It’s that time of year—where brands spend a big chunk of their advertising budget for 30 seconds of your attention during the biggest game of the year: the Super Bowl. 

While Bad Bunny might’ve secured himself as the Halftime highlight, we were keen to see which brand stories stuck out during commercial breaks. 

After covering some of the most noteworthy Super Bowl ads in Episode #54, we pick up on the common story shapes, tropes and visual tools that these shiny ads utilize. What still works? What is getting stale?

We invite GhostRanch Creative Director Jeff Carter and Technical Director Steve Sheets to weigh in on this and dissect a few of their favorites.

This is an episode for: advertisers, Super Bowl fans and haters.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet? 

ALL the ads we reference:

1. MANSCAPED - “Hair Ballad” 

2. Budweiser - “American Icons”

3. Xfinity - "Jurassic Park…Works”

4. Coinbase - “Everybody”

5. Dunkin’ Donuts - “Good Will Dunkin”

6. Apple - “1984” (1983)

7. Pepsi - “The Choice”

8. Squarespace - “Unavailable”

9. GrubHub - “The Feest”

10. State Farm Insurance - “Livin’ on a Prayer”

11. Mountain Dew - “Puppy Monkey Baby” (2016)

12. InstaCart - “Bananas”

13. National Kidney Foundation - “Detect the SOS”

And of course:

• Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show
  

If you were part of the debate club in school, chances are you might be more confident or have stronger leadership skills than the average person. 

Corporate leadership training and workshops have long gone stale. Managers are wondering what motivates and increases both confidence and leadership skills?  

A group of researchers from MIT conducted a study in 2025 that measured the effectiveness of debate training. “Breaking Ceilings: Debate Training Promotes Leadership Emergence by Increasing Assertiveness” studies participants over the course of an intensive 9 week debate program and another larger group after 30 minute sessions.

Mikey and Molly put their academic hats on to dig into these really cool experiments and understand how debate training could impact presentation skills and managers’ options for expanding team capacities. 

This is an episode for: debate nerds, non-confrontational people and managers looking for fresh leadership training.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet? 

Get your own academic vibe going:

• Read the report highlights here

• You can see the full study with a Harvard Business Review subscription

Story Camp has been announced! 

• Claim your spot for November 3-6, 2026 and learn more here 

You think we wouldn’t give this research a walkout song? 

• Think again. Demi Lovato’s Confident

We’re on a mission to watch every Steve Jobs keynote ever and we’re deep down the rabbit hole now. 

To understand the context of this talk at MacWorld in 1997, Steve Jobs had recently returned to Apple after some drama (you can listen to our episode on the “Steve Jobs” film to learn more - linked below) and was working to get Apple back on track. 

This particular keynote was one in which some “damage control” had to be employed. It was restrained from Apple’s usual theatrics, demos and not a product launch in sight. 

Instead, Steve starts the talk with the three biggest criticisms of Apple displayed on the screen and proceeds to address each one head-on. He also reveals a major collaborator for Apple’s future, Microsoft, which is met with loud boos and dropped jaws. 

It’s a really fascinating moment in time for the tech world and even more so now from a presentation standpoint. 
This is an episode for: Apple fans, haters and anyone that has to give a talk in which they address the elephant in the room.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet? 

What we’ve covered so far in the Steve Jobs keynote multiverse:

• iMac product launch (1998)

• Stanford Commencement Speech (2005)

• “Steve Jobs” - film directed by Danny Boyle (2015)

This episode covers the 1997 keynote at MacWorld in Boston:

• Watch it for yourself, here. 

• Check out that website, AllAboutSteveJobs.com while you’re at it! 

What’s the actual walkout song Steve plays?

• Ripple - Grateful Dead
  

It’s clear why Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED Talk is THE most popular TED Talk of all time. 

The author, researcher and coach posits an ultimate question, “Do schools kill creativity?”, that still circulates the TED stage in new ways today. 

