Presentation Advice from Steve Jobs

May 15, 2009 by Pearl 

steve_jobs1In earlier blogs, we’ve offered you presentation advice from Mike Nichols, Mark Twain, Oprah Winfrey, and Fred Astaire. Today’s advice comes from Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs’ commencement speech to the class of 2005 at Stanford University has become a classic, with over 2.5 million views on YouTube.

Jobs knew exactly how to inspire the graduates. Wearing jeans and sandals underneath his robe, Jobs began his address by revealing that he had dropped out of college; and that that day was the closest he had ever been to graduation. What better way to begin an address than to drop a little-known shocking truth? By beginning his address with that startling fact, he captivated his audience immediately.

Continuing on with his address, Jobs said, “Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.”

Jobs organized his address in an orderly manner, establishing a flow that was easy for the audience to follow. The presence of a clear flow structure is crucial because it provides a road map for the audience.

“The first story is about connecting the dots,” Jobs said. In this first story of his life, he drew on experiences as a young man and explained how these dots in life eventually connected down the road, even though they did not seem clear at the time.

One of his examples was his decision to drop out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon after six months of attendance. But rather than leave Portland, he stuck around campus and took courses that he found interesting. During this time, he took a calligraphy course that, a decade later, found its way to the first Macintosh.

“Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward,” Jobs said. “You can only connect them looking backward, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Moving forward to his second story, Jobs talked about love and loss, and how he discovered what he wanted to do in life at an early age. At the age of 20, he founded Apple Computer in his parent’s garage with Steve Wozniak. Within ten years, Apple became a $2 billion company with 4,000 employees. At the age of 30, he was fired from the company he built from scratch. Continuing to do what he loved, Jobs went on and founded NeXT Software Inc., which was bought by Apple in later years. Doing what he loved eventually brought him back to the company that he started.

“I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple,” Jobs said. “I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.”

The third part of his speech was about death. Every day he asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If he answered “no” too many times in a period of time, he knew he had to make changes. He was diagnosed with cancer and the doctor told him he had six months to live. Fortunately, it was a form of cancer curable by surgery.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

Finally, Jobs wrapped up his address in reference to a publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue, which went out of business in the mid-1970s.

“On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: ‘Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.’ It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I’ve always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Thank you all very much.”

From the beginning, Jobs captured his audience with a surprising fact, and then directed them through the three most pivotal points in his life as stepping stones that led to his main point, or call to action: do what you love, follow your heart and everything would fall in place. No wonder Steve Jobs’ speech has become a classic.

You can follow his example with these three simple steps:
1. Capture your audience’s attention immediately
2. Navigate them through your story with an easy-to-follow flow
3. Lead them to your main point with a clear call to action

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