Presentation-Secrets-Of-Steve-Jobs
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120 DELIVER THE EXPERIENCE<br />
like. Isn’t it incredible [emotional]? It’s the world’s thinnest notebook<br />
[simple]. It has a gorgeous 13.3-inch wide-screen display and<br />
a phenomenal full-sized keyboard [emotional and concrete]. I’m<br />
stunned our engineering team could pull this off [emotional].” 10<br />
Table 10.3 lists even more examples of specific, concrete, and<br />
emotional phrases from the <strong>Jobs</strong> repertoire of language. This<br />
is just a small sample. Every <strong>Jobs</strong> presentation contains similar<br />
language.<br />
Jargon: A Sure Way to Upset Jack Welch<br />
Jack Welch made the observation, “Insecure managers create<br />
complexity.” During his twenty years as GE’s top executive, the<br />
conglomerate grew from $13 billion in revenue to $500 billion.<br />
Welch was on a mission to “declutter” everything about the<br />
company, from its management processes to its communication.<br />
He despised long, convoluted memos, meetings, and<br />
presentations.<br />
In his book Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch describes<br />
meetings that left him “underwhelmed.” If you wanted to<br />
upset the new CEO, all you had to do was talk over his head.<br />
Welch would say, “Let’s pretend we’re in high school . . . take<br />
me through the basics.” He recounts his first meeting with one<br />
of his insurance leaders. Welch asked some simple questions<br />
about terms he was unfamiliar with. He writes, “So I interrupted<br />
him to ask: ‘What’s the difference between facultative<br />
and treaty insurance?’ After fumbling through a long answer<br />
for several minutes, an answer I wasn’t getting, he finally<br />
blurted out in exasperation, ‘How do you expect me to teach<br />
you in five minutes what it has taken me twenty-five years to<br />
learn!’ Needless to say, he didn’t last long.” 11<br />
Speaking in jargon carries penalties in a society that values<br />
speech free from esoteric, incomprehensible bullshit. Speaking<br />
over people’s heads may cost you a job or prevent you from<br />
advancing as far as your capabilities might take you otherwise.