11 Preparing and Researching Presentations

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Since the early 1980s, Macintosh users have sung Apple’s praises with a level of enthusiasm and devotion usually reserved for favored sports teams. The lead cheerleader, however, was always the late Steve Jobs, the company’s founder and former CEO. Whenever Apple launched a new product or service, Jobs was there—dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and sneakers—to introduce it.

Jobs was always intimately familiar with the company’s products, making him the ideal person to present Apple’s latest inventions. Jobs was well known for his effective and appropriate use of presentation aids. In many cases, his topic—the iPhone, iPad, iPod, or iMac—was the presentation aid. But because of his familiarity with his subject—and because he was always sure to be prepared for his speaking event—he was never entirely dependent on those aids. For example, when Jobs took the stage in a hall crowded with rabid Mac fans eager to hear about the new iPhone 4 in 2010, the Wi-Fi connection became overwhelmed, and Jobs was unable to connect. But he didn’t panic. “He’s so well prepared that he knew what was coming next,” noted Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs (2009).

A public figure is naturally expected to speak well, but few public figures—or people in general—are naturally gifted at public speaking. However, the ability to speak appropriately and effectively in a public environment can be learned, developed, and improved. Steve Jobs may have made the entire process look easy, but think about where he would have been if he had relied entirely on his presentation aids to make a point or if he hadn’t spent any time preparing ahead of time.

As you will learn in this chapter, the groundwork of becoming a confident, competent speaker and developing strong presentations lies in preparation—namely, clarifying the purpose of your speech, analyzing your audience, choosing an appropriate topic, conducting research, and taking responsibility for your speech. Yet before we even address these issues, you might be wondering why public speaking matters. Let’s take a look at why it is so important.