Dress up numbers. When Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said it came with a 5GB hard-drive. Only the most technical audience would understand the implications of that number. Jobs broke it down by saying, “That’s enough storage for 1,000 songs.” He made the number even more compelling by announcing that all those songs could fit in your pocket. Apple presenters never leave big numbers hanging without placing those numbers into perspective. For example, during the “Rock & Roll” music event, marketing head Phil Schiller announced that Apple had sold 220 million iPods to date. “That’s 73% of the market,” he said. Schiller took it one step further, and got a laugh, when he said Microsoft was “pulling up the rear” with 1% market share.
Carmine Gallo is the author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. He is the communication skills coach for the world’s most admired brands, including IBM, Nokia and Chase. He writes a weekly leadership and communications column for BusinessWeek.com. More about Carmine Gallo at his Gallo Communications website.
