Nancy Duarte is a legend when it comes to corporate communications and presentations. In this first part of my work of series on Nancy’s work, I explore her fantastic book Resonate and using stories in presentations!
Nancy is a communication expert who has been featured in Fortune, Time Magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Cosmopolitan, LA Times, and on CNN. Her firm, Duarte, Inc., is the global leader behind some of the most influential visual messages in business and culture. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. She’s written five best-selling books, four of which have won awards.
Duarte, Inc., is the largest communication firm in Silicon Valley, as well as one of the top woman-owned businesses in the area. Nancy has won several awards for communications, entrepreneurship, and her success as a female executive. On the list of top 250 Women in Leadership, Duarte ranks #67 and on World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals for 2017, Duarte ranks #1. She has been a speaker at conferences and a number of Fortune 500 companies, and counts many more among her firm’s clientele. Her TEDx talk has over two million views. She speaks at business schools and has lectured at Stanford University several times.
RESONATE
In the theme of keeping things short, here are some notes to guide you though this episode:
Objects vibrate frequency responds external same frequency
Adjust to the frequency of the audience
Change is healthy
Presentations are great to bring change but they are boring and obscure.
You need to stand out.
People are interesting
Facts fall short – need logic and emotion – Use Stories
You aren’t hero
Audience is the hero (lucasfilm)
Incorporate Story
Report – Presentation – Story
Relatable and Likable Hero
Encounters Roadblock
Emerges Transformed
ACT 1,2,3
Sid Field, Heroes Journey
Audience Cross Threshold
Contrast Resolve tension
Sparkline
WHAT COULD BE
WHAT IS
NEW BLISS
3 TYPES CONTRAST:
Content
Emotion vs Logic
Delivery
CTA
Doer – Activity
Supplier – Resource
Influencer – Perceptions
Innovator – Ideas
Ending –
CTA and New Bliss
Segment the Audience
Craft each message for each audience (Reagan)
Like them, Study them, Walk in shoes
Lifestyle
Values
Motivation
Knowledge
Influence
Respect
Mentor
Tools
Guidance
Confidence
Common Ground
Shared experiences
Common goals
Qualifications
Big Idea –
Unique POV and Raise Stakes in One Sentence
Move FROM Think and Do TO Think and Do
Acknowledge Sacrifice and Risk
Inoculate – Comfort zone, Fear, Vulnerable, Misunderstands, Obstacles, Politics
Make the reward worth it – YOU, RELATIONSHIPS, WORLD
Needs, Security, Savings, Prize, Recognition, Relationship, Destiny
Collect and Create Ideas
Ethical, Logical and Emotional Appeal
Numbers – Scale, Compare, Context
Filter and Murder your Darlings
Structure in Clusters – Big Idea and Smaller
Chronological, Sequential, Spatial, Climactic
Problem-Solutions, Compare-Contrast, Cause Effect, Advantage-Disadvantage
Signals, Chunks, Visualize
Slides – 1 Idea per slide + Simple + words in pictures
STAR Moment Something They’ll Always Remember
Memorable Dramatization
Repeatable Soundbites (PR, Social Media, Rally Cry) Imitate or Repeat
Evocative Visuals
Emotive Storytelling
Shocking Statistics
Other factors:
Credibility
Semantic
Experiential
Bias
First Impression
No Jargon
Brief
Less Slides
Balance Emotion and Logic depends on audience
Test Presentation
Be Good, Be Honest, Unique, Believe in message