Presentation Thinking

David Christian is a historian who knows how to keep the “Big Picture” in mind. In fact, he coined the concept of “Big History”, which examines universal patterns from the Big Bang to the present day. 

Continuing our series on breaking down some of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time, David’s 2011 TED Talk, The History of Our World in 18 Minutes, boasts the kind of title you just HAD to click on. His impressive presentation takes you on a journey that starts several billion years before humanity—and closes with why it all matters.

Mikey and I analyze how David can convey such dense subject matter to a mainstream audience in a short amount of time, and what other presenters might learn from it. 
This is an episode for: Presenters who have to to convey complex ideas, history and science nerds.

As a remote agency, the GhostRanch “Rancheros” rarely give presentations in-person. But at this year’s Story Camp in Boulder, Colorado, all of that changed. 

On Day 1, we brought in Presentation Skills training specialist Kerry Feuerman to give his incredible workshop on “The 5 Deadly Sins of Presenting Creative Work”. And on Day 2, we practiced presenting in front of him. (Eeep!)

Creative Director Allie Wilson, Designer Asha Alaji-Sharif & Director of Account Management and Growth Kelsey Jones join Molly to discuss how Kerry’s advice helped them through this process.

We go through each of Kerry’s 5 Deadly Sins and what we learned from presenting in-person since…well, maybe the pandemic. 

This is an episode for: people that present in-person, speakers and anyone who presents creative work.

If you’ve ever done a “Wonder Woman” pose before an interview, you might have Amy Cuddy to thank. 

Her 2012 TED Talk, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, is one of the most popular TEDs of all time and for good reason. Cuddy’s research on non-verbal communication AKA body language includes an impressive string of books, studies and teaching at incredible universities. 

Interested in how communication shows up in power dynamics, she was one of the first to term ‘Power Poses’ such as a Wonder Woman pose—simply putting your hands on your hips and standing up strong for two minutes—and seeing how that affected one’s performance in a subsequent interview. 

The results show that we can, indeed, fake it til we make it through body language.
This is an episode for: People that have to speak frequently, body language nerds & and anyone deep in a job search. 

UX Design—”User Experience”—is such a vital part of how anyone interacts with the internet or an app. It facilitates a user’s journey through using any product or interface. It’s more than simply changing the color of a site or adding bells and whistles—it’s world-building. 

And UX Designer Daijah Reese fully endorses this notion through her work experience.

Daijah joins the pod to discuss storytelling through UX design, its ever-evolving nature, her experience working at Google and how her international relations background brings a fresh flavor to this computer-centric career path. 

Bonus - her cousin Asha also joins to bring in a holistic graphic design/illustrator perspective! 

This is an episode for: product designers, developers and UX designers (or anyone interested in pursuing it!)

Andrea Pacini is a “Jack of all Trades” in the presentation world: An author, speaker, entrepreneur and Presentation Coach, we couldn’t have been more honored when he reached out to join the pod! 

With his book, Confident Presenter, being released on July 18th, we revisit key components that make a speaker confident and what makes a good presentation GREAT—including message, visuals & delivery. 

After years of helping entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground with his company, Ideas on Stage UK, Andrea has so much wisdom (and funny stories) to share. 

Sign up to get your copy of Andrea’s book HERE!

This is an episode for: Speakers, entrepreneurs and anyone a bit wary of public speaking.

If you’re a product marketer you know that Problem Slides and Solution Slides are important. 

You have to clearly convey what the problem is in your industry, the pain points and then have your product or service swoop in as the magical “Good Witch” to solve all those issues. 

It’s A LOT to convey in just two slides—but they’re also two of the most important opportunities for you to tell a memorable story. 

Creative Directors Jeff Carter & Lindsay Hadley from GhostRanch join the pod to discuss their expertise in these areas, as well as the Lunch N Learns they’re hosting on the same topics. (Hint, hint—register here!)

With clear yet bold design strategies, you can ‘wow’ an audience AND have them take action afterwards.

This is an episode for: Product Marketers, Brand messaging folks and Anyone with a pitch deck.

If you’ve ever seen a movie, you know that music is a huge component of its storytelling. (Duh??)

The "score" that a film composer creates can add emphasis, emotion, suspense and basically evoke whatever feeling they want! 

Piggybacking off of our recent TWIST episode on the same topic, Molly watches and discusses several TED Talks about what makes scores great, the music theory behind it and how it alters our viewing experience. 

We also apply some of the patterns of creating a memorable score to similar principles of Presentation Thinking.

This is an episode for: Movie Buffs, Music Theory Nerds and anyone that utilizes music/media for their presentations.

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 GhostRanch Designers Emily Pantoja and Asha Alaji-Sharif, our resident “Disney adults”, to really connect all 22 dots to the Presentation Thinking world. 
This is an episode for: Disney & PIXAR fans, presenters, speakers and anyone feeling stuck in their creative process.

Last month, GhostRanch Technical Director Steve Sheets put on an amazing workshop called “Presentation Design for the NON Designer.” 

So we brought Steve on the ‘cast to discuss the making of a workshop and his behind-the-scenes building process. 

“Presentation Design for the NON Designer” is a 2.5 hour collaborative “class” where people who work in presentations but want to level-up their design & PowerPoint skills can come off mute to ask questions and learn together. (We’re hoping to do this workshop quarterly!)

From the massive amount of sticky notes overtaking his desk to the day-of presentation, we’re spilling all the deets of what went into this labor of love. 

If you’re thinking about creating a workshop or webinar, this is for you. 

This episode is (also) for: Presenters, Webinar-givers and anyone looking to teach.

It’s Graduation Season and that means Pomp & Circumstance, free graduation party food and, of course, commencement speeches. 

And speeches are a kind of PRESENTATION. 

Steve Jobs’ Stanford 2005 Commencement speech is widely regarded as one of the best. But what makes it so powerful? What kind of story devices does he use? 

And how did he come up with this stunning Carpe-Diem-esque quote:

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Mikey breaks it down and shares how you, too, might make an impact with your next toast speech. 
This is an episode for: Speakers, speech writers, and anyone in need of a bit of inspiration.