Steve jobs 6 rules of presentations

 Steve Jobs didn’t just present.

He performed. And people still talk about it decades later.

⇢ FREE RESOURCE: 100 Sales Objections + How to Respond (PDF)
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Here are 6 rules Jobs used to make every keynote unforgettable and how you can steal them:

1. Start with why — Lead with the problem you’re solving before showing the solution. Spend 30% of your time here.

2. The rule of three — Structure your message around 3 core points to make it digestible and memorable.

3. Create holy moments — Plan one “holy sh*t” reveal that leaves the audience speechless.

4. Show, don’t tell — Back every claim with a live demo or real-world proof.

5. Emotional connection — Tie features to human aspirations and outcomes, not just specs.

6. Rehearse until perfect — Jobs practiced transitions, pauses, and every word until it looked effortless.

📌 Small tweaks in delivery can turn your next presentation from “good” to legendary.

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Do you even brand?: Branding 101

 Do you even brand?: Branding 101, according to Hugo Morrissey

Founder and director Hugo Morrissey shares lessons and laughs from his first chapter of Black Book Design Collective.

Written By: Guest Author

2 September 2025

I've always found branding agencies to be a bit of a nightmare. My perception has been that they're pricey, slow to reply, and the most creative thing about them is their ability to invent new costs.

However, since launching Black Book Design Collective earlier this year, it's been interesting to see the other side. I'll even admit that I can now sympathise with the aforementioned brand agencies, but only ever so slightly.

With my newfound perspective, I've learned four key things.

1. Fast, cheap, great: you can only choose two

When you're starting out, it's tempting to say yes to everyone. Cash is king, right? Yet some of our most stressful clients were the ones chasing 48-hour, weekend deadlines with no budget. I said yes because we wanted the work. Lesson learned.

Now I'd rather say: "We manage our team with strategic oversight and creative direction. We want to get it right for you, so we won't rush if it risks sub-par work. If you need fast, we need to prioritise or allocate more resources to ensure we don't do more harm than good." You might lose a job in the short term, but what you gain is trust in delivery, protection of reputations, and the open door to better future projects.

I've learnt that in creative work, speed rarely equals quality. A tight brief is essential if you want it fast and great, so be honest about it.

2. Keep it tight to get it right.

The brief is the contract between you and the client. This is where expectations are set, so a tight brief is everything. Scope creep happens every time, which isn't always a bad thing when it's about adding value and building relationships. The issue is when it's left unchecked and when you're not totally aligned on what's in scope and what's not.

Without a clear direction from the outset, the creative process becomes a race towards poor design or, worse, mediocrity. At least bad design acknowledges its flaws and can be ironic, whereas mediocre design inspires nothing.

So, if the process is being hijacked with new ideas every five minutes, you've lost control. What's become clear to me is that you have to stay the expert, which sometimes means taking a stop, resetting, and then continuing with a clear, aligned goal.

3. It's fun.

Creativity is fun. As someone who is often focused on productivity, my co-founder will remind me to have fun, because it's where the magic lies. It often doesn't seem like work, spending a few hours brainstorming ideas with designers or sitting down in a café writing for an hour.

Companies are trusting us with their "babies", and it's up to us to develop a brand for them that they are proud of, which resonates with their target market and that they love. To be part of this process, to see various creative routes explored and to see a brand born from nothing and built into something spectacular is epic. Add to that the pride our team takes in helping to create this brand, and that's where the good stuff is.

Very few brand stories start with the opening of an Excel document.

4. UK branding agencies charge an arm and a leg, and sometimes a hand and a foot.

One thing that hasn't surprised me, though the scale still shocks me, is that UK branding agencies charge an absolute fortune. If you're meeting an agency in a shiny central London office, remember you're paying for that rent. Sure, some agencies are undoubtedly superior to others, given the experience of their teams, but the amount some charge for the value they create still seems off-kilter to me.

