While I know 100% of a tech reveal presentation can’t realistically be based in ethos, I would have loved to have seen more moments like this one where Apple could have sprinkled in some additional warm fuzzies.

People want to be associated with something more meaningful than just blanket consumerism, and to believe their money is going toward a good cause. A video montage presented customers who had experienced lifesaving and life-impacting moments thanks to the Apple Watch’s heart rate monitoring feature everything from a pregnant expectant mother going into an emergency labor, to a middle-age man having a heart attack, to a young boy overcoming challenges of autism. After all, technology isn’t normally considered a “tear-jerker.” Through their section devoted to the Apple Watch however, Apple surprisingly capitalized on ethos to pull at our heartstrings a bit. One would expect when launching new tech devices, pathos and logos would be the go-to cornerstones. Ethos makes use of emotion, pathos makes use of credibility, and logos makes use of logic. The presentation never seemed rushed or overwhelming, the pace allowed us to easily understand the content, and the pauses created excitement in our minds about what was about to come next.Īristotle, the granddaddy of public speaking, classified rhetorical appeals into three modes of expression: ethos, pathos, and logos. You could almost hear each of the speakers systematically counting in their heads, “one one thousand, two one thousand,” each time they made a pivot. The Apple team clearly got this memo in their inbox. Pauses allow information which was just covered to sink in before transitioning to a new thought and can create a dramatic moment of anticipation before revealing an important piece of new information. Cook appeared sincerely passionate and heartfelt about the new developments Apple is about to unleash to the world, which transferred an equal amount of excitement to us in the audience.Ī good speech shouldn’t be rushed through at a rapid, lightening-speed pace, but rather be delivered steadily and slowly, making use of strategic pause points. Given the intent of the speech was to inspire and pump people up, this dominant use of passion gestures ended up being appropriate and effective. And when he wasn’t using one of these gestures, his palms were always facing up, guiding our eyes to the same area. Cook utilized everything from prayer hands, to a clenched fist to his heart, to crossed hands over his heart. Now, I normally would have classified this tactic as too much of a good thing, but in this specific situation, it worked. I might go so far as to say the majority of his gestures originated from this area. However, the first thing that jumped out to me in Apple’s speech was just how many of CEO Tim Cook’s gestures came from his “passion” zone, around the heart. Using open handed gestures in this area (versus closed gestures, such as clasped hands, crossed arms etc.), exposes your body’s center and conveys trust and honesty.

When presenting, I normally recommend the majority of gestures be in the trust zone, around your waist. 3 Things I Loved in the Apple Keynote 2019:Īccording to Mark Bowden, an expert in body language, communication, and human behavior, body language can be categorized into four different zones: ideation (gestures made around the head), passion (the heart area), trust (the stomach area), and grotesque (below the belt). But, as we’re only as great as our latest success/failure, I decided to break down Apple’s latest keynote and examine which parts of the speech (not the actual products) I found effective and not so effective. Ever since Steve Jobs gave his revolutionary reveal speech in 2007 introducing the iPhone, Apple has built a reputation as ninjas in the field of public speaking. As a public speaking consultant and trainer, my job with Present Perfect is to ensure even the most established of professionals and companies are prepared to give killer keynote speeches. “Give people wonderful tools and they’ll do wonderful things”Īpple released its annual product launch this week, and along with it, their always-anticipated keynote speech.

Apple keynote speakers