Saturday, July 23, 2011
Think Steve Jobs was always this charismatic on stage? Think again.
When he
first presented the Macintosh in 1984, he spent most of his time behind the lectern, reading from his notes, and had zero engagement with the audience. Look at his hunched shoulders; and how he often seems to be looking at his shoes. He seems bashful, awkward, shy.
By 1996, he's walking around the stage, clearly more comfortable and confident. He's speaking more fluidly, looking at the audience, taking questions and answering as he goes along.
However, overall, he still seems awkward, stiff, like the Tin Man character in the Wizard of Oz movie. He uses far too many useless gestures, with 'umms' and 'ahs' punctuating his sentences.
The Steve Jobs of 2000, announcing
his return as CEO of Apple and
introducing the Apple G4 is a showman now. He owns the stage.
His speech is carefully orchestrated, he uses theatrical techniques throughout his presentation. In fact, he's using the same techniques as professional magicians.
Five minutes into the G4 presentation, the image is striking: just like a magician in a black cape, with a black hat, pulling out a white rabbit, here's Steve in his black top, against a black background, with a black pouch, pulling out a white G4 cube.
The "one more thing" is now seen as his hallmark; in fact, he may have gotten that from the defunct TV show
Columbo. Charismatic masters aren't afraid to imitate...
Theatrics and magicians' tricks will become a classic of his; you can see them again in his
2005 keynote introducing the iPod Nano: revealing the small Nano hidden in his pocket throughout the presentation, to the oohs and aahs of the audience.
By 2007, his body language is now so understated, casual, comfortable, he could be in his living room.
His confidence shows not just in his body language, but in his deliberate, dramatic use of silence: he's comfortable making the audience wait for his next words. In fact, he plays with the audience; he teases the audience.
By 2011, he expresses humanity and vulnerability. He makes fun of himself, and of Apple; he actually talks about his products' defects. But he's lost energy. He's relying more on data; less on his own presence. One could say he's past his peak, as far as pure stage charisma goes.