Presentation Thinking

If you know Rick Altman, you’ve probably had a good time with him—and discussed PowerPoint and/or tennis. 

Rick is the founder of the annual Presentation Summit, one of the first conferences to focus fully around PowerPoint, and it’s been going strong for over two decades now. Though the summit topics would later grow to include speaking, presenting and other kinds of storytelling, the community has remained relatively small—and that’s intentional. 

Rick is a connector; skilled at bringing together all kinds of people. But he remains steadfast in his belief that greater authenticity with presenters and attendees alike can be achieved without big conference bells and whistles.

We sat down to chat about how he got here, what goes into the planning for such an event and what it was like to build the first-ever PowerPoint centered community. 
This is an episode for: Event planners, PowerPoint nerds and fans of PreSum! 

Steve Earl knows that getting to the “starting line” of a presentation is all part of the marathon—NOT a sprint. 

As a seasoned Product Marketer for the likes of Oracle (and marathon runner himself!), Steve joins the pod to discuss his formula for ensuring you have all the information you need to set yourself up for success BEFORE even opening PowerPoint. 

We all know the Blank Page syndrome can kill any project. Deeply understanding you AND your audience’s “who”, “what” and “why”can make everything that follows smoother (not to mention more effective). 

This is an episode for: Product marketers, Sales Enablers, B2B presentation junkies and anyone who’s struggled with the “Blank Page” syndrome in a project.

Shark Tank is the reality show where passionate entrepreneurs pitch their product to a group of wealthy “sharks”—well-known Venture Capitalists—in hopes of investment funds and expert business guidance.  

It has televised hundreds of pitches and amounted to MILLIONS of investor capital. 

While this high stakes pitch environment isn’t necessarily the norm, the pitch structure and presentation of each product or service is well-worth examining—and learning from. 

We brought in Project Manager & lifelong Shark Tank fan Carly McKay who grew up watching these pitches to dissect four outstanding pitches—including a crowd favorite, Scrub Daddy.

This is an episode for: entrepreneurs, presenters and people that love Shark Tank (and Scrub Daddy!).

Brand collaborations are such a cool way to expand a brand’s story and messaging. They can be powerful, strategic and often hilarious—we all know that Doritos x Taco Bell collab brought us a now staple item on the fast food menu.

But did you know that Burger King famously created a “Day Without a Whopper” with the purpose of directing folks to McDonald’s to raise money for the McD’s charity? Why would they do that??

After our latest TWIST episode (This Week In Storytelling) on the subject, we wanted to bring in a presenter and product marketer perspective on what we can learn from these collaborations and how you can lean into other brands’ stories to tell your own.

This is an episode for: copywriters, speakers, product marketers & people that geek out on advertising

We all know the phrase “Death by PowerPoint.” Too much text, too many bullets, over-produced animations—the list that incurs such a phenomena is endless. 

David JP Phillips is a Swedish communication expert whose name went viral with his 2014 TED Talk, “How to avoid death by PowerPoint.” 

In it, David walks us through 5 easy-to-employ design fixes backed by clear psychological science that can transform any deck you’re currently working on. While they remain simple concepts to use within the software, they're ACCESSIBLE to even the non-designer. Plus, the public’s general feelings towards PowerPoint tell us they’re needed more than ever. 

WOW your boss the way David wow-ed this TED audience by making sure your projects are following his methods to avoid the all-too-common office outcome of “Death by PowerPoint.”

This is an episode for: People that make presentations, speakers and sales teams that have to use the same deck over and over again.

It’s Mikey’s birthday and he’s officially *shhhh* ~over the hill~. 

So we thought, “What better way to celebrate than to put him in the hot seat and fire off the 40 Reasons Mikey Loves Being a Presentation Designer”? A totally normal tradition, right!?

From getting to meet incredible people to honing storytelling skills to getting onsite event experience—there’s so much to love about this specialty niche space. (Umm, you may have heard us mention walkout songs??) 

If you find yourself interested in the intersection between Design, Business & Storytelling, we hope this episode can push you further down the path of exploration. 

This is an episode for: Current presentation designers, Aspiring designers and Speakers that appreciate all that goes into putting together events.

Rain Bennett is a storyteller in all that he does: filmmaking, writing, being a story coach and even TikTok-ing—which is how we got connected to this jack of all trades! 

Rain’s perspective on the power of finding your personal story is enough to level-up anything you’re working on or get inspired to start something new. He is strategic in connecting people’s passions to their skills and leveraging unique experiences to any advantage.  

We talk about Rain’s personal journey, documenting others’ stories and even get into his new book, 6 Second Stories: Maximize Your Impact in Minimal Time. 

This is an episode for: Creatives, speakers, entrepreneurs and anyone in need of a bit of inspiration.

Chris Lynch is the CMO of Mindtickle and he’s also a presentation connoisseur. 

With a background at Oracle in product marketing, presentations were a daily part of his job. That’s why Chris views them as such an important opportunity for business storytellers. 

This episode hones in on Chris’s creative process in developing presentations because, yes, they deserve a creative process just like any other project! And when crafted strategically, they can really set your organization apart.  

Listen to the full episode over at Product Marketing Insider! 

This is an episode for: product marketers, creatives and people that work with presentations regularly.

Ever wonder who works behind the scenes of a teleprompter? Or who even uses teleprompting anymore??

As it turns out, a lot of people - including Oprah! 

In this special interview episode, we sit down with Jill Richardson of K2 Productions to chat about her decade-long experience working as a teleprompter.

From high profile corporate events to celebs, she has seen—and helped put on—hundreds of presentations and events. Jill’s perspective on what makes speakers memorable is super valuable and her stories from being a part of live events are hilarious. 
This is an episode for: public speakers, frequent conference-goers and presentation perfectionists.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose 2009 TED Talk has over 33 MILLION views—and we all know that a well-viewed TED Talk is a clear indication of an effective speaker. 

Titled “The Danger of a Single Story”, Chimamanda’s talk illustrates both the power and the burden that stories can have. Growing up only reading books by American/British authors, it took her many years to learn that African characters can also exist in literature. Representation matters but also WHO is telling the story, WHERE it’s told, and so on. Media plays a powerful role in how countries portray other peoples—and when only one side of the story is told, stereotypes are formed. 

Adichie’s talk puts into practice her own advice. She peppers the 18 minutes with at least six personal stories where she both experienced and fell victim to the “single story.” 

Mikey and I analyze this expert display of storytelling and humanizing oneself to make a more powerful impact on an audience. 

This is an episode for: Writers, speakers, people that care about breaking stereotypes and TED Talk enthusiasts.