Presentation Thinking

By GhostRanch CommunicationsBusiness Marketing

Presentation Thinking episodes

May 23, 2024#121. Presentation Preferred RE-RELEASE: PIXAR’s “22 Rules of Storytelling” and How To Use Them
What with Inside Out 2 around the corner (June 14th!), we wanted to bring back a “Presentation Preferred” crowd favorite and RE RELEASE this gem of an episode going through PIXAR’s 22 Rules for Storytelling.
This is an episode for: Disney & PIXAR fans, presenters, speakers and anyone feeling stuck in their creative process.
It’s no secret that we love a good PIXAR story on this podcast.
PIXAR’s “22 Rules of Storytelling” adds yet another piece to the list of incredible storytelling strategies and resources that PIXAR provides us.
First put together by a former PIXAR writer, Emma Coats, these snippets of storytelling strategy are chock full of important life lessons, creative process advice and—obviously!—presentation applications.
We brought friends of the Ranch Emily Pantoja and Asha Alaji-Sharif, our resident “Disney adults”, to really connect all 22 dots to the Presentation Thinking world.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Read em and weep: PIXAR’s “22 Rules of Storytelling” by Emma Coats

Disney/PIXAR walkout songs??
Asha - “Nobody Like U” from Turning Red

Emily - “Married Life” theme from UP

Molly - “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story
*Molly says James Taylor sings this but it’s actually Randy Newman!!

You like PIXAR Story stuff? Same.
We talked about PIXAR animator Matthew Luhn’s amazing talk on this episode, “Why do PIXAR movies make us cry? (Animator Matthew Luhn talks storytelling in business)”

“The Art Of” book series takes a deep dive into specific PIXAR & Disney films and series!
Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse - The Art Of the Movie

The Art of “Turning Red”

The Art of “The Last of Us”

Emily’s advice for more creative inspo?
Check out the proverbial DVD extras - search Behind the Scenes, The Making Of and Interviews of movies and pieces of media that you LOVE!
Check out PIXAR Artists’ Projects with PIXAR Spark Shorts!
58 min
May 16, 2024#120. Pitch (deck) perfect: a conversation with VC expert Tom Fowler
Tom Fowler—CEO, Venture Capitalist expert and startup mentor—is the person you want in your corner.
Tom spoke to us about the VC & startup world, creating pitch decks and presentation skills and we loved getting to know his unique breadth of experience in sports performance, investing and even theater (!).
Most importantly, he walks us through—slide-by-slide—his ideal format for the perfect Pitch Deck to break through all the noisy advice out there. (Well, Tom said there’s no such thing as the perfect Pitch Deck, but this breakdown will get you pretty dang close).
This is an episode for: Startup founders, folks in the VC world and anyone that’s had to pitch something.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Want to get in touch with Tom about taking your company to the next level? Or just talk startup shop?
You can find him on LinkedIn
37 min
May 09, 2024#119. What’s new in the event industry? Notes from ETL Vegas 2024
What happens in Vegas…gets directly recorded onto our podcast!
Mikey’s back from Las Vegas to spill the beans on all things Event Tech Live, an annual event for event marketing that brings in all sorts of new ideas and technology for the event industry to continue to be cutting edge.
From learning about prioritizing the attendee experience to humanizing events, we learned that events are their own kind of presentations and as always—tell a story when done well.
This is an episode for: event marketers, planners, presenters and anyone curious about emerging technology for events.

What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Find Event Tech Live and follow their next events (London is next!) here
Who does Mikey want to see at the Sphere?
The Rolling Stones
Some other event pros to check out from this event?
Event Specialists (Event Tech Hub)

RingCentral Events

Dahlia El Gazzar
34 min
April 25, 2024#118. In conversation with Julie Terberg—presentation design expert and makeover maven
Julie Terberg, Presentation Design expert and the woman who co-wrote THE book on PowerPoint templates (among others), joins the pod!
With a background in industrial design and graphics, Julie designed slides pre-PowerPoint on physical slides before becoming an expert in the software.
Terberg has developed several online courses, published books on developing PowerPoint templates. appeared at the conference circuit regularly and also holds status as a Microsoft MVP.
Julie has taken on creative challenges throughout her presentation work such as her “Makeover Maven” series and designing a Slide-A-Day.
Julie’s work around visual design and presenting has changed the game. Let’s hear her story.
This is an episode for: Presentation nerds, design experts and fans of Julie.
What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Find more of Julie’s work on her site, Design to Present.
She’s got a new whitepaper on choosing fonts for PowerPoint coming out soon!
Keep an eye on her site + LinkedIn
Favorite presenters?
Temple Grandin