As the un-agency co-founder, I do believe that many top agencies miss this trick. It is not just about the cost, but the value. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Don't get me wrong, I know branding isn't easy. It is messy, unpredictable, and occasionally makes you want to throw your laptop into the sea, but it is also exciting, addictive, and far more rewarding than I expected. As an entrepreneur in my second business, I find it incredibly exciting to help bring other businesses to life and support them on their journey.

Six months in, I am still learning every day. If there's one thing I know for sure, it is that good work comes from good people, clear conversations, and a healthy dose of humour.

Further Information

This article was written by founder and director Hugo Morrissey from the Black Book Design Collective.

Master your meetings with 7 strategies from top CEOs.

 Master your meetings with 7 strategies from top CEOs.

Want to know how to run insanely productive meetings?

I've studied the tactics of leaders at Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more.

Here's what the world's best do differently:

1. Jensen Huang (NVIDIA) uses first principles thinking
↳ Asks "What do we know for sure?"
↳ Strips away assumptions before brainstorming
↳ Uncovers breakthrough ideas others miss

2. Abigail Johnson (Fidelity) pressure-tests ideas
↳ Assigns a devil's advocate
↳ Requires data to back up counterarguments
↳ Catches blind spots before they become mistakes

3. Tim Cook (Apple) is ruthless about time
↳ Keep meetings under 30 minutes
↳ Cuts ideas with no owner or outcome
↳ Sharp focus = fast execution

4. Lisa Su (AMD) puts customers in the room
↳ Opens with real user stories
↳ Frames decisions by customer impact
↳ Keeps teams aligned on what actually matters

5. Sundar Pichai (Google) drives fast follow-through
↳ Ends meetings with clear next steps
↳ Each task has an owner and deadline
↳ Turns talk into traction

6. Safra Catz (Oracle) anchors on one metric
↳ Every topic starts with the number that matters
↳ Debates focus on moving it
↳ Turns opinions into ownership

7. Satya Nadella (Microsoft) masters the room
↳ Leaders speak last
↳ Recaps key points to show deep listening
↳ Builds trust and keeps momentum high

These strategies work.

They save time.
They build clarity.
They deliver results.

Pick one.
Use it this week.
Be among the top 29%.

P.S. Want a PDF of my Master Your Meetings Cheat Sheet?

Get it free: https://lnkd.in/dpr4KYYf

Advertising Prompts

 David Ogilvy didn’t write prompts.

But if he did, they’d look like this.

Interrogate the product
You are a product analyst with no tolerance for fluff. Ask 10 brutally honest questions about [product/service] to expose its real strengths, weaknesses, and selling potential.

Extract the unique promise
You are a positioning expert. Based on this product: [insert description], write 3 versions of a single-sentence promise that is specific, believable, and unmatched by competitors.

Write copy that sells without shouting
Act like a master of quiet persuasion. Write a short sales paragraph for [product/service] that relies on logic, clarity, and social proof — not hype.

Turn facts into desire
You're a copywriter obsessed with proof. Use the following facts about [product] to write an ad that turns dry details into compelling reasons to buy. Facts: [insert bullet points]

Analyse the competition
You’re a competitor analyst. Write a teardown of [competitor’s product/ad/message]. What are they doing well? What are they missing? How could we out-position them?

Sharpen the big idea
You are a concept refiner. Here's the campaign idea: [insert idea]. Identify the core emotional driver and rewrite it as a “big idea” in 10 words or fewer.

Find the line that stops the scroll
You are a headline obsessive. Write 10 first-line hooks for [product or campaign] that could stop someone mid-scroll. Use proven techniques: contrast, curiosity, clarity.

Reveal the hidden benefit
You are a psychologist in disguise. Look at this feature: [insert feature]. What’s the deeper benefit behind it — the thing the customer really cares about?

Build a campaign from one quote
Here’s a customer quote: “[insert quote]”. Write 3 ad concepts inspired by it: one testimonial-led, one insight-led, one idea-led.

Test the claim
You are a hostile reader. Here's the main claim: “[insert claim]”. Tear it apart — what’s unbelievable, vague, or unproven? Then rewrite it so even a skeptic would nod.

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