Martin Messier

October 12, 2023

Not enough Jobs!

I don't know about you, but I was (and still am) a huge Steve Jobs fan.

I couldn't get enough of his interviews and product introductions.

The way he communicated. The way he presented. The way he sold. His showmanship.

I don't know if you've ever watched a Steve Jobs-led Apple keynote. It's a sight to behold. I figure that's why people tuned in from all over the planet and some paid handsomely to participate live.

One of the critical elements to his style of presenting has been labeled the Steve Jobs "reality distortion field."

(It's so much a part of the culture that it even has its own Wikipedia entry.

Apparently, he had this uncanny way to bend (many) people's perception of reality to his will.

Of course, as NLP Practitioners, we can't settle for such generic labeling. An expression like "reality distortion field" just seem ripe for modeling.

(Incidentally, there were similar labels and mystery-shrouded descriptions for Milton Erickson's miraculous work fifty years ago...)

When you watch his keynotes (and I've watched ALL of them several times), it becomes obvious that:

reality distortion field = trance state

Jobs used to hypnotize his audience during his presentation, led them into amazing states and anchored those feelings to his products.

Did he ever ask anyone to close their eyes?

Did he every explicitly ask anyone to relax?

So how did he pull it off?

He directed people's attention masterfully.

People who loved him delighted in his way of communicating. His rivals envied it.

But ultimately, the reality distortion field happened by putting people in a trance by guiding them like a maestro would.

Trances can happen or we can make them happen.

Steve Jobs made them happen. That's why we talk about him to this day.

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