When Steve Jobs would unveil new Apple Inc AAPL products, everything he did and said was meticulously crafted and planned out.
The Apple co-founder wasn't just showing the world a new product, he was selling them on it before they even knew what it was.
His masterful movements and carefully-chosen words were part of an elegant dance that would captivate crowds and convince listeners they just had to own a part of history in the making. The magic of Jobs still lives on in Apple devices and that may be a big reason why Apple continues to be so successful today.
Traveling Back In Time: Sixteen years ago, Jobs took the stage for his keynote address in San Francisco to unveil the iPhone. Before revealing the revolutionary device, he built an electric atmosphere by recapping Apple's past groundbreaking announcements, including the Macintosh computer in 1984 and the iPod in 2001.
"It didn't just change the way we all listened to music, it changed the entire music industry," Jobs said as he was met with relentless applause.
He told the anxious crowd Apple was about to unveil three new revolutionary products, including a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone and an internet communication device, building excitement before revealing that all three came in one package.
"These are not three separate devices," Jobs said. "This is one device and we are calling it iPhone."
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How He Did It: Although it felt like magic, it wasn't — of course. Jobs had a way with words and he could turn a presentation into a story that kept audiences on the edges of their seats.
According to an Inc report, the reason he was so good at setting the stage and building excitement in crowds in his keynote addresses came down to one key thing: practice.
"Three weeks or a month before the keynote itself, Steve would start rehearsing with portions of his slide deck in some venue at Apple, often in Town Hall, the auditorium on the Infinite Loop campus. Slowly, day by day, he would build the show by stepping through it as he wanted to present it at the keynote," the report stated, citing Ken Kocienda's "Creative Selection."
"This was one of Steve's great secrets of success as a presenter. He practiced. A lot. He went over and over the material until he had the presentation honed, and he knew it cold."
Even after Jobs reached the point where he had it down, he wouldn't stop. Jobs would keep practicing relentlessly. The tone of his voice, his stance and his gestures were all rehearsed meticulously: "He went fully into his keynote persona," Kocienda wrote.
Jobs was able to influence crowds the way he did because he practiced in private the exact same way he planned to present in public. He sought out feedback and always wanted to improve even when rehearsals appeared perfect to the outside eye.
Jobs was long considered the face of Apple and in many ways, he still is. His birthday was last week. Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter to remind followers of the passion Jobs had for learning.
"People with the most to teach live like they have the most to learn ... He was the most curious person I’ve ever met, which made him the best teacher I’ve ever known," Cook said in a tweet paired with a picture of the legend himself.
Jobs spent countless hours learning how to set the stage for a new product announcement and in turn, many saw him as a teacher, an inventor, an icon and a mastermind.
Photo: Ben Stanfield from Flickr.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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