During the planning phase of your presentation, always remember that
itâ€(TM)s not about you. Itâ€(TM)s about them. The listeners in your audience are
asking themselves one questionâ€"â€oeWhy should I care?†Answering that one
question right out of the gate will grab peopleâ€(TM)s attention and keep
them engaged.
I was preparing a CEO for a major analyst presentation and asked how he
planned to kick it off. He offered this dry, boring, and confusing
introduction: â€oeOur company is a premier developer of intelligent
semiconductor intellectual property solutions that dramatically
accelerate complex system-on-a-chip designs while minimizing risk.†I
was dumbfounded and suggested he take a page from the Steve Jobs
playbook, eliminating all of the buzzwords such as intelligent and
solutions and simply answering one question: Why should your customers
care about your product?
Gallo, Carmine (2009-09-11). The
Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs : How to Be Insanely Great in Front
of Any Audience (Kindle Locations 479-486). McGraw-Hill Professional.
Kindle Edition.