9 Reasons Why Jensen Huang is More Than Just the Godfather of GPU

With his signature white hair, hearty smile and slick black leather jacket, the CEO and founder of Nvidia Corp. Jensen Huang, delivered a masterclass in public speaking during his keynote at the 2024 Computex. At a sold-out stadium in Taipei on a stormy Sunday night, he commanded the stage with grace and ease. There was not a single dull moment during his two-hour long speech and he left the audience wanting more.

What did Huang do to sustain people’s attention? How was he able to dive into multiple topics and still stayed right on the narrative? What’s his secret sauce?

As a public speaking coach, I watched the speech for his style and delivery. Here is my breakdown on why Huang deserves to be crowned as a Master Speaker:

1) Stage Presentation

Huang owned the stage by appearing to be so at ease. He moved about freely but deliberately. His body language and unhurried demeanor made the audience feel safe and unencumbered. His relaxed mannerism signaled to the audience that he got it all under control and the only thing they had to do was to sit back and listen. By wearing his trademark black leather jacket, he dressed in a way that fit his style but also resonated with the audience.

2) Humor

Huang skillfully sprinkled jokes at different points to perk up the flow of the speech. His playfulness stoked warmth and narrowed the gap between him and the audience. He also made fun of his own Chinese and used it to highlight the power of AI when he revealed the Chinese-speaking Jensen on the video was actually "Jensen AI."

3) Tones, pauses and fluctuations

Huang ennunciates his words clearly. Even with a slight accent, it is easy to understand Huang when he speaks in Mandarin or Taiwanese. He also knows to manipulate the speed of his cadence to direct and redirect his audience’s attention.

4) Preview, Present, Review

The architecture of a great speech always contains three key components - preview, present, review. At the start of his talk, Huang clearly laid out the three topics that he was going to speak on. He spent the bulk of his speech methodically elaborating on each points. In conclusion, he used the same words and phrases to quickly sum up his talk. He brought the presentation to a full circle.

5) Eye-ball grabbing visuals

Even if you watched the speech without the volume, the visual assets were enough to give you a good idea of what the talk was about. His use of timeline, videos, graphs, animations, charts really made it easier to grasp a general but accurate understanding of a complex topic. He was able to make an educational talk into something fun and entertainment.

6) Facts and Figures

The most persuasive element of Huang's talk was his frequent use of numbers to support his arguments and underscore the superiority of his products. For example, 100x speed up but only increase the power by a factor of 3 and the increase of cost is 50%. (27:01-27:13).

7) Catch Phrase

Almost all great speeches have a powerful and memorable catch phrase and for Huang, it was "The more you buy, the more you save."

8) New News

Nvidia put out 15 press releases the day of Huang’s talk. During his presentation, Huang also added a few other newsy bits including Blackwell Ultra and the Rubin platform. Even though it was pouring rain outside and the talk cuts into Sunday dinner time, he made the audience feel listening to him was time well-spent.

9) Authenticity and Humility

Huang started out his talk by thanking his Taiwanese partners . He showed a slide that features Taiwan in the center surrounded by names of all of Nvidia’s partners in the country. The same slide was shown again at the end of his speech. The ending video was a sincere tribute to all his Taiwanese partners. The whole talk ended on an upbeat and warm note.

With all the nine elements combined, Huang delivered a speech that was powerful, memorable and educational. Even though he jumped from one subject to another, he never swayed away from his central thesis that “Nvidia is the only company in the world that can accelerate the growth of AI by using less power at a cost-effective price.” In this keynote, he not only refined his personal brand as a smart, talented, reliable all-seeing leader, but also someone so fun that you would love to go on an adventure with. My hats off to Jensen Huang!

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