Out of all the famous entrepreneurs of the last fifty years, Steve Jobs is perhaps the most iconic. The legendary founder of Apple and Pixar who brought us Toy Story, the Macintosh and the iPhone had a cult-like following that even his more financially successful counterparts were envious of. It seemed like no matter what Steve did, he did it with his own unique style -- including giving speeches.

Today’s young crop of technology entrepreneurs are often seen speaking in jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops, something that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Their thumbing of their noses towards on-stage dress codes and unflappable confidence was pioneered by Steve Jobs. While other corporate leaders would address their audiences in suits, Steve sported his relaxed dress code of jeans and a black turtleneck. It’s no wonder that today’s twenty-something year old CEOs are mimicking his casual presentation style and taking it to new levels.

Talks (“speeches” sound too formal) now feature more technology than ever – in terms of both the content of the talk and the method of the delivery. There are live demos on larger than life screens. Big announcements are made in big ways with big build ups. A lot of the basic rules of public speaking have been tossed out the window along with the dress code. Do filler words like “um” and “ah” really matter anymore? Can you start a talk with a “thank you”?

For those who like the more traditional aspects of public speaking, the not-so-bad news is that unless you’re presenting at MacWorld, SXSW or a similar venue, the standard rules of public speaking still apply. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a page from Steve Job’s book on speaking. Have fun with your audience, make your speech more interesting, and try out some technology if it helps better illustrate your point. Or even just add a little more creativity to your talk to make it more interesting and enjoyable for your audience.

Steve Jobs was widely accepted as a visionary when it came to technology. But he was also a visionary when it came to communication. While he was criticized as much as he was praised, he created a work environment at Apple that was stressful and internally competitive but turned it into the largest technology company not once, but twice. Here is an examples of one of his talks:

In this other clip, Steve does an amazing job handling an aggressive questioner:

Related posts:

1. Public Speaking Success: Does it Really Make Sense to Take Every Speaking Opportunity You’re Offered?
2. Public Speaking Success: The Effect Public Speaking has on Your Confidence
3. Public Speaking Success: How to Give a Great Speech
4. The Real Reason People Hate Public Speaking

Last night during President Obama’s speech, Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina shouted “You lie!” in the middle of it. When I first heard about it, I kind of laughed to myself as I thought about how other countries have more spirited debates during these types of speeches. But then I thought a bit more about it and I felt that Rep. Wilson was, politics aside, both unprofessional and disrespectful. As I read the reactions later today, I started to believe that it was a bad idea for him to do that because his actions made him and his party look bad, and gave the other side ammunition and motivation that could change the momentum of the debate. But then as I sat down to write about it, I realized that Rep. Wilson’s outburst could only be described with one word: Brilliant.

Before I get into how I came to my conclusion, I’d like to provide a little background on the situation. First, it is not my intention to argue whether Obamacare (as it’s being called) is or isn’t a good idea. Instead, I’m analyzing whether or not the interruption was a good idea. Second, if you haven’t seen the interruption, here’s a video clip from Youtube:

Finally, in order to really understand the affect this has, you need to take your own political beliefs out of the equation. Most liberals think Joe Wilson is an idiot for his outburst, many conservatives find him a hero. In fact, many conservatives remind us that back in 2005, President Bush was booed by several Democrats during one of his State of the Union addresses. Here’s the video:

So no matter which side you’re on, you’ve got an example of someone heckling a President representing your party (and if you can barely tell where either interruption occurred, you’re not alone). If you think it was wrong for one and not the other to act that way, you’re letting your political bias cloud your judgment. And I want to stress that I found both acts to be unprofessional and distasteful and I don’t think either act justifies the other. But as you’ll see, there’s more to it than just being disrespectful. Let’s look at some facts:

• Prior to yesterday, President Obama’s approval ratings had been sliding according to most major polling organizations. According to many polls, support for his health care reform plans have been sliding as well.
• Calling Obama a good speaker is an understatement. Whether you love him or hate him (or credit the teleprompter for his success), he speaks well and energizes his fans when he talks. His speech yesterday was well crafted.
• There are three types of people that watch any political speech: people siding with the speaker, people against the speaker and people on the fence. Hecklers, protesters and other people that interrupt typically don’t help their cause. They infuriate the speaker’s supporters, embarrass those that side with the heckler and can often nudge those on the fence to the speaker’s side.