Nigel Holmes

Guy Kawasaki

Nancy Duarte
Does Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 PowerPoint Rule still stand?
“No. [What's what's updated about it?] Like I was saying earlier, well, every presentation is different. And you need to present based on your topic, your content, and your audience. And so less is more. Don't follow any guidance for numbers of words.
Who should attend the Presentation Summit? (an in-person and online conference for presentation people!)
“If you’re involved in the presentation space in any way, it’s a great conference. And you’re gonna meet all these people—you have no idea how many people kinda work in this niche industry.”
Julie’s walkout song?
Hell N Back - Bakar
36 min
April 18, 2024#117. Paul Graham’s “Do things that don’t scale”—a presentation POV
Paul Graham’s blog post, “Do things that don’t scale”, has largely been heralded as the best advice given for startups—maybe ever? But what can we takeaway from it as presenters?
As the founder of renowned accelerator Y Combinator, people trust Paul and are still talking about this post over ten years later. (A big deal for today’s Age of Information).
Mikey and Molly dive into the many conversations around doing things that don’t scale, what that means, and how presentation people might be able to implement it into their day-to-day as well.
This is an episode for: Presenters, founders, anyone running their own business and startup enthusiasts.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Catch up on Paul’s famous blog post “Do things that don’t scale” here
Learn more about Paul Graham

Learn more about Y Combinator
We love all these conversations about it
(Podcast) Tropical MBA’s “#749 Do things that don’t scale”

(Video) This YouTube video from Academy of Project Management

(Podcast) Startups for the Rest of Us Episode #687
Need custom illustration
Our very own NoNo Flores that does our podcast episode artwork is amazingly talented
Paul’s walkout song (according to Molly and Mikey)
Zero to Hero - Hercules

Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
All brought to you by GhostRanch Communications. Send us an email!
42 min
April 11, 2024 #116. Does Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 PowerPoint Rule still stand? (Micro episode!)
Guy Kawasaki is an amazing marketer, creator and thinker. (If you don’t follow him already, do it here!)
His 2005 blog post, The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint, provided advice for startups on how to pitch to VCs—but it blew up because it resonated with presenters of all kinds.
As presentation enthusiasts, it’s about time we checked it out and see what still holds up.
This is a shorter, “micro” episode where Molly goes through Guy’s advice and examines how the 10/20/30 PowerPoint rule is still useful today.
This is an episode for: People that have to pitch, VCs & anyone that creates PowerPoint presentations.
16 min
April 04, 2024#115. TED Talkin’: Alicia Syrett knows why investors say ‘no’
If you couldn’t already tell from some of our Shark Tank episodes, we love the startup and Venture Capital world.
There’s truly no passion that matches that of a founder on a mission.
Alicia Syrett—a VC herself, author and business leader—knows this and wants YOUR passion to come to fruition. Her short n sweet TED talk at TEDx Fulton Street from 2018 is a perfect guide with simple Do’s and Don’ts to get a ‘yes’ at your next pitch.
With a clean presentation style and confident stage presence, Alicia guides us through the top 5 reasons investors say ‘no’—and how to avoid them.

This is an episode for: Founders, people that pitch & anyone that is a fan of the startup world.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??
WATCH Alicia’s TED Talk for yourself
Why VCs and Angel Investors say no to entrepreneurs
Check out more from Alicia Syrett:
Read her book, MentHER: Guide for Women Entrepreneurs

She’s the CEO of Pantegrion Capital, a pre-seed and early stage startup investment firm

Alicia is a regular on CNBC’s “Power Pitch” and MSNBC’s “Your Business” power pitch segment
Mikey and Molly’s take on Alicia’s Walkout song?
Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen

Nobody But Me - Isley Brothers
29 min
March 29, 2024#114. Tamara Grominsky of PMM Camp on personal positioning
What we’ll hear about:
How Tamara’s MA and start in publishing set her up to be a standout storyteller and award-winning Product Marketing leader.

Tamara’s emphasis on career intentionality and personal positioning.

“Write your purpose in pen, but your path in pencil.”

The ‘good time’ journal: Notice the activities that give you energy.

Tamara’s path to speaking, including mentorship along the way from Oli Gardner who has a new company, Outline!

