Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The art of a "Product Launch"

There's so much to learn from Steve Jobs. I recently watched Apple's iPad2 Product Launch - link and it was terrific.


While Apple does a great job with the product itself, the amount of preparation that goes into a product launch is simply inspiring and something that everyone should start doing. As a Business Development guy, marketing a high technology software, I have been learning a great deal from Steve and Apple.


Steve is definitely a role model for all those who are into presentations and public speaking. I guess he has such a  marvelous brain system that he never gets presentation nerves :-)


Talking about presentation nerves, I was going through Les Posen's blog recently. Les has mentioned 5 interventions for all those dealing with presentation nerves..

1. Chunking and exposure.
Identify and break down your presenting challenges into small manageable chunks, and deliberately expose yourself to each of them step by step.


2. Rehearsal.
Beyond just practicing your slide timings, actually visualize and hear yourself say the words with your slides. You see yourself in front of the crowd and rehearse your presentation to a variety of audience reactions, both positive and negative. 


3. Self-talk.
Anxiety grabs onto self-critical talk such as “I’ll do a terrible job. What happens if the slide show fails. What happens if they don’t laugh at my jokes.” Your task is not to feed your anxiety with this type of talk, but to change it into “I can do this. I will follow my rehearsed plans. This is manageable.”


4. Arousal control via diaphragmatic breathing.
Calm your brain’s fear center with slow, deliberate breaths with slightly longer exhales. Slower rhythm (rather than deep breathing) is helpful for fear management.


5. Deliberate practice.
Practice your beginning, identify challenging concepts, and practice, practice, practice—out loud. These techniques work, and I use them myself as well as with clients. They are powerful and will prove useful in scenarios other than presenting." 


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