Written by Jeremy Connell-Waite, Communications Designer @IBM .
Rob Thomas is one of the best speakers we have at IBM. But what makes him so good? And what can you learn from the way he presents? Rob Thomas (SVP Software & Chief Commercial Officer) launched IBM’s watsonx Platform earlier this month with the statement “This is a unique moment in IBM’s history… 13 years in the making”. So this ONE PAGER is a brief look behind the scenes at one of the biggest announcements in AI; going behind the scenes to see WHY it works. (The script was tested last month at Georgia Technology Summit -
AI for Business: The Opportunity of a Lifetime - Rob Thomas, IBM - Georgia Technology Summit 2023
). This is a 1,000 second presentation. Sometimes all you need to change the world is a good 1,000 second speech (to the right people at the right time). This presentation has certainly changed IBM’s world and intensified the focus of the 280,000 folks who work here. It talks about IBM’s PoV on Generative AI and why our business is not about LLM's but building enterprise-ready AI built upon foundation models. It’s easy to look at great presenters like Rob and see how confident, charismatic and conversational they are; but when you see the structure behind their presentations you realise that there is a process that can also help you to present better. So - here’s 10 THINGS that I think make Rob a great communicator: 🏔️ Rob’s presentations are between 10-20 mins – He is respectful of the attention span and “cognitive load” of the CXO audience that his presentations are aimed at. 📝 This script is approx 2,500 words. At 150 wpm that’s EXACTLY 1,000 seconds. (Many of the world’s best speeches are close to 1,000 seconds). 🎤 Have a strong “COLD OPEN”. Rob sets the scene in his first 21 words. “Today is one of those rare moments in history…” 🗺️ Rob’s speeches have a “shape”. Eg. EXCITE >> DISTURB >> ASSURE. Some people call this a three-act structure or a “Sparkline”. It doesn’t matter which structure or methodology you use, just make sure that you have one. ⏱️ Rob’s stories are short and punchy. 5 partner stories. 5 client stories. None are longer than 30 seconds. 💙 While this script is quite educational, 13% of Rob's language is emotional to make sure he connects with his audience. 3️⃣ Rob uses “triples” (tricolon) really well. Our brains love the ‘Power of 3’: “Time, money & interest”… “Fast, flexible & open”… “Train, tune & deploy”. 💬 Rob has a very conversational style = A good Flesch Kincaid grade level of 11.5 & Gunning Fog index score of 13.59. (Bad presentations are 17+ which is why they don’t resonate). 📖 Only 6.7% of Rob’s sentences are “passive”. (Passive sentences create unclear, less direct, wordy sentences. "Active" ones create clearer, more concise sentences).
🖥️ Have simple slides. 6 objects or less per page. 🥧 Great presentations contain 6 elements (left brain & right brain): [Inform & Inspire] + [Educate & Entertain] + [Solve Problems & Challenge]. CONCLUSION? All the BEST presentations are simple: BIG ideas, SMALL words and SHORT sentences.
See also these videos by Jeremy about Purpose Driven Storytelling