When I first saw the Surface Duo concept about a year ago, I instinctively hated it!

There’s a visible gap between the two screens, the bezel is just horrendous all around, there are mechanical parts that can/ will wear out and break, the software is clunky. There was nothing I found truly appealing about this phone.

And yet, somehow, within the first seconds of watching Microsoft’s press announcement this August, I was hooked! How did Microsoft do it? The answer may surprise you, because it has nothing to do with technology! It’s all about the love.

Because make no mistake, this was not a product introduction. This was a man and his team, sharing with you the intimate fragility of an ambitious, great love story – 10 years in the making. A truly touchy story about two touch screens, at least on its surface! (puns totally intended)

My analysis of what worked so well and my key takeaways, below.

Truly human is better than truly flawless

Video begins. The set. Soft, even, warm lighting. No sharp edges, no loud colours. Just muted pastels, filling in the blurred contours of a comforting scene – familiar enough to be confused with a variation of your living room, or perhaps mine.

Panos. Casually dressed, slouched. Arms up, as if he was surprised by our presence. Serious, grave look on his face. Definitely not the look of someone who just showed up at your door to sell you cookies. Possibly, the look of good friend who’s just finished a huge piece of work and, while still exhausted by the great labour, is eager to crack open a beer and chat to his mates about it.

No music. A couple of seconds of complete silence, pieced by a calm, timid interjection.

“Ok, aah. It’s good to see all of you. Thank you for joining us.”

Not exactly your usual opening line, because this is not exactly your usual performance. In fact, within the first few seconds, you realise this is not a “performance” at all! It’s not an ad, or a movie, or theatre.

It’s just a bunch of enthusiasts, talking about what they’ve been working tirelessly on. And it’s brilliant!

There are flaws in the speech, there are pauses. Sometimes, the equipment doesn’t work. But it’s ok. The presentation is not the point of it – it’s the product. Panos knows this, so he is completely at ease throughout – and because he’s at ease, we’re at ease with him. There’s no pressure, no rush – it’s alright.

Recurring throughout the 30 minutes are honest reminders of the imperfect journey that culminates in today and how we’ve been pursuing this formidable quest together. Panos doesn’t shy away to acknowledge the issues and challenges that have plagued early iterations of their products (“at first this was bumpy and there were some questions”), only to stress the valuable lessons it all has yielded from going through this together (“we’re still learning every day”, “you’ve been with me on the journey – many of you when I looked at the list of all of you who joined”). He even calls out some journalists from the virtual audience by name, and points out how this product addresses some of the feedback (read criticism) taken from their review of past years.

Panos recognises our humanity and engages emotionally to meet it – sometimes with a complicit smile, sometimes with a grave sigh. His demeanour taps into our need to connect with others and with our perceived higher purpose. He speaks a language you and I can understand, a language we use. He remains humble, authentic, vulnerable and honest about the hardships encountered, but enthusiastic about the eventual summit that comes after a difficult hike.

This is no one-sided performance. It’s something different. It’s a dialogue.

Truly connected is better than truly structured

The golden standard in communication is complete clarity. The 3 act drama. The 3 part speech. The 3 point argument with the 3 supporting examples. Formal communication thrives on familiar structure and transparency of form.

And I completely agree with its efficacy when the audience is a mere receiver of information. But when your audience is invested emotionally and you can get it to be an active participant, perhaps there’s a better way.

Instead of a Pyric pursuit for perfect form, Panos chose instead to secure connections across different planes.

Connected with the time and context

“We thought about doing this differently to make the demo easy but we didn’t. we’ll do it live with you. I’m gonna walk you through it.”

Before even discussing the product for which we’re all here, Panos starts by warming me up with a story of the challenges of putting this event together. He talks me through how difficult it was to decide what’s right given the COVID imposed restrictions and limitations of a video announcement, and how, despite being advised against it, they decided to go with a live event.

This grounding brings the announcement much closer to my everyday reality, thus establishing the first plane of connection. Furthermore, by choosing to open with challenges and hardship, Panos reinforces authentic human dialogue. This puts me in an “understanding/ compassionate” frame, as opposed to the usual “critical/ cynical” frame that I would undoubtedly default when faced with product ads.

Connect with the environment

“It’s kinda hard to do this upside down. Bob, can you see a reflection? Are we good? Can everyone see that? Yeah, ok. Cool, thanks!”

When changing scenes or shots, Panos does not shy away from directly engaging with his team from behind the cameras. During the live demo shots, he checks with his crew to ensure the product was in focus. After changing the angle, he thanks the camera person. Before cutting to the video, he confirms they’re all set.

“You have this shot right here? Thanks for coming with me, Mayron!”

All of these mini interactions would traditionally be seen as something to iron out of a presentation. However, here they work towards further grounding this talk. They strengthen the connection between it and the world around, a world in which things sometimes go wrong because that’s what you get when things are real!

Connect with the audience

Panos does not talk about technical specs once in the 30 minutes. He talks instead about the feeling of the product gives. He navigates a vocabulary of emotions (“believe”, “create”, “connect”, “love”), builds anticipation for minutes and introduces intrigue early (“empowering people includes sometimes challenging conventional thinking”).

