Presentation Thinking

Whenever we talk to a product marketer, we know they’re going to relate to the “Presentation Thinking” project. 

Product Marketers tend to be “Big Picture” people, excellent communicators and always end up creating slides on slides on slides. 

Steve Earl joins Mikey and Molly to break down their “playlist” of the Best of Product Marketing (so far) on the ‘cast. As we each revisited a handful of these conversations, it was clear that patterns were emerging. 

This is an episode for: product marketers, aspiring marketers and anyone interested in improving personal positioning or brand narrative.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??

Nick Lafferty says early on in our conversation he was a “terrible student” in school but he’s taught and challenged himself with so many skills, it’s hard to believe.

Founder of Early Exit Club—a network and newsletter for people that want to work for themselves—Nick’s experience in product marketing to paid ads has provided a unique perspective on the importance of soft skills, go-to-market strategy and simply trusting yourself. 

Starting at a radio job in Texas, finding affiliate marketing and following software development along the way, Nick has an incredible journey to the place where he’s now able to run his own consulting company optimizing ads AND writes regularly for Early Exit Club, giving (free!) advice for freelancers. 

We talk go-to-market strategy for freelancers, personal positioning and nerd out on some software (shoutout Loom!).
This is an episode for: software nerds, product marketers and anyone that wants to work for themselves.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?? 

Get in on Nick’s Early Exit Club

Where to find Nick?

Inspiring people to follow?

Loom resources?

How Nick recharges his personal batteries

Walkout song? 

Rick Altman has been hosting the Presentation Summit for 22 years and this October will be his last— “at least in THIS format!”, he emphasizes. 

It’s a party—eh, I mean conference—for PowerPoint enthusiasts and presentation nerds like the conference veterans Dr. Carmen Simon (Corporate Visions) and Mike Parkinson (Billion Dollar Graphics), who join us for this episode.

All presentation experts in their own right, Rick, Carmen and Mike found their way to Presentation Summit through unique work in software, data, design and neuroscience. 

While we talked to Rick back in Episode #71 about his journey with this annual event, he invites Carmen and Mike to share their experiences, their nostalgia, what they’ve learned and how the presentation community has grown with Presentation Summit.  

It’s like summer camp for anyone interested in presentation and storytelling—and it’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join this October 20th-23rd.  

This is an episode for: presentation designers, speakers and ANYONE curious about finding a presentation/storytelling community!

What's in the Spice Cabinet??

Just do it.

Check out Dr. Carmen Simon’s work…

Check out Mike Parkinson’s work…

Some reccos from this talented crew?

What’s everyone’s walkout song?

“We do” believe that presentations are all around us—and Molly’s recent experience being an officiant for her brother’s wedding emphasized this.

From creating a throughline with the ceremony story, catering to the audience and keeping the delivery well-paced, the foundations of good presenting all came up throughout this process in helping two people get married. 

Ceremonies of matrimony have taken place as long as storytelling itself so it was interesting to dive into this idea of a wedding “presentation” and building it specifically to fit with the bride and groom’s story. 

Molly shares some tips that helped her, logistical recommendations and what went well (and wrong!).

This is an episode for: presenters, motivational speakers and anybody that’s been asked to officiate or give a wedding speech.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?? 

Unique/Non-traditional wedding ceremony ideas/starting points

Top tips

Molly’s top wedding movies (RomComs)?

Walkout song? 

Niro Sivanathan is an organizational psychologist that wants to help your messaging convert clearer, faster and stronger. 

With his 2019 TED Talk, The Counterintuitive way to be more persuasive, Niro goes through several exercises that demonstrate how the “dilution effect” shows up in decision-making and risk-assessment across several types of scenarios. Mikey and Molly dive into his well-paced delivery, less-is-more approach and scientific studies to back it all up. 

For product marketers or anyone wanting to convince someone of something, it’s a useful messaging strategy to put to the test. 

This is an episode for: product marketers, sales folk and anyone that wants to tell more effective messages.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??

Watch Niro’s TED Talk, The Counterintuitive way to be more persuasive

Learn more about Niro’s work

Niro’s walkout song? (according to Mikey & Molly)

Do you have a fav TED Talk you’d like to hear broken down?

Video production and livestreaming are essential parts of any modern event these days—be it a marketing conference, promotional event or university graduation. 

Phil Platt is a Business Development Manager at UK-based production company First Sight Media and he’s a jack of all trades in the digital production world. With a background in film and cinema technology, Phil is a creative visual storyteller.

Phil talks to Mikey and Molly about the various ways in which video and digital media can enhance the “story” of any of any event or presentation. Whether it’s a conference, an online webinar or a full video shoot, video and digital media can capture content, expand the event to digital audiences or engage with people. For online presentations especially, this digital engagement can really bring a human element that makes the talk more memorable. 

