Amidst the dozens of obituaries, articles, and tributes I read about Steve Jobs, one particular characteristic stood out: Steve's mistrust in focus groups and in going to the market first to ask what the consumer wanted.

"It's not the consumers' job to know what they want," he once said.

 

What a staggeringly brilliant statement.

 

More speakers than I can count -- ranging from new presenters to CEOs, executive vice presidents and national sales managers at some of the world's most celebrated brands -- have asked me at one point or another if I thought the audience would be okay for them to include XYZ or do ABC in their presentation. Their inquiry was most often paired with a story of a coach or colleague who had warned them, "You can't do that," "You shouldn't do that" or "That will never work."

 

So why are these individuals still thinking about doing that particular thing?

Because they are still musing on their own intuitive creative genius and wondering whether or not to trust it.

I say, "Trust it."

The fact is, it's never the idea that's inherently bad or good; it's how it's positioned and presented...and the intention behind it.

 

Specific examples of presenters' ideas and questions have included....

 

Do you think it would work if I were to....

·       bring my guitar on stage?

·       talk about how my parents suffered through the Holocaust...and survived?

·       use the theme in my national sales meeting of "growing" & "gardening" vs. "killing" & "bombing"?

·       create a duo speaking act (with my wife) vs. a solo act (each on our own)?

In the case of each of the speakers I mentioned above, we worked together and found the kernel of how and why their intuitive idea could work. We then positioned and developed the idea so that its inclusion wasn't self-indulgent but meaningful for the audience.

 

I'm proud to say that every one of these people (all the examples mentioned above) met with huge success and they have told me with glee months (and in some cases, years later) that their particular idea is still mentioned today by those who were present.

 

As Bessie Schonberg, the legendary choreography teacher once said to me, "I don't care if you stand on your head in the middle of the stage and wiggle your toes as long as there's a reason for it and as long as it furthers the dance."

 

As you begin to create and craft your presentation, record all possible ideas that you're musing on. In the early phases, don't throw any out. Most of the time, your intuition already knows something that you consciously do not.

 

Steve trusted in his own sense of where they market would and could be.

And no one is drawing a map for that.

 

That map, however, is already in you...more than you know.

 

RETWEETABLE BITS

Are people telling you what NOT to include in your speech? Try trusting yourself. http://tinyurl.com/3ap2eej via @VictoriaLabalme

You're smarter than the naysayers. http://tinyurl.com/3ap2eej via @VictoriaLabalme

Your intuition already knows what might be best. Lessons from Steve Jobs. http://tinyurl.com/3ap2eej via @VictoriaLabalme