The Storytelling Lab

Nancy Duarte's Sparkline: The Secret Structure Behind Every Great Speech


Listen Later

“You don’t just present a pitch—you present a world your audience wants to live in.” — Rain Bennett


What do the Gettysburg Address, I Have a Dream, and your next sales pitch have in common?


They all follow a specific structure—one that Nancy Duarte calls the Sparkline.


In this solo episode, Rain breaks down how this framework works, why it resonates so deeply, and how you can use it to capture attention, build trust, and persuade your audience—whether you're on a stage, pitching a product, or crafting a social post.


Rain dives deep into the Sparkline’s rhythm of “what is” and “what could be,” how this pattern mirrors the Hero’s Journey, and why it triggers emotional investment and action. He also explores resistance in storytelling, the power of contrast, and the neuroscience behind narrative immersion. To drive it home, he analyzes Steve Jobs’s legendary 2007 iPhone keynote—step by step.


If you want to spark belief in your message, this episode is your blueprint.


In this episode, you will learn to:

  • Leverage contrast between the status quo and the dream state to build urgency and desire in your storytelling.
  • Use the Sparkline’s up-and-down rhythm to cut through resistance and guide your audience into emotional buy-in.
  • Avoid the two biggest presentation mistakes—the “report” and the “pitch”—by balancing tension and transformation.
  • Apply the Sparkline framework across formats including emails, speeches, pitches, social content, and videos.
  • Spot and replicate masterful storytelling techniques using Steve Jobs’s iPhone launch as a real-world example.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Storytelling LabBy Rain Bennett

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

46 ratings


More shows like The Storytelling Lab

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,967 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,582 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,181 Listeners

The Side Hustle Show by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation | YAP Media

The Side Hustle Show

1,587 Listeners

Science Vs by Spotify Studios

Science Vs

12,225 Listeners

Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips by Eric Siu and Neil Patel

Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

1,264 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,513 Listeners

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel by Esther Perel Global Media

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

14,921 Listeners

Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

Worklife with Adam Grant

9,166 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,931 Listeners

Marketing Against The Grain by Hubspot Media

Marketing Against The Grain

358 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

11,409 Listeners

What Now? with Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah

What Now? with Trevor Noah

4,221 Listeners

Masters of Storytelling by BRC Imagination Arts

Masters of Storytelling

34 Listeners

The Oprah Podcast by Harpo

The Oprah Podcast

1,862 Listeners