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Apple’s 2hr Keynote 🕰, Sharpiepresents49
June 6th, 2019
⏰ 2 minute read
⏰ 2 minute read
2 hours
Here’s some thoughts on the latest Apple keynote presentation at the World Wide Developers Conference this week. The first thing was the length. It was over 2 hours long! That’s interesting for me because I’ve had to do longer presentations myself recently. So how successfully did they fill the time?
Time
Presenters
If you were asked to fill a 2 hour slot, what would you do? For Apple it’s a bit easier because they have a lot of resources to use. One of those resources is people. They used about 9 different presenters. If you don’t have access to this, one thing you can do is involve the audience by asking lots of simple questions.
Videos
Another tool Apple has long used to break up their presentations is video. Short video clips of about a minute or less are a great way to present your world to an audience. Of course Apple has professional video makers to do this beautifully. But you can use simple tools to make great videos with iPhones & iPads. Always make your own.
Live
Another tool Apple has long used during longer presentations is live demos. Yes these can go wrong no matter how you practice (Murphy’s law) but when they work they are very powerful. Think how to get a live demo into your presentation. It could be as simple as making a live calculation on a calculator.
Rule of 3
Screens
Apple has long been a champion of the Rule of 3 & it was as ubiquitous as ever in the latest Keynote. For example this time instead of one screen, they had three screens which could present different things at the same time or act as 2 monitors of the speaker with presentation in the middle. Very cool.
Photos
In the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation we mention that photos should be one to a slide & full screen. That’s an Apple tool from their past presentations, but now to demonstrate things like software on iPhone, iPad & Watch they often use 3 photos for example of 3 different watch faces.
Four
While Apple had long championed the rule of 3, in the Tim Cook era, they’ve also tried to make some breaks with the past too. One of those is the use of the numbers either side of 3. You now quite often see 2 things & in this latest keynote 4. I guess the lesson here is whichever it’s not too many.
Neon
Lots
Most reporting on Apple Keynotes of course focuses on the products. Not many focus on the presentation itself. So something new which doesn’t seem to have garnered much attention is the use of neon. Even the main event logo which is on the website is a collage of several neon symbols. There was lots of neon on the presentation slides.
Instagram
The neon writing & symbols in the Keynote is not an option yet in the mobile app versions. Perhaps this is coming in the next update. It looks great for presenting & I look forward to using it. Social media seems to be leading he way here with neon writing an option in Instagram stories now.
Dark?
The neon, brings up an interesting presentation question. Should you use a white or a black slide background? Apple has always used black slides & is now offering a dark background to everything in the latest iPhone software. We have always used white for presenting in daylight, but we will try dark & let you know how it goes.
Longer lessons
With the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation, we’ve focused on making presentations as simple & short as possible. 7-10 minutes. But it’s also true that the bigger you get as an individual or an organization, the longer you will be expected to present for. Apple helps to give some great tips on what you should do.
Be a great presenter!
Sebastian
Here’s some thoughts on the latest Apple keynote presentation at the World Wide Developers Conference this week. The first thing was the length. It was over 2 hours long! That’s interesting for me because I’ve had to do longer presentations myself recently. So how successfully did they fill the time?
Time
Presenters
If you were asked to fill a 2 hour slot, what would you do? For Apple it’s a bit easier because they have a lot of resources to use. One of those resources is people. They used about 9 different presenters. If you don’t have access to this, one thing you can do is involve the audience by asking lots of simple questions.
Videos
Another tool Apple has long used to break up their presentations is video. Short video clips of about a minute or less are a great way to present your world to an audience. Of course Apple has professional video makers to do this beautifully. But you can use simple tools to make great videos with iPhones & iPads. Always make your own.
Live
Another tool Apple has long used during longer presentations is live demos. Yes these can go wrong no matter how you practice (Murphy’s law) but when they work they are very powerful. Think how to get a live demo into your presentation. It could be as simple as making a live calculation on a calculator.
Rule of 3
Screens
Apple has long been a champion of the Rule of 3 & it was as ubiquitous as ever in the latest Keynote. For example this time instead of one screen, they had three screens which could present different things at the same time or act as 2 monitors of the speaker with presentation in the middle. Very cool.
Photos
In the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation we mention that photos should be one to a slide & full screen. That’s an Apple tool from their past presentations, but now to demonstrate things like software on iPhone, iPad & Watch they often use 3 photos for example of 3 different watch faces.
Four
While Apple had long championed the rule of 3, in the Tim Cook era, they’ve also tried to make some breaks with the past too. One of those is the use of the numbers either side of 3. You now quite often see 2 things & in this latest keynote 4. I guess the lesson here is whichever it’s not too many.
Neon
Lots
Most reporting on Apple Keynotes of course focuses on the products. Not many focus on the presentation itself. So something new which doesn’t seem to have garnered much attention is the use of neon. Even the main event logo which is on the website is a collage of several neon symbols. There was lots of neon on the presentation slides.
The neon writing & symbols in the Keynote is not an option yet in the mobile app versions. Perhaps this is coming in the next update. It looks great for presenting & I look forward to using it. Social media seems to be leading he way here with neon writing an option in Instagram stories now.
Dark?
The neon, brings up an interesting presentation question. Should you use a white or a black slide background? Apple has always used black slides & is now offering a dark background to everything in the latest iPhone software. We have always used white for presenting in daylight, but we will try dark & let you know how it goes.
Longer lessons
With the 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation, we’ve focused on making presentations as simple & short as possible. 7-10 minutes. But it’s also true that the bigger you get as an individual or an organization, the longer you will be expected to present for. Apple helps to give some great tips on what you should do.
Be a great presenter!
Sebastian
UOn the subject of longer... we are adding new chapters to 7 Steps To Making A Great Presentation! So far Chapter 12, but there will be more. Check it out here
