“If the chief executive of Cadbury-Schweppes speaks at a conference, or Nike’s boss introduces a new kind of trainer, you might expect to see it covered in specialist magazines, then quickly forgotten. But on Tuesday a chief executive will stand up and announce something, and within minutes it will be scrutinised across the web and on stockbrokers’ computers. It will be in newspapers. They’ll talk about it for months,” Mike Evangelist writes for The Guardian.

“That chief executive is Steve Jobs, and I know why that speech makes an impact. To a casual observer it is just a guy in a black shirt and jeans talking about some new technology products. But it is in fact an incredibly complex and sophisticated blend of sales pitch, product demonstration and corporate cheerleading, with a dash of religious revival thrown in for good measure. It represents weeks of work, precise orchestration and intense pressure for the scores of people who collectively make up the ‘man behind the curtain.’ I know, because I’ve been there, first as part of the preparation team and later on stage with Steve,” Evangelist writes.

Steve Jobs is “the closest thing to a rock star you will find in the world of business,” Evangelist writes. “When Apple announces something new, people pay attention. This is due, in large measure, to Steve and the way he delivers Apple’s messages.”

Mike Evangelist tells the insider secrets of the gruelling preparation that goes into a Steve Jobs keynote presentation in the full article here.

[Mike Evangelist left Apple in 2002 and is writing a book about his time there, provisionally called "Jobs I've Known," live on his site: http://www.writersblocklive.com ]

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Former Apple exec writes about life at Apple, offers it free online – October 28, 2005