Yesterday I referred you to John Zimmer’s blog, Manner of Speaking, for his article titled “10 Tips for Using Props in a Presentation,” which was just chock-full of interesting videos of inspiring speakers making use of props in their presentations.
So when trying to come up with content for this week’s Inspiring Speaker Friday post I wasn’t sure how I could compete. I wasn’t sure I could come up with a presentation or speaker as inspiring as John’s examples.
But then I remembered the study I wrote about earlier this week, completed at the University of Minnesota 26 long years ago – in 1986 – that proved that “presentations using visual aids were found to be 43% more persuasive than unaided presentations.” And then I remembered a presentation from right around that time that involved all sorts of great visual aids.
On January 24, 1984, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs gave a speech introducing Apple’s first Macintosh personal computer. And in his presentation he employed a multitude of visual aids, including photographs, props and videos.
Steve started off by talking about the features – and showing some images – of the new Macintosh computer, which were impressive enough on their own. “Just as the 5¼-inch floppy disk drive was an innovation in the ’70s, the 3½-inch disk drive will be the disk of the ’80s,” said Steve. “It is far safer, and we’re storing over 400K bites of information on one side of a disk that can be put in your pocket.”
All the while, across from him on center stage – completely unaddressed and piquing the natural curiosity of the audience – sat a duffle bag perched on top of a table. Just what was in the bag?!
“You’ve just seen some pictures of Macintosh,” said Steve. “Now I’d like to show you Macintosh in person. All of the images you are about to see on the large screen will be generated by what’s in that bag.”
Steve could have just had the computer itself sitting on the table, and that would have been impressive enough. But by hiding it in the duffle bag he employed two of John Zimmer’s tips on using props: “Where possible, keep the prop hidden until you need it.” And: “If you talk about the prop before showing it, build a sense of anticipation before the audience sees it.”
And so, Steve used a prop – the duffle bag – to hide his true prop, the Macintosh computer, all the while building expectation and anticipation.
Another great moment and use of props was when Steve pulled the disk out of his coat pocket – proving his earlier point that the disk was in fact small enough to fit in your pocket.
The presentation continued on with visuals of what the computer could do and video clips of commercials for the product. All in all it was a presentation highly enhanced by visual aids, and it was just the beginning of the exciting presentations – and remarkable products – Steve Jobs would go on to conceive of and create.
Inspiring, or what? Have a great weekend!