So with all that being said, common knowledge would dictate that Rep. Wilson’s outburst was a bad idea. A lot of polls and commentary afterwards, including comments by Obama’s opponent in the Presidential election, John McCain, would indicate it was a very bad idea. Just as I thought it was unprofessional for the democrats to boo Bush during his speech, I felt the same about Joe Wilson. But then I came across another fact:

• Prior to yesterday, very few people knew who Joe Wilson was.

Today, “Joe Wilson” is the most popular search term on the web and on social media services such as Twitter. Today, he set a record for fund raising and his web site got so much traffic it got shut down (keep in mind that not all of this traffic was from fans).

There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and most people can only name a handful (many don’t even know who represents their district). Today, Joe Wilson is one member of that handful.

It’s scary how Washington is becoming more and more like Hollywood in the sense that getting your name out is the most important thing you can do, regardless of the cost. I have no idea what Joe Wilson’s political aspirations are, but where he comes from a conservative district, I suspect he won’t be out of a job soon. I live in a state that’s so liberal, that many of our representatives run unopposed and get away with behavior far worse than heckling the President.

Like the song “Celebrity” by Brad Paisley goes “the more they run my name down, the more my price goes up,” Joe Wilson’s value as a speaker or guest on television or radio has gone up. It’s hard to tell how long his fifteen minutes will last. Remember Susan Boyle? But he certainly made a name for himself. Was his behavior unprofessional? Definitely. Did it help his career? Absolutely. Would I have done it? Not a chance.

Related posts:

1. How Ignorance Will Make Your Small Business Fail
2. A Defeat Every Now And Then Can Be a Good Thing
3. A quick note about politics
4. Mitt Romney – Faith in America

The King of Pop. Pedophile. Talented. Wacko Jacko. Everyone has an opinion of Michael Jackson – some loved him, some hated him. Although I wasn’t a fan of his music and found some of the things he did a bit odd and creepy, I certainly can appreciate his talent as a performer and admire the way he touched his fans. I remember when he went to court in 1993, people who he had never personally met waited outside willing to stick by him regardless of the outcome. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that it’s pretty impressive how his fans truly loved him.

My first memories of Michael Jackson were back in 1984 when Thriller was at its peak. Kids in my class (girls and boys) had the red jackets and the gloves and my fourth grade teacher gave us a lesson on fads. Again, I wasn’t a fan of his music but loved the guitar solo in “Beat it” – and that was even before I knew that Eddie Van Halen performed it. Jackson later performed in one of my all time favorites “We are the World” and experimented with lot of different styles – one of my favorites being “Dirty Diana” (can you tell I love guitar?).

Even more impressive is the fact that Michael Jackson’s popularity helped launched the career of a talented unknown kid who’d call into the Doctor Demento show with song parodies. “Eat it” (a parody of “Beat it”) launched the long and successful career of Weird Al Yankovic (one of my favorites). I could go on and on about Michael’s accomplishments as a performer, but most of that is common knowledge or easily found on Wikipedia.

What I found most impressive is how dozens of companies used Michael’s music to promote their products. Again, he has a real talent when it comes to connecting with his fans – when they hear his music, they feel good. So naturally, companies paid millions of dollars to use his music to get his fans to associate that good feeling to their products. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all could perform in a manner that makes people feel good? If you speak to groups, this is your ultimate goal.

