Hide Behind The Slide

I’ve not read the big Steve Jobs biog. Someone I was coaching through a pitch framework the other day though was.

They commented on how the Apple CEO revealed his view on slide decks when returning to the ailing company for his stint in the late 90s.

Apparently all the product guys wanted to give him slide driven presentations.

He wouldn’t stand for his.

He told them to all go away and ditch their work.

He thought they were hiding behind their slides and it showed that they didn’t know their subject well enough.

There’s a lot of sense in this.

Can you talk about your subject in a compelling manner without a single slide anywhere in sight?