Real Communication An Introduction

Since the early 1980s, Macintosh users have sung Apple’s praises with a

level of enthusiasm and devotion usually reserved for favored sports teams. The

lead cheerleader, however, was always the late Steve Jobs, the company’s founder

and former CEO. Whenever Apple launched a new product or service, Jobs was

there, dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and beat-up sneakers, to intro-

duce it.

Jobs was always intimately familiar with the company’s products, making

him, in many ways, the ideal person to present Apple’s latest inventions. Many of

the most revolutionary innovations at Apple were created from his own ideas and

his frustrations with existing technology. A virtual music store where customers

could legally download music for as little as a dollar a song, and then carry them

around in their pocket on a device smaller than a deck of cards? That was Jobs’s

idea. A mobile phone with only one button, a touchscreen, and the ability to add

on a seemingly infinite number of applications? Jobs again (Sonnenfeld, 2011).

Jobs was well known for his effective and appropriate use of presentation

aids. In many cases, his topic—be it the iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac—was the

presentation aid. But because of his familiarity with his subject—and because

he was always sure to be prepared for his speaking event—he was never entirely

dependent on those aids. Indeed, when Jobs took the stage in a crowded hall of

rabid Mac fans eager to hear about the new iPhone 4 in 2010, the WiFi connec-

tion became overwhelmed, and Jobs was unable to connect. But he didn’t panic.

“He’s so well prepared that he knew what was coming next,” noted Carmine

Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. “It didn’t bring the whole

presentation to a halt” (cited in Wailgum, 2010, para. 4).

chapter

Preparing and

Researching

Presentations

12

The Power of

Public Speaking

Clarifying the

General Purpose

of Your Speech

Analyzing Your

Audience

Choosing Your Topic

Researching the

Topic

Ethical Speaking:

Taking Responsibility

for Your Speech

IN THIS CHAPTER

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