With no slides or props, Robinson provides a masterclass in keeping an audience engaged, utilizing humor and strategic pacing. 

Robinson’s storytelling skills are so good it’s impossible not to be able to leave his nineteen minute talk without being able to repeat some of the persuasive anecdotes and new ideas he offers. 

This is an episode for: TED fans, people in education and anyone looking to improve their public speaking skills.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?

Watch Sir Ken Robinson’s talk for yourself

• Do schools kill creativity? (2006)

Find more of Robinson’s work and books

• His website here

Our take on Ken’s walkout song?

Cameron Magee, Founder of the avad3 event production company, returns for the final installment of our “Some Guy from the Crew” trilogy peeling the curtain back on everything you need to know about planning events. 

For this episode? We’re talking openly about money: what you can get for your budget, general allocations for event sizes Small, Medium and Large and what unanticipated costs people often forget about. 

Cameron also maps out the ideal production team for each size event and the roles you can expect to see them take on. 

With hundreds of experiences under his belt, Cameron makes you feel like he’s got the often unpredictable event industry down to a pretty perfect science. 

This is an episode for: first-time event planners, the production team or whoever’s in charge of the SKO budget.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet? 

Tune into the rest of the series here:

• “Some Guy From the Crew” Part 1: The importance of rehearsals with Cameron Magee

• “Some Guy From the Crew” Part 2: Live events with Cameron Magee

Cameron’s favorite resources for event production? 

• [When asked by a young person for the best apps in event production, Cameron replied]: “I got good news and bad news. The good news is they're already on your phone. The bad news is this is not going be a very sexy conversation.” Shoutout Notes app and Google Suite.

Book reccos?

• Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People

• “…because almost everything in this industry, as you alluded to earlier, it’s note regulated. It's actually quite negotiable. But negotiation hinges on being relational.” 

• Atul Gawande - The Checklist Manifesto

• Edgar Papke - True Alignment

Goal for 2026?

• Encourage more live music at events!

During the first week of December 2025, GhostRanch Communications hosted its 10 year anniversary offsite retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico! 

In honor of turning a decade old, founder and CEO of GhostRanch Mikey Mioduski has some wisdom to share about how to plan, host and present at an offsite retreat. 

While this particular case study is for a company with a relatively small number of employees, Mikey’s experience in supporting clients to put on events of all sizes is universal. From presentation files to venue room sizes, we share some of the nitty gritty details you won’t want to forget. 

Oh, and if you need to hire live music, consider an ABBA cover band!

This is an episode for: friends of the Ranch, Georgia O’Keeffe fans and whoever on the team is planning the offsite retreat.

End of the year means a look back at the 12 months and many more episodes that made up the Presentation Thinking pod in 2025. 

Mikey and Molly peel back the curtain on their Spotify Creator Wrapped with analytics and analysis on how we’ve grown in three years and where we’re headed. 

Of course, we recap the top five episodes of the year, best resources for you to carry on into 2026 and our walkout songs. But we also examine what we feel are some pretty clear trends in B2B, storytelling and how to get attention if you’re also producing a podcast and/or making content.

This is an episode for: Growing podcasters, product marketers and everyone that loves an end-of-year review.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?

Watch the original “How to avoid death by PowerPoint"

• David JP Phillips’ TED Talk (2014)

Top 5 episodes released in 2025

1. #157. Making messaging PUNCHY with Emma Stratton
2. #179. The power of visual storytelling with “Chief Doodler” Hayley Langsdorf
3. 173. Presentation Party Time: Scott Hull & the importance of human-made stories
4. #183. Founder Krislam Chin’s creative approach to teaching creative work
5. #169. Establishing “rules” of visual storytelling: How to avoid Death by PowerPoint

Resources to take into the New Year:

• Prezent has a great blog - “10 powerful visual storytelling examples for successful presentations”
• What GenAI Tools Can and Can’t Do for Presentations
• For the story pros - Aaron Sorkin’s Masterclass
  

The 2015 film Steve Jobs is the perfect overlap of three key areas of interest for Presentation Thinking:

1. Steve Jobs’ life and presentation skills

2. Aaron Sorkin’s writing and storytelling (he wrote the script)

3. Aristotle

In our quest to watch every keynote Steve Jobs ever gave, we realized the 2015 Danny Boyle-directed film centers around 3 important product launches in Jobs’ life. A 3 act structure told with product launches, if you will.

