92 DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE
that Jobs might be in ill health, given his gaunt appearance.
(In January 2009, Apple revealed that Jobs was losing weight
due to a hormone imbalance and would take a leave of absence
for treatment.) Jobs addressed the rumor as soon as he stepped
onstage. He did so without saying a word about it. He let a slide
do the talking (see Table 8.2).^14 It was simple and unexpected.
It generated cheers and deflected the tension. The rest of the
introduction was equally as compelling for its simplicity.
Make note of the words and figures on the slides in the table.
The words on the slide match the exact words that Jobs uses to
deliver his message. When Jobs says, “We’re going to talk about
music,” the only word the audience sees is “Music.” The words
act as a complement.
If you deliver a point and your slide has too many words—
and words that do not match what you say—your audience will
have a hard time focusing on both you and the slide. In short,
wordy slides detract from the experience. Simple slides keep the
focus where it belongs—on you, the speaker.Empirical Evidence
Empirical studies based on hard data, not opinions, prove that
keeping your slides simple and free of extraneous information is
the best way to engage your audience. Dr. Richard Mayer teaches
educational psychology at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, and has been studying multimedia learning since 1991.
His theories are based on solid, empirical studies published in
peer-reviewed journals. In a study titled “A Cognitive Theory of
Multimedia Learning,” Mayer outlined fundamental principles
of multimedia design based on what scientists know about cog-
nitive functioning. Steve Jobs’s slides adhere to each of Mayer’s
principles:MULTIMEDIA REPRESENTATION PRINCIPLE
“It is better to present an explanation in words and pictures than
solely in words,” writes Mayer.^15 According to Mayer, learners can