While Wall Street and the tech world are still reeling from Steve Jobs’ announcement that he was leaving Apple Inc. they’re not the only ones. We in the presentation game think of Jobs the way sports fans think of Muhammad Ali or politicos think of Lincoln or JFK. Jobs transcends the form and many of his presentations are considered to be groundbreaking masterpieces that are mimicked by millions. While introducing us to innovative products and practices over the years, Jobs has also expanded and redefined the possibilities for corporate storytelling, and his absence from the stage will have as much impact as his abdication of his CEO title.
Of course business, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and although we expected any number of wannabe’s to try to fill Job’s shoes on the presentation stage, we didn’t think that the early leader would be the famously flat Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg’s lack of charisma has been spoofed on Saturday Night Live and his Facebook empire is often seen as an extreme overcompensation by a socially awkward geekaroid. Earlier this month, the Zuck announced the new re-design for the social networking site. While the new look of Facebook has set many eyes rolling, Zuckerberg’s presentation found most thumbs pointing up.
Here are some of the Jobsian tactics employed by the Zuck:
Twitter Friendly
A great communicator only needs one sentence to express his or her vision. Jobs was a master of the memorable, succinct phrase and it seems Zuckerberg has learned a thing or two from the master. Describing Facebook’s new Timeline feature, Zuckerberg stated simply, “Timeline is the whole story of your life on a single page.” Not bad – a powerful image wrapped up in a memorable phrase. Also, it’s short enough to be Tweetable. Search for the phrase and you’ll find it all over the Interwebs.
Three by Three
Breaking a presentation down into three digestible chunks was a Steve Jobs hallmark that’s clearly not lost on Zuckerberg. The FB king broke his headline down into: “All your stories, all your apps, and a new way to express who you are.” He then went one better, breaking out the rule of threes again as he delved into the his main topic headings. The rule creates organization and clarity, but it also creates rhythm, energy and momentum.
Words and Pictures
Zuckerberg also showed signs of the master in the handling of his slides. Jobs was famous for his blank, stand alone, text-only headlines. Zuckerberg followed suit. Outside of his headlines Jobs was also known for using slides that were primarily visual and not cluttered with text. Zuckerberg also used his slides to display screen-captures of FB’s new apps at work, creating a symbiosis between his slides and his speech without a lot of redundant, messy text getting in the way.
