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.

If you can’t be with us tonight, we’ll miss you! But that doesn’t mean you have to miss us!
Check back here at 6 p.m. to watch a live stream of Garr Reynolds presentation.

Just in case something goes awry (gotta love technology!) you can access our Ustream channel here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/special-guest-garr-reynolds

Garr Reynolds will be in town next week, and we’re celebrating! Besides absolutely loving Garr, (and finding any excuse we can to have a party) Garr has a new book coming out, which is cause for celebration! The Naked Presenter will hit stores this fall, but is available now for pre-order on Amazon.

Join us for a drink, a bite to eat, and lots of  good conversation. After a healthy dose of socializing, Garr will share excerpts from his new book, and be available for Q&A.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, August 26
Time: 5-7pm
Location: Duarte Design | 161 E. Evelyn Ave Mountain View, CA 94041
RSVP: Please visit http://garrnancy.eventbrite.com to let us know you’re coming!

(There’s a cap on attendance, so please RSVP as soon as possible.)

Ooh, and while I have your attention, please save the date for Nancy Duarte’s Resonate Book Launch Party on Thursday, October 7!

What are you doing this Tuesday, June 29th? Can you say PECHA KUCHA?

Yeah, neither can I. But you don’t need to say it, you just need to go to it!

The third Pecha Kucha Night – San Jose is this Tuesday, June 29.
The event is from 7-10 P.M. at the Sonoma Chicken Coop in downtown Campbell.

In case you don’t know about Pecha Kucha yet, an excerpt from their website describes it best:

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

Presenter Line-up:

Derek McCaw, Producing the Stage Version of “Dead Man Walking”
Jonathan Crabtree, Why
Crystal Yan, Student, Youth and Social Entrepreneurship
Al Kovalick, DIY – Making Your Own Neon Sign
Jason Salizar, Filmmaker
Florian Brody, Every Image Gets Its Credit
Ric Bretschneider, The Story So Far

Summary:

Date: Tuesday, June 29 Time: 7-10 P.M.
Location: Sonoma Chicken Coop
Address: 200 E Campbell Ave, Campbell, CA 95008
Phone: (408) 866-2699

Hope to see you there!

As many of you know, Duarte Design offers a workshop that covers the principles from Nancy Duarte’s award-winning book, slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. Our public workshop covers both comprehensive visual storytelling development as well as the application of design thinking in an all-day, interactive environment – which includes group and individual exercises to reinforce learning.

And now we want to take slide:ology on the road.

So we need to hear from you. Which cities you’d like us to visit? What days of the week are best for you? Please answer these few questions to help us decide where–and how–to bring slide:ology to you.

Registration is now open for the slide:ology webinar series!

Save time, and money, by enjoying the content of our one-day workshop from your home, your office, or your home office. (Or a coffee shop, if that’s your thing.)

Note: The webinars are intended to be experienced as live events. You must purchase all six webinars as a set, but a recording will be available to attendees who must miss a session.

To learn more about the series, visit:
http://blog.duarte.com/webinars/

Click here to register now!

Session 1: Introduction to the Principles of slide:ology
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will review the key principles from the book slide:ology by learning the principle and observing it applied through a series of before and after examples. These include reviewing the importance or audience needs, design thinking, design principles and the display of information.

Session 2: Connecting with Your Audience
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will focus on how to build rapport and connect with an audience in more meaningful and engaging ways. Attendees will review how to apply the Audience Map and Speaker Map sections of the Presentation slidemap tool. Through a series of exercises attendees will learn about the seven most important questions to ask about their audience and work together to answer them. Once attendees have discovered how to define their audience needs, they will review the strategies for reaching their audience – before, during and after the presentation. Finally, attendees will learn how to identify what they share in common with their audience and how to use this information to ensure the audience will see their point of view.

Session 3: Story and Structure
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will review and learn how to apply the third component of the Presentation slidemap tool: the storyboard. Building on what they learned about the Audience Map and Speaker Map sections, attendees will identify the big idea and where they need to move their audience from and to in order to achieve their desired results for the presentation. Attendees will review techniques for achieving the optimal balance of logic and emotion to engage audiences such as when and to use metaphors, anecdotes and thought-provoking questions and how to create a S.T.A.R. (Something They Will Always Remember) moment.

Session 4: Design Thinking
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will learn how to apply design concepts such as arrangement, color, text, imagery to create clarity and give messages meaning. They will explore how to apply contrast, flow, hierarchy, unity, proximity and whitespace to identify the main points, the order in which to process information, and the relationship between elements on a slide. They will also uncover the importance of the grid to provide structure and how structure combined with the big idea and a consistent graphic style can create unity. Attendees will learn how to apply the 3-second rule when determining how many words to put on a slide. Finally, attendees will review the importance of image systems visual experiences their audiences will not forget.

Session 5: Visual Storytelling and Design Part I
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will learn how to appeal to the visual and verbal thinkers in their audiences by transforming information into engaging visual stories. They will review techniques for creating diagrams by applying abstract concepts such as flow, structure, cluster and radiate to information. They will also learn how to use tools such as word mapping to turn words into pictures.

