February 4, 2010

Interview with Nancy Duarte

by Meryl Evans

What makes an effective presentation?  I recently interviewed Nancy Duarte, CEO and principal of Duarte Design and author of slide:ology,  to find out what she thinks. You don’t have to go far to figure out Duarte is passionate about story-telling and using effective visuals to tell the story.

Meryl Evans: A person is trying to create a presentation that tells a story, but struggles to make it flow. What’s a good way to turn your topic into a story that flows?

Nancy Duarte: Seems to me, if you don’t have a flow, the story isn’t really quite there yet. There are many definitions of what a “story” is, but to me, the purpose of a story is to show how the protagonist transforms.

Coincidentally, the purpose of a presentation is to transform an audience. So defining the transformation around how you want people to feel or believe and what you want them to do are the key components of the story and the flow.

Presentations are a bit like a documentary. There are seemingly unrelated pieces of information that need to be glued together. Story is a powerful way of gluing together disparate pieces of information that have to be conveyed. Presentations can have an over-arching macro story or small micro-stories that create rhythm and interest. Developing the structure that accommodates a story can be as much of an analytical task as creative.

The intro should acknowledge where the audience is currently at. It’s important that they feel like they’ve been on your mind and you understand their current position or condition. By using emotional connections of shared values, shared history or shared goals, convey that you know what’s on their mind and show transparency and empathy while you do so. This can be done with stories or facts.

The middle of your presentation needs to make your key points but should also address any resistance or roadblocks the audience might have on their mind. Come across like you’ve done your homework and have thought through more perspectives than just your own.

The ending needs to paint a clear picture of the new world or context you want the audience to operate from. Use story to compel them to believe something new or do something new. The role the audience plays in bringing a happy ending to your story needs to be made clear. In business we call that a Call to Action but we like to call it a Call to Adventure. They want to play a role in helping you solve the puzzle you’ve presented.

Meryl: Once you have your topic and story, how do you create impactful slides even if you already know to include few words? Some people just can’t get their minds around drawing as you often suggest or putting something together from scratch.

Nancy: My plea for folks to sketch and draw is so they can prototype ideas quickly. It isn’t so much that they have to work in an analogue environment but to create more than one idea around how to solve something digitally. So often we sit at our computers and just go with the very first idea that comes to mind instead of pushing our creative boundaries a bit further. It’s usually the third or fourth expression of an idea that’s clever and memorable.

Meryl: What three tips would you give to anyone who needs to work on a presentation?

Nancy:

1. Think through what the audience needs first and yourself second.
2. Work hard at being human and transparent. Stories and images help but it takes work because it’s a skill not readily cultivated in organizations.
3. Invest the right amount of time for the presentation based on the stakes involved.

Meryl: What are three of your favorite presentations we can view online? What makes them effective?

Nancy:

• Mike Rowe: He’s a master storyteller. He told a jaw-dropping story with a strong moral around being happy at work.
• Jill Bolte Taylor: Has strong stage presence and told her story with few slides. She also created what we call a S.T.A.R. (Something They’ll Always Remember) moment by using a real human brain as a prop.
• Garr Reynolds: Spoke at a corporate event and mapped his Zen simplicity into a talk that applied not just to presentation-making but to vales in life.

Meryl: What inspires you to be creative?

Nancy: I am most inspired by nostalgia. Anything that triggers a pleasant memory is very meaningful to me. I migrate towards children’s books and activity books that I remember from my childhood. Illustrations generated pre-computer seems more alive and sincere to me.

Meryl: Thanks, Nancy!