First mistake most people make is to introduce themselves again. Don't do that! Come out on stage, start with a strong statement or question!

Does she use notes? Nope! “I just practice until I feel I can give the talk.” The day of, it’s all about amping yourself up.

Tamara’s process for building a new keynote.

Tamara’s reads:
Fourth Wing — Tamara’s fiction obsession. “my dragon book”— a masterclass in storytelling

April Dunford’s positioning book Obviously Awesome

Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice by Clayton M. Christensen
Check out PMM camp!
A community built for (and by) product marketing leaders. Join the newsletter for camper connections!
Must eats in Vancouver:
Savio Volpe

Nightingale
Walkout song:
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
Tamara’s closing quote:
“As much time and effort as you put into thinking about your company and your product and how you’ll position and sell that, I would say, try to put an equal amount into thinking of yourself as the product, and I think you’ll be pretty surprised by the outcome of that.”
36 min
March 21, 2024#113. TJ Schaid on becoming a trauma surgeon and presenter
We know that presentations are used across all kinds of industries but did you know they’re important in the medical world as well??
General surgery resident physician TJ Schaid joins the ‘cast to discuss his experience presenting research at various conferences around the world throughout his residency. Turns out, these medical presentations can play a big part of any surgeon’s journey!
From presenting dense data within a handful of slides (or clicks) to challenging existing practices, TJ offers so much insight in how to present to a niche group of experts—as an expert himself, of course.
This is an episode for: presentation designers, aspiring speakers and startups in the science and medical field.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Fave movie??
Good Will Hunting—how do you like them apples?
TJ’s operating Pandora station?
ODESZA radio
Walkout song??
Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train
Any advice to fellow and future presenters?
One thing I didn't mention that was really helpful for me during during my talks is to frequently reorient the audience when you're presenting pretty dense stuff. So when you throw up a slide, and you've got a bunch of data on a slide, yeah, they might understand the graph, they might understand the data. But the WHY it matters if you can, throughout the presentation, just a statement here and there, after these data. And multiple times, maybe four or five times, you say, “Okay, and now remember, we talked about this problem, you know, in the background earlier on, this is why this matters.” Keeping them reoriented, even these people that see data and numbers and science and experiments and know medicine, helping reorient them to the point of the data throughout the presentation, not just waiting to the conclusion, I find very helpful.
38 min
March 14, 2024#112. Get Comfortable with Grief: Marisa Renee Lee on speaking publicly about the personal
Marisa Renee Lee is a speaker, an entrepreneur, an author and “grief advocate.”
Having lost her mom to breast cancer and struggled with infertility, Lee has alchemized her experiences into a NYT Bestselling book, Grief is Love: Living with Loss.
Marisa joins us to share how she presents and speaks on such vulnerable topics, how grief can show up at work and how you can support colleagues experiencing grief.
In sharing her personal stories and experiences, Marisa is helping to break the stigma around these heavy subjects and offers new ways to approach grief in both work and life.
This is an episode for: aspiring speakers, writers and anyone that is dealing with grief.

What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Want more of Marisa’s work? (Or hire her as a speaker?)
Check out her site, here.

Follow Marisa on LinkedIn & Instagram—she’s got something in the works with Al Roker…
Gift a loved one (or yourself) going through grief her book:
Grief is Love: Living with Loss
One of Marisa’s favorite speakers?
Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone and writer of Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence (among other books)
Other inspiration?
Poetry! Specifically the Sufi poet, Hafiz. Read their collection of poems, The Gift

Maggie Smith’s writing—no, not Dame Maggie Smith
Marisa’s walkout song?
She’ll get back to you ;)
Parting words of advice for Presentation Nation?
“My biggest piece of advice is to keep at it and just do the thing. You know, don't get distracted by imposter syndrome or feeling like it's too late or comparison. You know, don't get lost on social media looking at all of these people who've accomplished things that you haven't done yet that you want to do. Instead just focus on doing the damn thing. Like just ignore the noise.”
48 min

About Presentation Thinking

From the publisher's feed

Mikey and Molly have been beckoned by the gods to become legendary storytellers — a call impossible to refuse. Join our heroes as they dive deep down the rabbit hole, documenting their findings as they scour all industries and disciplines in search of outside insights, inside outlooks, and, well, anything and everything there is to know about the making (and delivery) of better presentations. This is Presentation Thinking™