One effective means for them to give you that much needed interest is this: get them to go on stage. Make them participate. When someone is on stage and he or she happens to be a member of the audience, the rest will almost always stay attentive. Why? Because they would like to see what you will be doing to one of them. Also, because they are thinking they could be up there themselves and so to save their precious egos from embarrassment they at least need to know what is going on. Read on ...
One simple suggestion that I can think of is NOT to carry things around IN YOUR HEAD.
