We are so grateful to have had our friend and author of Presentation Zen, Presentation Zen Design, (and coming soon The Naked Presenter!) Garr Reynolds visit us last week. Garr gave us a sneak peek at some of what he’ll cover in his new book, and shared nine lessons from the Japanese bath. (Yes, nine!) Take a note from the onsen and be more comfortable naked with your next presentation!

Thanks to everyone who attended. We hope you enjoyed yourselves; we enjoyed having you!

Don’t forget to pre-order Garr’s new book, and save the date (Thursday, October 7) to attend Duarte’s next event, the Resonate Book Launch!

If you weren’t able to attend last week’s event, here’s what you missed.

Garr Reynolds at Duarte Aug ‘10 from Duarte Design on Vimeo.

The Live Stream has ended.

So happy you could join us!
Don’t forget to check out Garr’s new book The Naked Presenter.

In our workshops we often show what great stories might look like had they been presented as PowerPoint presentations—usually to demonstrate how the typical business presentation can suck the life out of a powerful story.

We wondered what the PowerPoint version of the recent Double Rainbow web video would look like.  Here is what we thought it might be like, if it were taken and presented in the standard, bullet-style presentation:

Compare that to the original story.

Can you see that there is just something missing from the PowerPoint version?  Where is the passion?  Where is the memorable moment?  Where is the “whoa?”

So, the lesson is to be careful when following the default layouts in PowerPoint.  Ask yourself, “What would be the best way to convey this information?”  Perhaps a bulleted list isn’t the answer.  Maybe just telling a story from the heart will give your amazing story the impact it deserves.

Whoa…

In the early 1400s, Florence, Italy was a hotbed of artistic competition. There were cathedrals to be built, giant baptistery doors to be sculpted, and lots of artists wanting to get in on the action.  Up-and-coming sculptor and architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, was one of those artists.  He had spent much of his life studying ancient Roman architecture and had entered his share of design competitions only to come in second to his more showy, but less qualified, peers. 

As a resident of Florence, Filippo lived in the shadow of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the world at that time.  Construction on the cathedral had begun in 1296, but after its original architect was unable to come up with a way to construct a dome over the cathedral’s massive nave, the building had remained unfinished for nearly a century.

In 1409, the group in charge of the construction of the cathedral asked Filppo’s opinion about how the dome (cupola) should be built.  He offered several ideas based on his studies of ancient Roman domes, but to his frustration, none of them were implemented.

Nine years later in 1418, the group announced that they were accepting new ideas for how to design the dome.  While at first the competition was only open to local artists, the group eventually opened it up artists all across Europe.  Filippo submitted his name to be included and was eventually invited to participate.  He traveled to Rome to study ancient structures and worked out his design for the dome.

The day of the presentation arrived.  Master builders from all over Europe assembled in the unfinished cathedral.  Each architect presented his solution in turn.  Many ideas were presented.  One thought the dome should be made of “spongestone” to keep the weight down.  Another suggested that they put a giant pillar in the middle.  Yet a third proposed that the dome be filled with earth mixed with money during the construction, and then once it was finished, that citizens be allowed to dig for the money, removing all of the dirt in the process.

Filippo was last to present.  He was confident that he alone, based on his knowledge of ancient methods of dome creation and study of the Gothic techniques, had the answer.   He verbally described his solution: a dome within a dome, octagonal in shape, capped by a lantern to let in light, all of which would be constructed without scaffolding.  They were astonished by his claim and demanded to see his model.  Fearing that the other architects would steal his design, or that (even worse) his design might be given to someone else to build, Filippo flatly refused.

Filippo then issued a challenge, saying that the commission to build the dome should be given to the man who could make an egg stand on end, as that man would have the skills required for the job.  After the various architects tried in vain to accomplish it, Filippo took an egg, whacked it on its end and then placed it on the table where it stood upright and did not fall over.

The other architects protested that they could have done that, too, to which Filippo replied that they could have built the dome, too, had they seen his model.  Impressed, the judges awarded Filippo the commission to construct the dome.

The dome was completed in 16 years and is the largest dome ever created with bricks and masonry.  It has been credited as an inspiration for St. Peter’s dome, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and even the Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C., and is a must-see destination for all those who visit Florence.

Do you operate in a competitive environment?  Have your great ideas not gotten the chance they deserve?  Do you need to stand out from the crowd in order to be heard?  Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to push a great idea through the cloud of politics and jealousy into the light for everyone to see.

You can do that with your presentation.  Take a cue from a 15^th Century architect and be bold!  Consider using a S.T.A.R. Moment™.  Make yourself memorable.  Take a risk.  Your idea (and possibly the world) will thank you for it.

