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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 beat-up sneakers, to introduce it.

Jobs was always intimately familiar with the company’s products, making him, in many ways, the ideal person to present Apple’s latest inventions. Many of the most revolutionary innovations at Apple were created from his own ideas and his frustrations with existing technology. A virtual music store where customers could legally download music for as little as a dollar a song, and then carry them around in their pocket on a device smaller than a deck of cards? That was Jobs’s idea. A mobile phone with only one button, a touchscreen, and the ability to add on a seemingly infinite number of applications? Jobs again (Sonnenfeld, 2011).

Jobs was well known for his effective and appropriate use of presentation aids. In many cases, his topic—be it the iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac—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. Indeed, when Jobs took the stage in a crowded hall of rabid Mac fans eager to hear about the new iPhone 4 in 2010, the WiFi 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. “It didn’t bring the whole presentation to a halt” (cited in Wailgum, 2010, para. 4).

A public figure is expected to speak well, but few public figures—or people in general—are naturally gifted at public speaking. Luckily, the ability to speak appropriately and effectively in a public environment can be learned, developed, and improved. Steve Jobs may have made the process look easy, but think about how ineffective his speeches would have been had he relied entirely on his cool presentation aids without preparing ahead of time.

As you will learn in this chapter, the initial 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. Here’s why it is so important.