HAVE FUN 211
technical for me. It’s pretty awesome when it works.”^7 That’s it.
It’s pretty awesome when it works.
Think about watching an ice-skater perform an intricately
choreographed routine. You know that the slightest mistake
could land the skater on her butt. When it happens, you wince,
but you hope the skater gets up to finish her routine on a high
note. The same applies to your audience. Nobody expects per-
fection except you. Your audience will forgive a blooper as long
as you get back on your feet.
During Jobs’s leave of absence for a liver transplant, much
had been written about what he revealed, how much he should
have revealed, and whether he should have revealed it sooner.
Jobs was clearly frustrated with the press, calling some report-
ers to chastise them about covering matters he wanted to keep
private. While bloggers and reporters were scrambling to get the
scoop on the exact nature of his illness, I was struck at how Jobs
kept his trademark good humor.
In September 2008, Jobs walked onstage at the WWDC and
said, “Good morning. Thank you for coming this morning. We
have some really exciting stuff to share with you. Before we do,
I just wanted to mention this.” He pointed to the slide behind
him, which had only one sentence: “The reports of my death
are greatly exaggerated.” “Enough said,” Job told the audience,
and he promptly continued with his presentation.^8 The audi-
ence laughed and cheered. The media and investors wanted
more information, of course, but that’s all that Jobs would give
them at the moment, and he had fun with it at their expense.
Now, That’s Infotainment!
Most business communicators lose sight of the fact that their
audiences want to be informed andentertained. Jobs approaches
presentations as infotainment; he teaches you something new
and has fun doing it. It’s the best of all worlds for his audience.
Most business professionals do not smile nor relish the moment
as much as they should. They get too caught up in “presenta-
tion mode” and lose the enthusiasm they really have about