This Week's Speaker: Wednesday, September 22 at 1pm PT/4pm ET
Think Like a Designer: design principles that will make you a rock star
Have you ever wondered why some people can make slides make sense and other just can't? It all comes down to how the elements are arranged. You can have two people use the same text and shapes on a slide and one is easy to process and the other is a heap of confusion.
You have worked hard to prepare for your next presentation. You’re well rehearsed and your concepts are brilliant. But maybe you should step back and take one last long look at your slides because an audience can either listen to what you’re saying or read your slides. Not both. Do you know if your visual presence is overwhelming or conceptually enlightening? Do you know the Signal-to-Noise Ratio of Your Slides? Slides are supposed to clarify or amplify the message. Instead, they’re a crutch for the presenter to remember what to say. Learn how to break that behavior and create slides that bring meaning instead of distraction.
Make Sure Yours Is Seen and Not Just Heard.
You will learn:
• The difference between a document and a slide
• How to think like a designer
• How to determine your signal-to-noise ratio
• How to get your idea to stand out!
The root of the word designate is "design". The only difference between someone who knows design and someone who doesn't is that when thinking like a designer, you know how to designate where elements go. There's no extra work involved really. You still type the words in and draw the shapes, it's where they are placed and arranged that determines if the audience can process your intent.
This session is for anyone who uses presentations as a communication medium on a nearly daily basis.
Download the handout for the presentation.
About Nancy
Nancy Duarte is the CEO of Duarte Design, the only agency in the world focused solely on presentations – whether they are delivered in person, online or via devices. For more than 20 years she has shaped the perception of the world's leading brands and thought leaders. She is the author of the best-selling and award winning book, Slide:ology The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations where her experience was distilled into best practices for visual business communicators. She continues to advance new forms of presentation through partnerships with innovative forums like TED and Pop!Tech. She serves as a TED Fellows committee member, is a 2009 Woman of Influence, and 2008 Communicator of the Year. Nancy’s newest book, resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences will be released in October, and in it she aims to uncover the mystery of persuasion, give you a process to develop focused content, and inspire you to transform your audience. She offers a day-long slide:ology workshop in which you will apply the principles in slide:ology using real-life examples.
About her presentations
Presentations are the lingua franca of business and those who master them rise faster than their peers, reach more customers than their competitors, and turn causes into a groundswell. Pioneering presentation innovator Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte Design, will demonstrate how to apply the methods in her book resonate: Presenting Visual Stories That Transform Audiences, to build meaningful connections with audiences that compel them to action, as illustrated by the tipping point created from Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth presentation and the skyrocketing popularity of the TED Talks. Her groundbreaking work details a new way of thinking about the relationship between presenter and audience – a paradigm shift that recognizes the audience as the hero and draws on the ability of the presenter to create a human connection.
Key Takeaways:
• Learn the principles used to create presentations that engage and activate audiences
• Review techniques for treating your audience as a hero and methods for building connections
• Discover methods for crafting narratives and applying lessons from movies and literature to presentations
Why people would be interested in her presentation
Since the publication of Nancy Duarte’s first book slide:ology, The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, the demand for presentation development training has led to unprecedented growth for these services during one of the most devastating economic periods in U.S. history. Industry leaders from banking, insurance, automotive, healthcare, government and technology have come to the realization that communication in the form of presentations as a key differentiator. Their ability to lead change initiatives within their organizations, collaborate with increasingly complex ecosystems of stakeholders and provide clear messages is directly tied to their ability to create presentations that connect with their audiences.