156 DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE
simply announcing that news via a press release as most CEOs
would do, Jobs created an experience out of it.
At the end of two-hour presentation on January 5, 2000, Jobs
said, almost as an aside, “There is one more thing.” But he did
not break the news immediately. He built the anticipation. Jobs
first acknowledged the people at Apple who had been working
on the Internet strategy he had just described in the presenta-
tion, asking them to stand for applause. He publicly thanked his
graphics and advertising agencies as well. Then he dropped the
news.
“Everyone at Apple has been working extra hard these two
and a half years. And during this time, I’ve been the interim
CEO. I have another job at Pixar as the CEO, which I love. IA memorable moment need not be a major new product
announcement. (After all, few of us will announce break-
through products like iPod.) Something as simple as a personal
story can be memorable.
I once worked with a major grower of organic produce.
The executives were preparing a presentation and filled it
with mind-numbing statistics to prove that organic was better
than conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. The statistics
provided supporting points, but there was no emotionally
charged event, until a farmer turned to me and told me the
following story: “Carmine, when I worked for a conventional
farm, I would come home and my kids would want to hug me,
but they couldn’t. Daddy had to take a shower first, and my
clothes had to be washed and disinfected. Today I can walk
right off the lettuce field and into the waiting arms of my kids,
because there is nothing toxic on my body to harm them.”
Several years later, I cannot recall any of the statistics this com-
pany presented, but I remember the story. The story became
the emotionally charged highlight of the presentation.Deliver Memorable Stories