Having seen countless presentations (and worked on TEDx events!), Phil shares his hot takes and tips for how to integrate digital media and video production into your presentation or event. 
This is an episode for: event industry pros, video production nerds and visual storytellers of all kinds.

What's in the Spice Cabinet?

Favorite speakers, presenters or TED Talk? 

Where to find Phil?

Event industry and networking reccos? 

Funny presentation stories?

Phil Platt recent film faves?

Phil’s walkout song? 

GhostRanch hosted its third annual StoryCamp this past July, reaching new heights in Park City, Utah. StoryCamp is our annual in-person gathering where we hear from experts, learn from each other to level-up our storytelling skills and just spend nice quality time together. 

This year’s theme was “More than just a pretty slide”—referring to the idea that presentation design encompasses so much more than simply “pitch polish”. We contribute to clients’ stories and strategic messaging on a regular basis. 

With this concept in mind, we invited the Rancheros to give their own “Lightning Talks”, 4-8 minute presentations about whatever came to mind for them with this theme.

The Ranch’s Technical Director Steve Sheets and Senior Designers Tamara Jarvi and Breece Justice join Molly and Mikey to talk about their experience creating and presenting these talks. 

For designers who are typically behind the slide, it’s such a useful exercise and brings us closer, as always, to “Presentation Excellence”.

This is an episode for: Strategic messaging nerds, fans of the Ranch and anyone that’s afraid of presenting/public speaking.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?? 

Listen to previous StoryCamp episodes!

Need a presentation planning tool?

Park City Reccos?? 

What were the crew’s Walkout Songs for their Lightning Talks? 

Asha Alaji-Sharif is a designer by day and filmmaker by night—or dawn, if she’s getting up early to get a sunrise drone shot. 

With several film projects already under her belt, the Atlanta-based creative’s latest is The Four Noble Truths, a film about her brother-in-law, Maeta, with sziocphrenia. It premiered at Voices with Impact Film Festival, a festival focused on mental health and lifting up causes to raise awareness. 

Mikey and Molly reunite with Asha (a former Ranchero & friend of the ‘cast) to discuss her creative process, storyboarding and how in the heck one can edit such a rich story in the span of only five minutes. 

Asha’s project proves that short films can be a masterclass in concise storytelling, messaging and skillfully conveying stigmatized topics.

This is an episode for: people that have to say a lot in a short amount of time, presenters, filmmakers and creatives of all kinds.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?? 

Check out more about the Voices with Impact Film Festival!

Other filmmakers that inspire Asha?

All-time faves?

Where can people find & follow Asha?

What’s your walkout song? 

Andrea Tomingas has a talent for telling one story, many different ways. From being a presentation designer at Hulu to co-founding a business, Andrea offers a unique perspective on presentations. 

Having co-founded Duck Brigade over ten years ago, Andrea knows the importance of communicating a company story well, in a short amount of time. 

Duck Brigade specializes in UX design, landing pages, logos and pitch decks—all various forms of “information organization” as they call it. 

As Andrea walks us through what’s in/out in pitch decks, their ideal pitch deck flow and creating a UX wireframe, we realize that a UX design and pitch deck creation have a lot of useful foundations in common.

This is an episode for: designers of all kinds and anyone that has to pitch.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??

Where to find Andrea?

Favorite speakers & presenters?

Design inspo?

Fave films?

Some recent visually inspiring ones…

Denver inspo? 

Andrea’s walkout song?? 

Art Novak is a copywriter, ad guy, author, teacher and an overall presentation design pioneer. 

We feel lucky to know Art via his teaching days at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) because both Mikey and Allie Wilson, Creative Director at GhostRanch, had the privilege of being in his classroom. 

Before recording, Art claimed he had a “problematic background” starting most of his presentations in the past with words rather than visuals—he was a copywriter, after all! But learning to evolve his process as technology and different forms of illustration emerged put him at the forefront of creative visual storytelling and he became a true pioneer in leveraging PowerPoint.

In this episode we explore the common foundations of advertising, presentations and visual storytelling in general. Art shares some amazing and iconic ad stories that he contributed to and how they would later integrate into the way he taught students in the classroom. 

This is an episode for: design nerds, ad & copywriting enthusiasts and visual storytellers of all kinds.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?

Find more of Art

Read Art’s books! 

Favorite assignment Art would give students?

Art’s fave places to find inspiration? 

How did Art win an Emmy??

Art’s walkout song?

Parting words for Presentation Nation?

I’d encourage everybody that’s thinking about what they want to do with their life to consider copywriting and advertising because I think advertising—you know, it’s gotten a bad rap from some people—but I think it has the potential to really change the world in a better way. 

If advertisers start to realize that by promoting worthwhile causes in their advertising, not only are they doing something for humanity but they can distinguish their products from their competition.