DRAW A ROAD MAP 59
Every time Jobs announced a numeral, his slide contained
just one image—the number itself (1, 2, 3, and 4). We will
explore the simplicity of Jobs’s slide design more thoroughly in
Scene 8, but for now keep in mind that your slides should mirror
your narrative. There is no need to make the slides complicated.
I believe that we can give our middle class relief and
provide working families with a road to opportunity... I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes
to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities
across America from violence and despair... I believe
that we have a righteous wind at our backs and that as
we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the
right choices and meet the challenges that face us.^10
As illustrated in this excerpt, Obama not only breaks up his
speeches into paragraphs of three sentences but also often
delivers three points within sentences.
When Obama took the oath of office to become America’s
forty-fourth president on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, he
delivered a historical address to some two million people who
gathered to watch the speech in person and millions more
on television around the world. Obama made frequent use of
threes in the speech: “I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for
the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices born by
our ancestors.” “Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered.”
“Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and
each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy
strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they
are serious, and they are many.” “Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis
began, our minds no less inventive, our goods and services
no less needed than they were last month or last year.”^11