I have been trying to summarize the presentation styles of Bill Gates & Steve Jobs, the two pillars of the computer world. I was at a loss for an analogy until I revisited the site:
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/09/steve-bill-redu.html
After quickly glancing at the page, my metaphor snapped into place. Bill Gates is the embodiment of Microsoft Powerpoint software. Steve Jobs is the embodiment of Apple Keynote software.
A Bill Gates Powerpoint presentations is an example of everything coming at you at 101 mph. There are too many elements stimulating your senses at one time. On YouTube I recently viewed an interesting multipart interview entitled, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together. This set of interviews was hosted by Walt Mossberg , the technology editor for the Wall Street Journal. In this interview Bill Gates stated point blank that one of the skills he lacks is Steve Jobs innate sense of design. Watching a Bill Gates presentation supported by Powerpoint is like trying to listen to an over caffeinated chihuahua.
In contrast a Steve Jobs presentation of information is analogous to eating a fine Japanese meal elegantly presented in a hand crafted Bento box. In typical Apple style, everything in a Steve Jobs presentation is an example elegant design. I don’t recall where I read that Steve Jobs is the preeminent presenter in corporate america. It is obvious that he is in command of the stage & the audience. Why is Steve Jobs is the embodiment of Apple Keynote software? Here is an interesting bit of trivia. To support Steve Jobs’ presentations, the Apple engineers developed a custom presentation software tool. It’s code name was Keynote. That’s correct, the same Keynote software sold today started out as a pet project at Apple.
Both Bill Gates & Steve are masters of technology. If it were not for these two men, the world would not be the same. Gates & Jobs are the ying yang of the computing world. Consequently they each have their own presentation styles. Personally, I prefer the Steve Jobs style of presenting.
