There’s a tremendous amount of pressure behind the scenes of a CES keynote presentation. The teams responsible (designers, marketers and speakers) rehearse for weeks. Every message, demo, and slide are meticulously crafted. Each year at least one keynote steals the show. This week Intel CEO Brian Krzanich delivered a presentation that seemed to do just that, according to some bloggers. The keynote—which you can view here—has many of the elements of an exciting presentation and offers valuable lessons for all communicators. [disclosure: I’ve advised Intel executives and other CES keynote speakers in past shows].
Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich delivers a keynote address at CES 2016. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The attention grabber. A memorable presentation needs to start strong, with a compelling story, visual or other attention grabbing moment right out of the gate. After Gary Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, introduced Brian Krzanich, the Intel CEO didn’t just walk on stage; he rode out on a Segway hoverboard powered by Intel technology. It was a fitting entrance given the theme of the presentation: “A new era of consumer technology where consumers are choosing experiences over products.” The hoverboard also converted into a robot. It’s called the Segway Robot.
The rule of three. Regular readers of my column know that I’m a fan of the rule of three. We naturally chunk content into smaller slices of three or four items. For example, most people remember a 7-digit phone number by chunking it into groups of three and four numbers. I recommend dividing a presentation into three parts, too. In Intel’s CES keynote, Krzanich outlined the presentation in three sections. Intel, he said, will reinvent consumer experiences in three areas: Sports and Gaming; Health and Wellness; Creativity. The rest of the presentation including the demos fell under one of the three categories.
Brian Krzanich divides keynote into three parts
Share the stage. Most leaders attempt to carry the entire presentation or a large portion of it. I believe in sharing the stage. I’ve seen some Apple presentations where CEO Tim Cook only delivers about 30% of the presentation and leaves the rest to others, experts in a particular category. In the 2016 CES Intel presentation, Krzanich shared the stage with twelve others (twenty-four others if you count the singers and fashion models demonstrating Intel technology). These other speakers included Intel employees, gaming experts, extreme athletes, and business partners such as ESPN president John Skipper and television producer Mark Burnett.
Build in wow moments. The ‘wow’ moment is the one story, visual, or demo that the audience will be talking about long after the presentation is over. There were several such moments in the Intel presentation, but one in particular stands out. Part of the stage was set up to look like a forest and an outdoor bicycle trail with twists and turns and fake trees. As a cyclist navigated the trail, a drone followed the rider and recorded the journey. The drone even averted ‘falling’ trees that blocked the path. Krzanich described it as “The first truly intelligent consumer drone” powered by Intel Real Sense technology. A BBC article carried the headline, “Intel Drone Dodges Falling Tree on Stage.” One effective way of creating a wow moment is to start with the headline you’d like to see, and work toward making the headline a reality.
Constantly re-engage the audience. Intel’s CES presentation lasted one hour and forty minutes, but it included twelve individual speakers, four videos, and seven demos of experiences, devices, and gadgets powered by Intel technology. The audience was treated to a new element or a new speaker every five minutes or less. Don’t give your audience an opportunity to lose interest.
A presentation of this quality cannot be pulled off without hours and hours of practice. Many communicators fail to rehearse nearly as much as they should. A great presentation is much like a Broadway production complete with a cast, sets, and props. No one would take the stage without hours of practice, and neither should a business presenter. Your audience and customers will reward you for your effort.