Mikey and Molly host a film club episode to dissect the structure as it holds up to Aristotle’s Poetics and the Aaron Sorkin masterclass they took earlier this year. From the simple but clever formatting to the presentation preparation (and insane asks Jobs often made), Sorkin’s cutting dialogue keeps you gripped along the way.

Jobs was far from perfect but the story does humanize a larger-than-life figure that left a lasting legacy in the tech world. 

This is an episode for: film/story structure nerds, Apple aficionados and Steve Jobs fans (and haters!)

What’s in the Spice Cabinet? 

Watch the Danny Boyle film for yourself! 

• Letterboxd link

More about the 1998 iMac launch

• Episode 187

The Super Bowl ad Apple ran in 1984 that had everyone buzzing?

• 1984

Tune into Mikey and Molly’s Aaron Sorkin Masterclass experience

• Episode 163

Read Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ memoir

• Small Fry

Gerard Clarke is going to be your next favorite filmmaker. 

As a director and creator based in Atlanta, Gerard has been involved in a countless variety of projects both creative, commercial and a blend of both.  

He joins the ‘cast to discuss his experience in pitching (and selling) creative work, building out a visual story and the process that went into his latest short film, 500 Seconds to Tell You.

Filmmakers have a lot in common with the creative visionaries of B2B marketing. There’s typically a storyboard, a shot list and a kickass creative crew assembled to execute a vision—not unlike a big product launch, rebrand or narrative deck. 

From Blockbuster memories to strategic storytelling advice, Gerard offers a unique perspective into the Presentation Thinking world.

This is an episode for: visual storytellers of all kinds, anyone that has to sell creative work and film geeks.

What’s in the Spice Cabinet?

Follow more of Gerard!

• His website
• LinkedIn

Some of Gerard’s favorite films & media?

• Vanilla Sky (2001)

• He’s also a big Stranger Things fan for those watching the final season!

• A fave director - Darren Aronofsky

Book recommendations?

• Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon

• Pi Screenplay and The Gorilla Diaries - Darren Aronofsky

• Rebel Without A Crew - Robert Rodriguez 

What is Gerard listening to? 

• Team Deakins podcast - brings in folks in the film biz! 

Favorite talk?

• Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, Do schools kill creativity? 

Walkout song? 

• Summer Sun by Common Saints

Parting shot? 

• “To quote the Shawshank Redemption, ‘get busy living or get busy dying.’”

PMM, Navy vet and overall cool guy Langley Barth joins the pod after Mikey and him connected at a Product Marketing Alliance summit in San Francisco (shoutout PMA!). 

Langley is full of GREAT PMM advice—from becoming a subject matter expert on your product to getting to know the customer journey, he’s an expert at guiding conversations that “unlock the unknown unknowns.”

Langley also shares how his experience giving presentations in the Navy (who knew!) has informed his career. In addition to being a PMM, he connects veterans to purpose-driven careers through his organization, Civilian Compass.

This is an episode for: the product marketers, the sales team and any vets looking for new career inspo!

What's in the Spice Cabinet?

Find more of Langley’s work

• On LinkedIn

• Civilian Compass

PMM inspiration & shoutouts?

• Elle Grossenbacher’s podcast - Product Marketing Adventures

• Michele Nieberding - The AI PMM

Book reccos?

• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore

San Diego reccos?

• Taco Surf Taco Shop

• “Fancy Mediterranean fusion” - Callie

Walkout song? 

• Fluorescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys