If you’ve ever come to one of my talks, you’ll know that I constantly emphasise the importance of knowing your audience – who are they and what do you want them to do?

The video below shows Steve Jobs (a hero to many professional presenters) in a question and answer session from 1997, when he was still struggling to change the direction of Apple. He takes the brave step of taking questions from an emotional audience, particularly about killing OpenDocs, a much-loved project.

There are several reasons that I think this is a masterclass in presenting-  firstly, Jobs really,really knows his audience. He speaks their language, and he speaks it clearly and directly.

Secondly, he doesn’t give in to the temptation to have an argument. He listens carefully to the question and then he stops to think. On our courses, we’re always encouraging people to take the time to think! The pause is very powerful here. He uses it to structure what he’s going to say next. And then he does something quite brilliant, it’s an old strategy from the art of persuasion, but he uses it well – he agrees with the questioner, but builds on the questioner’s comment (he basically says, ‘you’re a bit right, I’m really right, and I’m so right that I have the magnanimity to accept your criticism) it’s a brilliant stroke, rather like a martial artist appearing to soften before the deadly blow.

Thirdly, watch his easy, fluid use of the space that he’s in. He really owns the stage. I particularly love his dramatic use of the water bottle. He holds it while he’s thinking and then, he puts it down as he starts to make his point. His movements are emotionally congruent with his words.

Lastly, he uses the tension caused by this uncomfortable question to take the audience on an emotional journey, ending up with him leading the audience towards his vision of the future. Even if you disagree with him, you can’t fail to be impressed by his leadership and charisma. He turns a potentially embarrassing situation into a rallying cry for the future:

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try and sell it….a strategy and a vision for Apple started with “What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer?” Not starting with “Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have and then how are we going to market that?” And I think that’s the right path to take.”

It’s a brilliant summary of how to work on a presentation too – “What incredible insights can I give my audience? Where can I take my audience?” Whereas most people seem to sit down and say “How many powerpoint slides do I need?”

To give some context- Jobs has just accused previous management at Apple of ‘doing nothing for 7 years’ which gives rise to this question.

What do you think? Do you agree with this response? Would you have done anything different? Leave a comment below.

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