Comments on: Designing Presentations is a Dirty Job

By: ade

ade — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:52:53 +0000

I’m glad to know that presentation design has started to be recognized. This blog has really helped me appreciate the work that goes into making great presentations.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:28:21 +0000

Hi Nancy,
I used your book to create my first ever power point presentation. The book was invaluable and it helped me visualize my story in a clear and interesting manner.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:10:23 +0000

Many of us have spent our careers just about slideless and training others to focus on the audience and not the screen. Mastering storytelling makes all of your presentations better.

Great storytelling by Mr. Rowe.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:23:06 +0000

…thanks Nancy. love this.
and thanks for your great work. there’s nothing better in my line of work than finding a strategic designer with great aesthetic that can be my “creative” partner in visualizing strategy. downside is that these folks are so hard to find.

love duarte and your vision. keep up the good work!

By: Jeremy Fuksa

Jeremy Fuksa — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:59:43 +0000

Nathan, it is a dream job to be able to rework presentations all day. I started focusing solely on presentation design late last fall and it’s been fantastic.

As someone who designs slides, you might think my first inclination when seeing this video is that “Oh no, there were no slides! Bad! We need the work!”

But, I have to say how refreshing it was to witness this slideless presentation because it reinforces the idea that storytelling is the key to delivering mind-blowing presentations. How you translate the story you have to tell into visual accompaniment is what REALLY begins to polish and round out a great presentation.

Great video. Glad you shared it.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:38:20 +0000

Hi Nancy, I love your work and the book Slide:ology. Recently, it was a great help in putting together a PowerPoint presentation for a new client in which I was proposing a new way to present their brand and talk about what they do. Within my presentation, I created a 6-frame story about the value of a new product they’re offering clients. On the 6th frame, their head sales manager jumped up and said “I’ve been trying to sell this for months, but I never thought of saying it that way!”. It was then that I realized the power of presentations to tell stories that really motivate people. There are a lot of clients out there that need our help when it comes to their PowerPoint presentations. This is fertile territory for designers if they care to enter it.

By: Nancy Duarte

Nancy Duarte — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:12:23 +0000

I *heart* presentations. For the first time I feel like I have a tribe. It had been a lonely road.

By: Julie Terberg

Julie Terberg — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:41:08 +0000

Shhh – we don’t want too many “real” designers to find out how satisfying it is to work in the dirt.

By: Simon Raybould

Simon Raybould — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:52:50 +0000

Nice presentation (but then so is almost anything else from TED! ).

I’m not quite sure *what* slides he could have used though…. can you imagine the images?

By: jeremy

jeremy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:37:50 +0000

I loved the connection between innovation and imitation, and I would extend that this way:

impact = innovation + imitation

Innovation alone is art. But if you want to have an impact–if you want to change the world around you, you’ve got to innovate things that can be reproduced. Hopefully, good things.

It’s one of my favorite things about slide:ology, Nancy. You gave away a bunch of the secrets, the innovations, and I have high hopes that presentations the world over are better for it. I know that the ones in my office are.