He also often pauses his speech and add questions – the questions that I would have! “Ok, so why is this important?” he says after describing a new feature. By giving a voice to the noise already in my mind, I feel reassured and, weirdly enough, listened to. I pay attention more because I understand this is someone who really thinks like me. I want to hear what he says because he and I are on the same side. He’s not trying to sell me a product, he’s trying to solve the same problems as I have.

Panos also goes off in tangents. A seemingly casual thought stops him dead in his tracks, just like it would if we were just having a chat. He says: “A lot of you have been on this journey with me for… Actually, this is fun – we saw this email yesterday… [story about the email that started the whole thing over 10 years ago]”. This is a subtle signal that he is willing to pursue in greater depth something that I might find interesting in that very moment, as opposed to stick to a polished script.

Truly in love is better than truly efficient

6 minutes go by until Panos gets into the actual product – this could be otherwise mistaken for mere waffling. He talks about things that seem irrelevant – the journey, the process, the hiccups, the pushes, the pulls. But this is no mistake – this is not useless, this is the prelude.

“I love this product. I love it. I love it. I think you’re gonna love it. It’s thin. It’s sleek. It’s probably one of the sexiest devices we’ve built. It’s got a perfect feel. The hinge feels incredible, it’s beautiful. And it just adapts.”

There is really no substance in there – many words used towards no clear practical purpose. After listening to that, you’d know nothing about what the product actually does. And yet, somehow, you’d know something else that’s much more difficult to truly convey. You’d know that this is a product that is worthy of love!

Those words I transcribed above are not usually uttered by someone who is eager to get down to business as efficiently as possible. No, those are the words of someone who can take time and admire beauty – someone who is absorbed by nothing short of that irrational, wonderful feeling that swoops you off your feet and leaves you mesmerised. Someone who is in love.

This is what Panos shows here. He takes out the product as if it was his first time, discovering its carefully crafted contours.

Throughout the announcement, efficiency and information were not priorities. What mattered is to light up in the audience the consuming flame of emotion we all crave. Because we want to be moved. And we can only be moved by people who are already in motion. If you cry with awe, I might join you.

Truly specific is better than truly universal

There is an old Latin saying: “Cor ad cor loquitur”. Heart speaks to heart.

In restaurants, menus are typically arranged so that anyone can come in and find something they would be happy with. But how do you ascend from this “happy with” lukewarmth into “thrilled by” territory?

Well, perhaps by moving from universal (which is the flavourless intersection of different/ conflicting tastes), to the hyper-specific (which is the union of all that drives us) – only then you will be able to cater to the right configuration to entertain a pallet.

Panos does this really well. This product is not a product that’s the same for everyone (which is why tech specs are useless to emphasise in this presentation). No, this is a product that adapts to you. We see this through the power of hyper-relevant use cases.

“I’m gonna talk to you about my most common scenario that happens at my house, and I wonder if this happens to you. How many times have you been around somebody who’s […]”

No part of this announcement was general. Every use case had a name and was targeting a specific member/ segment of the audience, reaching deep into their life through behaviours unique to them.

The youth in pursuit of adventure could identify with Panos’ daughter (“here’s something that my daughter showed me – she’s a hiker”). The professionals in pursuit of efficiency could identify with Satya (“we actually call this the Satya scenario. He loves to read and take notes at the same time, and when this happened he called me in the middle of the night”). The parents in pursuit of connection with their children could identify with Shilpa (“all of you that are working parents will probably sympathise with this – I spend […]”).

Every single customer segment had a name and, even more importantly, a face. A face that I could see light up with using this product. And my face lit up in anticipation with it.

Final thoughts

If you’re interested in Marketing, Sales, Rhetoric or any type or Persuasive Public Discourse, you should watch this presentation. There is so much more that didn’t make this cut about his choice of vocabulary, intonation, humour. I could write/ talk to you for hours about this (if you email me, I probably will).

For me, it was a refreshing presentation that stood out from all the other keynotes this year – it turns out that the flawless performance we often dream about may not be the answer. Instead, perhaps a different approach holds the key to grabbing the attention of your audience.

Here are some ideas that I’m taking from this video to test in my own interactions:

1. Be mindful of context – i.e. when sometimes the conditions are not ideal, it’s better for you to call this out upfront in a manner you want.
2. It’s ok to remind people of the journey you took together – i.e. we first brought this idea to you when it was only an idea
3. It’s ok to be genuinely excited about your work
4. It’s ok to make mistakes and to struggle
5. Show your audience why you care about your product so much

In conclusion – this was not the blockbuster production that you’d expect to wow audiences. This was Panos and his mates, a bunch of enthusiasts, working together tirelessly to sculpt a product they love – and, finally, being allowed to share the fruits of their labour with you.

And with this Panos, in my view, this has earned its place in the pantheon of keynotes, next to Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. A beautifully crafted keynote, 10 years in the making. Well played!