Several days ago, one of my co-workers sent out a link to a video entitled “Embrace Life”, a commercial promoting seat belt use. Apparently The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership decided that it was time for a seat belt awareness campaign that didn’t use the shock and awe approach. Sussex must be a lot like where I grew up, because the only seat belt awareness messages I’ve seen involve threat of punishment… and punishment by way of fine, personal injury, or death.

The video immediately arrested my attention,  a feat nearly impossible when I am two cups deep into a pot of coffee, and juggling multiple tasks. But by the time the father’s expression changed to concern, I was reacting emotionally to this thing… in my cubicle, of all places. How embarrassing.

I thought to myself, “Don’t blink. Just finish the video, collect yourself, and get back to life as usual. And in the event of a total emo-meltdown, there is Kleenex nearby.”

But I could not go back to life as usual. For some reason I found myself thinking about it the following morning while brushing my teeth. I couldn’t stop thinking about how quickly that video got inside my head. Why did it have such power over me? Was it luck, or was there a formula to charging something that fully with emotion? And how could I bring that same level of emotion to my own creations?

As it turns out, it was no accident. On the production company’s website there is a “Making Of” page, where I learned the method behind this masterpiece.

“I wanted to create a visual metaphor addressing how a single decision in a person’s day can greatly influence both their own and their loved ones’ lives. Choosing to film the story inside the family living room represents the feelings many people equate with their own car, in that it represents a level of safety and protection from the ‘outer’ world.”

This was true for me. Instantly I was thinking about my own family and friends… the people I owe my personal safety to the most.

“So to create the emotion of this dramatic moment, I wanted to tell the story using slow motion to allow the audience the time to be drawn into the film’s world and to let them connect with and project their own feelings onto the scenario playing out before them. I wanted to give the audience the time to breathe, to absorb our message and using slow motion was the right technique to allow this to happen.”

Ahhh so that’s how I got so absorbed. It takes a lot to yank us out of the hypnosis of our routines, but I was completely halted in the first 15 seconds.

“I wanted to keep the audience in the moment and so we kept the film’s look to be subtle and natural, complimenting Luke’s onset lighting.”

Although I didn’t notice it at the time, that may have contributed to my initial impression… that the piece seemed to have no wasted energy. No wasted pixels or motions. Every component has purpose.

“Embrace Life’s music … started with Daniel giving examples of the music he felt best optimised the emotion and tone of Embrace Life and from these guide tracks Sid worked his magic until the right blend was achieved.”

There is a moment of tension when the piano changes key at the 50-second mark… and then there is the impact… and the glitter in the bowl showers down around them like pieces of safety-glass or the fragments of one’s fragile life.

The moral of this story is obviously “fasten your seat belt”… but for us creative types, a secondary message exists: Slow down… eliminate clutter… take the high road to emotional impact and really ENGAGE your viewer. Respect your audience. Don’t threaten them… create imagery that they will WANT to remember and maybe even share… and if you can make them want to call their families after your presentation, well then everybody wins.

Read the full “Making of” page: http://www.alexandercommercials.co.uk/Makingof.html

Alexander Commercials: http://www.alexandercommercials.co.uk/index.html

The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership http://www.sussexsaferroads.gov.uk

As an agency, we were really excited to see the new features  being introduced in the Adobe Creative Suite 5. What amazing new set of drawing tools and editing features were we going to be able to take advantage of? The answer was simply, lots!

Adobe has put so many features into this suite, it’s going to create a lot of opportunities to push the envelope with graphics in the presentation space. Much of our production is done by drawing in Adobe Illustrator and, then pasting and converting those graphics into PowerPoint, where we re-color, scale, and sometimes animate the objects we drew in Illustrator. To do this, we use the technique known in PowerPoint as “Paste Special”.

“Paste Special” allows you to ungroup and essentially convert the graphic you created in Illustrator into an editable shape in PowerPoint. By using this technique, we eliminate the need for folders of assets that must travel with the presentation,  like you would if you worked in Flash, or some other media program. More importantly it makes the graphic editable in PowerPoint so the client can make last-minute adjustments as they approach “go time”. But that never happens right? Last minute edits? Never. Ha ha, I kid, I kid.

As soon as the shop updated to CS5, I was eager to jump on the tool and see what we could do. Soon, a few designers in the shop started having some trouble…  “Mark, I can’t copy and paste into PowerPoint from the new Illustrator CS5. What gives?”

It was true, the new Illustrator wouldn’t allow you to copy and Paste Special! This was terrifying, not only was it a huge investment to upgrade the shop but I think about 95% of all our vector graphics are drawn in Illustrator before we bring them into PowerPoint for editing. Hearing rumblings of converting back to previous versions of Illustrator, I quickly reached out to Adobe’s Illustrator Product Manager for help.

That very afternoon they had committed a software engineer to helping us with this problem, and when I arrived at work the next day a patch had been sent to us for testing. VOILA, it worked! What an amazing experience. In less than a day the whole shop was able to utilize the great new features in Illustrator CS5 in conjunction with PowerPoint.

Shortly after the patch was created, both managers from the Illustrator product team contacted me, and asked,  “Could we come see what you do?” Surprisingly there’s still a lack of awareness about the use Adobe’s tools with Microsoft apps. Shocking but true! Most designers get goosebumps, or worse, if they are expected to work between these two application giants. Here at Duarte, it’s an every day occurrence. I had a great time showing Adobe some of our projects and our process and hopefully it will lead to some great developments for us in the future.

Oh yeah, and if you want the fix for CS5 you can find it here:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/849/cpsid_84981.html

When I met with the CIA for very the first time to discuss presentation training, I was alarmed at how prevalent PowerPoint was in their culture. Apparently the analysts create reports in PowerPoint and then from those briefings, a subset of pages are pulled out and included in the President’s briefing book each morning. Oh my! At the time of this conversation, GW was still in office, so of course I asked, “Do you think PowerPoint could be blamed for the confusions about WMDs?” Their answer is off the record.

I first heard about the military’s overuse of PowerPoint from my brother-in-law, a former Lieutenant in the Navy. While visiting him in Maryland, he and I had a long discussion about what he could do to make his slides clearer. The poor guy was hungry for advice. He told me that career advancements go to the people with the best slides. Gak.

So it’s no surprise to see today’s article in the NYT. (Thanks, Guy Kawasaki.) Looks like PowerPoint is the enemy again. Positioning PowerPoint as evil first surfaced when Edward Tufte blamed the space shuttle disaster on PowerPoint. The app isn’t the enemy, but I have to agree with General James N. Mattis that “PowerPoint makes us stupid.”

Writing thoughtfully crafted correspondence and communication takes time. More time than people care enough to spend. Writing thoughtfully takes time, and several refinement cycles. But we’ve become a first-draft culture. Write an e-mail. Send. Write a blog post. Publish. Write a presentation. Present. The art of crafting something well is reticent in communications. Bullets are a cop-out. Here’s the most frightening paragraph from the article:

No one is suggesting that PowerPoint is to blame for mistakes in the current wars, but the program did become notorious during the prelude to the invasion of Iraq. As recounted in the book “Fiasco” by Thomas E. Ricks (Penguin Press, 2006), Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan, who led the allied ground forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, grew frustrated when he could not get Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the commander at the time of American forces in the Persian Gulf region, to issue orders that stated explicitly how he wanted the invasion conducted, and why. Instead, General Franks just passed on to General McKiernan the vague PowerPoint slides that he had already shown to Donald H. Rumsfeld, the defense secretary at the time.

Click here to read the full article…

It’s fine to use PowerPoint to create documents. But if you are creating a document, fill it in. Really fill it in. Pack it in. Fill the page with every detail and use fully formed sentences. We have adopted a half-breed form of communication. Pages of bulleted lists without nouns or verbs. These half-breeds are not a documents or presentations. My friend Garr Reynolds calls these slideuments.

No wonder there’s confusion. How many battles have been lost in your organization because of poor communication?

It’s nearly summer, and that means the HOW Design Conference is coming! It’s not until June, but we wanted to give you a heads up, ’cause with this conference, it pays to be an early bird! And I mean literally. Register by tomorrow, April 15, and save $100!

And, HOW has allowed us to pass savings along to our readership:
Use the code ND10 to receive an additional $50 off.

As usual, there’s an amazing lineup of the best & brightest in the design community. View the full list of sessions here.

Among those experts will be our very own Nancy Duarte. Check out the description of her session below, and mark your calendar!

Visual Storytelling: Resonate and Activate Audiences

Tuesday, June 8: 9-10:15am

Presentations bring to mind bad design, cheesy graphics, and PowerPoint. But presentations can actually be the most powerful tool in the business world today.

Communication expert Nancy Duarte will help you overcome your inherent distaste for presentations and offer tips for boosting your powers of visual thinking. You’ll learn how to position your firm for the global economy by increasing your visual thinking skills, applying traditional design processes to presentations, and using stories to increase the effectiveness of your message.

Register by tomorrow, and use the code ND10, to save a total of $150!

Driving in my car, listening to Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSound, I realized that J.T. has a really good handle on what it means to deliver a great presentation.  Nice!  Take a look.

Take some of his advice and you, too, can be a presentation rockstar!

Songwriters: Floyd Nathaniel Hills, Timothy Z. Mosley, and Justin R. Timberlake