Stage Presence: This is How to Master it Like Steve Jobs

One of the reasons for Steve Jobs’ incredible stage presence was due to his extreme preparation for his presentations and keynote addresses.  His preparation time was legendary with those closest to him saying that he would start his preparation a couple of weeks in advance and then rehearse for a FULL two days prior to the presentation!

Not only would this help his stage presence as he would not need to look for notes, but it would also allow him to deal with stage crises.

For example, there was a time where he was struggling with Wi-Fi connectivity while demonstrating the iPhone 4. Instead of panicking, however, he jumped to another part of the presentation then asked the audience to help him troubleshoot the problem by saying,

“You know, you could help me out. If you’re on Wi-Fi, if you could just get off,” he pleaded, to complete audience laughter. “I’d appreciate it. We’re having a little problem here.”

The Stage Presence of Steve Jobs

Anyone who saw Steve Jobs speak or present will certainly agree with the words of Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, when he says:

“Steve Jobs had a commanding presence. His voice, gestures, and body language communicated authority, confidence, and energy…The words Jobs used to describe a product were obviously important, but so was the style in which he delivered the words.” ¹

Let’s now examine that style more closely by examining Jobs’ body language and vocal delivery to see if we can steal some of his tricks to improve our own stage presence!

3 Body Language Techniques Steve Jobs Used

(1)  Good Eye Contact

The one thing that great presenters like Steve Jobs do is to make a lot more eye contact with the audience than the average presenter does. Even if he was reading, no one could tell as he would sneak a quick glance at a slide and then immediately look back to the audience.

Researchers have shown that using good eye contact makes you seem more trustworthy, confident and sincere while a lack of eye contact is associated with a lack of leadership and lack of confidence.

There are two main reasons that Jobs was able to maintain great eye contact. The first, as we mentioned in the intro, was that he rehearsed and internalized the content over and over allowing him to focus on the audience. The second was that his slides consisted mainly of images with a few words if any, which forced him to deliver the information to the audience.

(2)  An Open Posture

When he presented, Jobs rarely crossed his arms, had his hands in his pockets or stood behind a lectern. Instead, he displayed an “open” posture which meant that there was nothing between him and the audience.

(3)  Using Hand Gestures

Lastly, Jobs would utilize gestures that would complement his words to assist him in emphasizing every sentence.

As Gallo explained:

“Some old-fashioned speaking coaches still instruct clients to keep their hands at their sides. I’m not sure where this started, but it’s the kiss of death for any speaker hoping to captivate an audience. Keeping your hands at your sides will make you look stiff, formal, and, frankly, a little weird. Extraordinary communicators such as Jobs use more gestures than the average speaker, not fewer.” ¹

The idea is to simply use hand gestures to help you make your point. What you don’t want to do is make them seem robotic or over-rehearsed. So, rather than mimic Jobs and his style, find out what works for you and just be your authentic self.

Jobs’ stage presence was not only a function of his body language, but he was also equally a master at using his voice as he was his gestures. Let’s now look at how he used his delivery to tie everything together.

Jobs’ Vocal Delivery Tricks

As Gallo pointed out:

“Jobs varied his delivery to create suspense, enthusiasm, and excitement. Nothing will do more to destroy all of the work you put into crafting a spectacular performance than to deliver it in a boring monotone, which Jobs most certainly did not.” ¹

Let’s now look at 4 other ways he used vocal delivery tricks to achieve great stage presence:

(1)  Changing His Inflection

The first vocal trick he used was to change his inflection which had him raising and lowering his voice to switch up the tone and avoid monotony. By changing his tone frequently, he was able to consistently keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

(2)  Using a Well-Placed Pause

By using a well-placed pause, Jobs was able to insert some drama into his presentations.

A great example occurred during the 2008 Macworld conference when Jobs said:

“Today we’re introducing a third kind of notebook.” He then paused for a couple of moments before saying “It’s called the MacBook Air.” He then paused one more time before delivering the punch line which was, “It’s the world’s thinnest notebook.”

The idea here is not to rush your presentation and to let it breathe, insert pauses to let key points sink in with your audience.

(3)  Lowering and Raising His Volume

Another trick he used to insert some drama was to lower and raise the volume of his voice. He typically used this strategy when he would introduce a brand-new product. He would lower his voice and then build it up when he hit the big note.  Just as using inflections can keep your audience glued to your every word and increase your stage presence, so can lowering and raising your volume.

(4)  Switching Up the Rate

Lastly, Jobs would speed up and slow down how fast he talked. Typically, demonstrations were delivered at his usual rate of speech, but then he would slow down noticeably when he got to the key message or headline.

When All Else Fails…Act as If!

To put a cherry on top of both your stage presence and this blog post, let’s hear from Gallo a bit about the importance of confidence,

“To a large extent, how Steve Jobs spoke and carried himself left his audience with a sense of awe and confidence in him as a leader. Former U.S. President Barack Obama once said the most valuable lesson he learned as he worked himself up from a community organizer to the most powerful person on the planet was to “always act confident.” ¹

If all else fails, “act as if” by acting as if you already are where you want to be.  The idea is to act like, talk like, dress like, walk like and feel like the person who has already accomplished their goal or objective – in this case having the stage presence of Steve Jobs!

Here’s Another Tip from Jobs…

As we said in a previous post on the rule of three, people remember things best in threes. Jobs used this in his presentations by clearly outlining the three main points he wanted to cover before filling in the details.

So, with that being said, I am going to use the rule of three to conclude this blog post.

If you enjoyed this post I am going to ask you to do one of the following three things (or all three if you really want to!).

Please comment, like or share it!

Until next time, start using the stage presence secrets of Steve Jobs, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

Use it Or Lose It

The 3 body language techniques Jobs used were:

(1)  Good Eye Contact
(2)  An Open Posture
(3)  Using Hand Gestures

The 4 vocal delivery tricks he used were:

(1)  Changing His Inflection
(2)  Using a Well-Placed Pause
(3)  Lowering and Raising His Volume
(4)  Switching Up the Rate

When to Use It

Use these tips to improve your stage presence when you are presenting or giving a speech.

What Do You Think?

What do you think of these tips for improving stage presence? Do you have any other tips for improving stage presence that you use? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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References

¹ The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo