Mark Zuckerberg's Five Laws Of Motion


In physics, Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” is an absolute—until Mark Zuckerberg reversed those dynamics.

Ever since the news of the Cambridge Analytica leak of 87 million users’ data, Facebook’s stock has been on a steep slide from its all-time high. But, as a direct result of Mr. Zuckerberg’s appearance before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees yesterday, it jumped 4.5%.

Cause and effect. His actions produced equal and direct reactions. Daniel Ives, the head of technology research for GBH Insights, as quoted in the New York Times said, “…he has passed with flying colors, and the Street is relieved.”

Mark Zuckerberg created his own five laws of motion:

  1. Appearance. In sharp contrast to the much criticized hoodie and T-shirt outfit he wore during his IPO road show to Wall Street in 2012, Mr. Zuckerberg observed the “when in Rome” principle of dressing the way all the male senators dressed, in dark suit, white shirt, and simple necktie.
  1. Courtesy. When he responded to questions, Mr. Zuckerberg frequently began his answers with a respectful, “Senator…” So much so, BuzzFeed News posted a “supercut” video or mash-up of him saying the word repeatedly.
  1. Accessibility. During the grueling five-hour session, Mr. Zuckerberg answered every question patiently, never becoming evasive. When he did not have a ready answer, he promised that his team would come up with the information and get back to the committee. After two hours, when Senator John Thune offered to take a break, Mr. Zuckerberg volunteered to keep going.
  1. Positioning. When the break occurred, Mr. Zuckerberg left his binder open. An enterprising AP photographer took pictures of the notes and posted them online. They showed multiple bullet points—as opposed to full sentences—which provided Mr. Zuckerberg with flexible talking points—rather than canned answers.
  1. Preparation. The Times story concluded that Mr. Zuckerberg “who spent weeks being coached for the hearing by a team of outside experts, remained cool and collected while fielding question after question.”

Practice makes perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect answers.

Jerry Weissman is a presentation coach & bestselling author. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

I am a corporate presentations coach, with private clients including top brass at Yahoo!, Intel, Intuit, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Netflix, Dolby Labs, eBay, Talend, Son...