Biz gurus present

While poking around the web today I found previously unseen videos (unseen by me, that is) of three business presenters I've talked about here many times: Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Tom Peters. All three have extensive business experience in Silicon Valley (and a Stanford connection) and all three have great stories to tell and useful content to share. All three — no surprise — "get" the presentation thing and have worked to hone their style and improve their message and delivery over the years.

If you watch the clips from the links below you'll notice that there is nothing traditional or conventional in their approaches to public speaking. Their respective styles are not exactly the kind of public speaking you'd see at your local Toastmasters meeting (an organization I highly respect and recommend, by the way). Still, it works for them. All three use slides in their talks; Guy no more than ten, Tom more than one hundred, Seth somewhere in between. The number of slides doesn't matter. What matters is that the visuals have an important role, but a supportive role. A complementary role.

(1) Seth Godin. (See video clip.) Seth is a hot ticket, and an expensive one at that. I've read his books and get his story. But what a difference it is to see someone like Seth speak "his story" in a 40-minute presentation. It'd be much better live in person, but via video is not bad either. Books are great, but nothing beats seeing the person speak from his heart; the non-verbal communication adds so much. This 45-minute clip is of Seth speaking at Google earlier this year.

(2) Guy Kawasaki. (See video clip.) Guy here takes "Silicon Valley casual" to another level. I've seen Guy speak many times. He even did a few talks for me when I was at Apple. Audiences love him and appreciate his casual, frank style. In this short clip, Guy's so relaxed he's sitting on a desk. Depending where you are in the world, you may find his style "too casual." But for Guy, in his industry, it is appropriate.

Both Guy and Seth have a relaxed, casual, "California style." Seth is a little more "professional" in appearance in his clip, but you'll notice he's still wearing  jeans. The suit and tie may be appropriate in New York or London, but in Silicon Valley, wearing a suit and a tie is a good way to look like an outsider.

(3) Tom Peters. (See three clips here on the Washington Speakers Bureau site; right column.) Tom is famous for his books and his rants. I saw Tom present once when I worked in the Valley and loved his talk. I remember that he was very passionate, mobile (talk about working the room!), and slightly ticked off. In fact, he used the term "pissed off" on more that one occasion. "Pissed off" as in "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." Tom's style is not for everyone, but I like it, and I like him. His slides? I'll get to those later. (I know I keep promising, but I really will do a Tom Peters PPT Makeover in future.)

Let me know what you think of these presenters (the good, bad, etc.) and please feel free to point me to some outstanding presenters we can see on-line.

Links
• Guy's demo video from his website.
• Guy's "Art of the Start" presentation video at UCLA earlier this year.
• Tom Peters on Presentations (Presentation Zen).
• 34-second pitch by Seth Godin on the Big Moo

Comments

[Jeroen]

Even though I liked the content and message of his presentation shown in the videos, I didn't really like the videos of Tom Peters. Seeing/hearing his presentations makes me feel 'dumb', while listening to Kawasaki or Godin makes me feel 'smart'.

[Cristian]

I listened to Seth's presentation and came off with the feeling that he knows what he's talking about but cannot formalize it. He obviously has a flair, a gut-feeling that guides him thru the marketing business but is unable to present it in a formal way.
I guess this is how new fields (such as permission marketing) begin, with a blurred image of what is right or wrong rather than with a well-structured schema which gets applied.

[Taffy]

I watched most of Seth's presentation, some of Guy's and very little of Tom's.

I realise that context is important and that we weren't in the room at the introduction of Seth's presentation, but I had no real feel as to theme of the presentation. I was never really sure of the overarching point he was trying to make, though each individual message was valid yet independent of what had gone before.

Guy's came across as per your description: honest, forthright, and believable.

If I'm honest, I thought Tom's was very poor. I felt I was watching a Division Two televangelist who had diagnosed me and was me giving me (his) the cure for the ills. I watched the leadership clip but turned off after he took the 20 seconds to read the text on the slide that everyone else was reading.

I know he has passion - but so does Guy. I know he has content (I think) but so does Seth. What I think he lacks is pacing. I felt I was being forced to drink information from a hose pipe with little time to digest the implications of his insight - unless this was a deliberate ploy!!!!

[Debbie Weil]

Garr,

You've got a new fan. Love your blog, love your stuff. How cool that you're living in Japan!

Debbie

P.S. I've been working hard on my platform/presentation skills recently. Sometimes I wonder if it's harder for a woman to be a great speaker. I.e. commanding, entertaining, informative, fun.

What do you think??

[communicatrix]

I love that talk of Seth's, which I saw for the first time months ago. Now I feel stupid for not sending you a link back then; next time, I won't be so shy.

As for Tom's slides, I feel the same way. I've had a presentation of his on my desktop for a loooong time that I keep threatening to redo. But now I think I'll just sit back and watch the master (that would be you) re-do his thing...

[occupation]

Not much on my mind right now. Today was a complete loss. So it goes. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen. I've basically been doing nothing , but I guess it doesn't bother me.

[noise]

I haven't been up to much these days. Such is life. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days, but I don't care.