Page 176 - The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo

REVEAL A “HOLY SHIT” MOMENT 157

hope that after two and a half years, we’ve been able to prove to
our shareholders at Pixar that maybe we can pull this interim
CEO thing off. So, I’m not changing any of my duties at either
Pixar or Apple, but I’m pleased to announce today that I’m drop-
ping the ‘interim’ title.” The audience went nuts; people leaped
from their seats, yelling, hollering, and cheering. Jobs was hum-
bled and made it clear that he did not deserve all the credit for
Apple’s resurgence. “You’re making me feel funny, because I get
to come to work every day and work with the most talented peo-
ple on the planet. I accept your thanks on the part of everyone
at Apple,” Jobs concluded. 6

Revolutionary Product That

Changes Everything

Twenty-six minutes into his Macworld 2007 keynote presenta-
tion, Jobs had just finished a discussion of Apple TV. He took a
swig of water and slowly walked to the center of the stage, not
saying a word for twelve seconds. He then told a story that would
lead to one of the greatest product announcements in corporate
history. We’ve discussed several elements of this presentation,
including Jobs’s use of headlines and the rule of three. For this
discussion, let’s examine a longer section of the segment. As you
can see from the excerpt in Table 13.1, Jobs took his time to
reveal the news that would rattle the industry and change the
way millions of people access the Internet on the go. 7
Once the laughter subsided, Jobs spent the rest of the presenta-
tion explaining the current limitations of existing smartphones,
unveiling the actual iPhone, and reviewing its key features.
Anyone who saw the entire presentation will most likely tell you
that the three-minute introduction described in the table was
the most memorable part of the entire keynote.
Take note of how Jobs heightened anticipation to create the
experience. He could easily have said: “The next product we
would like to introduce is called iPhone. It’s Apple’s first entry
into the smartphone market. Here’s what it looks like. Now let