Session 6: Visual Storytelling and Design Part II
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 (10AM PST)

During this webinar, attendees will learn how to mold information into an effective communication tool by illustrating statistics, isolating text and using imagery to bring their data to life. They will review the five data slide rules and how to apply them to ensure they get to the point, pick the right tool for the job, highlight what’s important and when to keep it simple.

Have you ever thought about what you’re doing when you update your Facebook page, change your LinkedIn profile, or tweet? You’re telling a story. With simple phrases and pictures, you’re presenting to the world your opinion on world events, or your favorite restaurant.

With the explosion of social media and mobile devices, the impact of these presentations has the potential to be felt far beyond the board rooms and conference halls for which they were originally designed. However, your audience has access to–and is bombarded by–thousands of sources of information, which means your message needs to work harder to stand out from the rest.

Presentations have existed for thousands of years, starting at least as early as humans began gathering around campfires. And though presentations have drifted from this intimate, expressive environment, their roots are firmly planted in story. Modern presentations tend to value information over inspiration, and often eliminate the story to make room for bullet points and statistics.

Utilizing humans’ natural penchant for storytelling is an easy way to increase the effectiveness of  your message. Presentations were made to be passed on from meeting to meeting, stories were made to be passed down from generation to generation.

Recently, I heard a quote that beautifully illustrates the relationship between presentations and the digital movement:

“Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories.”

–Laurie Anderson

Come join Nancy Duarte at ad:tech SF on April 21st, as she speaks about transforming ideas into action through storytelling and amplification via social media.

Storytelling through social media is just one of the topics us Duartians are exploring for 2010, and we want to hear your thoughts! Join the conversation by posting to our blog, or Twitter Nancy at #nancyduarte.

And as a small token of appreciation for your social media support… Register for the Full Conference or Premium pass as Duarte’s special guest with code: SPKRGUEST and get 25% off the online price.

The slide:ology workshop series is hittin’ the road, and heading to Boston! So if you’re an East Coaster who hasn’t been able to travel to attend our workshop, now’s your chance.

And as with all our workshops, we’re keeping class size small to maintain maximum intimacy, so hurry & snag a spot!

photo by flickr user brentdanley

About the slide:ology workshop

You will engage in a series of fun and hands-on exercises, in which you will apply the principles in slide:ology using real-life examples. In addition to learning revolutionary methods for producing content and slides for your next presentation, you will leave the workshop with a new perspective on presentations as a whole. This workshop is geared toward changing your mindset and approach to presentations as an effective communication medium.

Register now!

Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Time: 9am-4:30pm
Location: Cloud Place | 647 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116

We’re pretty fond of our Mountain View digs, but if we have to hang out in any building all day, we’re sure happy it’s this one. Check out a photo of the venue below.

photo by artscience100K

Hope to see you in Boston!

Just added a few workshop dates for this spring! Get ‘em while they’re hot!

April 7
April 21
May 5
May 19
June 9

http://blog.duarte.com/workshop/

And while you’re at it, check out a few photos from the past workshops!

All photos courtesy of Mark Heaps

Wow, Gates did a great job at TED this year. Why is he suddenly a great communicator and presenter? What has driven his transformation? I think it’s because he moved from presenting about his job to presenting about his passion, and suddenly he communicates well. So, is it possible that we can be so passionate about what we do that we can present software upgrades with as much care and thoughtfulness? I think so!

This year at TED, Mr. Gates talked about climate change. Not sure who’s building his content or slides, but please keep them employed!

By the way, deeming Gates purgatory-free is my way of making up for my snarky comments about Ballmer.

Here’s his presentation and slides:

Gates claims there’s a mathematical equation we can use to get carbon emissions down to zero.

The goal is to innovate to the zero emission point.

We’re producing tons of CO2 each year.

Here’s the formula. And mathematically for this to come to zero, one of these has to go to zero or it won’t work out.

He then gave an overview of the formula:

Sometimes we take our energy for granted because it’s so readily available. Here’s a shot of kids doing their homework under street lamps because they have no electricity at home.

Can we generate an energy source that doesn’t produce carbon?

We need a miracle, and miracles are tough to plan.

TED loved the release of the mosquitoes last year, and this year he released fireflies, because they produce light. At the same time the bugs were released, a lovely animation on the screen simulated an evening sky with lightning bugs. (And when the talk ended, he played the song 10,000 Lightning Bugs.)

He then explained the five areas in which we need a miracle.

Wind and solar energy aren’t constant enough to be stored, and won’t fit in batteries.

He did a good job showing data without data charts.

He made a case for nuclear by showing how reactors burn like a candle via a lovely animation sequence.

There is enough nuclear waste stored in KY to power the country for 200 more years. (Yikes, my family almost moved to Paducah when I was a kid.)

We have a long term score card, but what’s our short term one?

He made a wish. Of every wish he could make, he would solve this one problem. More than vaccines, more than wishing leaders into office. He wants us to innovate to zero.

The presentation ended with Mr. Gates standing in front of a huge zero symbol, emblazoned against a beautiful shot of the earth and he garnered a standing ovation.

Well done, Mr. Gates. You’ve redeemed yourself.