All speakers want to connect with their audiences but many fail to do so. Just like dozens fail each year on national TV in shows like American Idol (and countless others fail getting to that point), so do many presenters. Michael Jackson was successful because he was talented, worked hard and tried new things. He had his share of flops, but he always managed to bounce back. He had planned yet another farewell performance that was to begin the day after he passed away. If he were to live another 20 or 30 years, I’m sure he’d be making the news with both stumbles and successes throughout that period.

As a tribute to Michael Jackson, I’d like to share two videos that I recently came across on Youtube. One of my favorite places to vacation is Walt Disney World in Florida and a few years back, Michael Jackson was featured in one of their attractions – a 3-D film called Captain EO. Here is the film in it’s entirety (minus the 3-D):

Part 1:

Part 2:

Related posts:

1. Do You Live Under a Rock or in a Cave?
2. A different perspective on Michael Richards
3. Life Lessons From Video Games
4. Super Tuesday Quote of the Day

I remember John and Kate Gosselin from their first documentary on the Discovery Channel. This was before they agreed to be the focus of a reality show – a decision that resulted in the recent unfortunate news that’s dominating the entertainment headlines. They seemed like a nice couple doing an amazing job despite a challenging lifestyle.

Before “John & Kate Plus Eight” Kate worked a couple shifts a week as nurse. John, in my opinion, did a great job handling the kids on his own given that he also held down career/”>a full time job. They were crammed in a small house, their financial future was uncertain and both parents were overtired and over-stressed.

Then came the outpouring of help from caring people and eventually the reality series. No one can blame John & Kate for taking the offer to do the show – it made practical and financial sense at the time. But somewhere down the road, they fell victim to their own success.

I watched the show regularly during its first season – I was interested in their story as I know a lot of families with twins and high order multiples. I found it amazing how well organized this family was – the house was clean, the kids were on schedule and Kate did her darndest to ensure that the family ate healthy (often organic) foods. But even back then, it was clear to the viewer that the couple was plagued by the same vices that affected other reality TV couples – even though the couple themselves may not have realized it.

Kate was portrayed as being too assertive and harsh on her husband. John was portrayed as a guy that simply gave up because no matter what he did, he couldn’t please his wife. I stopped watching the show after this first season as I lost interest in the “show” part of it but did occasionally pick up an article here and there about this remarkable family. I hoped John and Kate had a chance due to their strong religious beliefs and commitment to each other and their family. But then they became household names – millions of people watched them from week to week.

The stress of a newborn is often enough to challenge the commitment of the two parents to each other. In some cases, one or both of the parents get jealous of the attention the baby receives from their partner. When you factor in twins or triplets, things begin to get overwhelming and financial pressure kicks in. With a singleton baby, the cost of day care is reasonable enough that both parents can return to work and still live a lifestyle similar to what they’re been used to. When you factor in twins or more, the cost of daycare can easily offset one parent’s earnings. Even if one parent had planned all along to stay home, bringing more than one baby home from the hospital at time is still a challenge.

Each additional baby adds a degree of complexity to the situation. Most multiples are born early which can come with its own set of challenges. With twins, you can use a “man to man defense” to feed and comfort the babies but you’ll often need double the equipment. With triplets, you’re outnumbered and someone is always pulling double duty. Plus, most vehicles outside of minivans and large SUVs are unable to safely fit three car seats (forget it if you already have other children). When you get to quads, it’s possible that you could run out of living space given the room needed for four cribs, high chairs, etc…. Plus, the cost of food, diapers, formula and clothing can approach a small fortune.

So even without the fame from a popular TV show, John and Kate had a number of challenges ahead of them. In part two of this, I’ll talk about the effects of fame and how it can be like winning the lottery – at first it seems likes a good thing but if you’re not careful, it can be the worst thing to happen to you.

Related posts:

1. Parents Should Act Like Parents
2. Who’s your candidate for President?
3. A Whirlwind Labor Day
4. Getting to Yes: The Power of Persistence.