Nancy Duarte's Blog, page 14

The Slides You Deliver Versus the Slidedoc You Leave Behind

When someone comes to Duarte for support with a sales deck, investor deck, pitch deck, or really any deck, one of the first questions we ask is “do you need to project these slides or do you need them as a leave behind?” That’s when we brace ourselves for the response “we need it for [...] continue reading

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How to Effectively Present to Senior Executives

Senior executives are one of the toughest crowds you’ll face as a presenter. They’re incredibly impatient because their schedules are jam-packed—and they have to make lots of high-stakes decisions, often with little time to weigh options. So they won’t sit still for a long presentation with a big reveal at the end. They’ll just interrupt [...] continue reading

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The Top 5 Presentation Mistakes Everyone Makes

We all know what it’s like to sit through a bad presentation. We can easily spot the flaws — too long, too boring, indecipherable, what have you — when we watch others speak. The thing is, when we take the stage ourselves, many of us fall into the same presentation mistakes. Here are five of [...] continue reading

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Meetings: When to Present and When to Converse

Meeting hosts often think that presenting to a room full of people is the best way to share ideas. Westerners in particular, with their Greco-Roman oratorical roots (think Aristotle and Cicero), tend to craft a verbal case and then declare their views to the audience. But sometimes it’s better to have a conversation, where other voices are considered [...] continue reading

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Big Meeting Coming Up? Close the Slideshow; Pick Up the Slidedocs

Presentations have long been a staple in meetings. And, like everything popular, they’re also getting some backlash. Does a presentation actually make a meeting better, or can it make the meeting experience worse? For internal meetings where the goal is to build consensus, consider turning off the projector. As an alternative to presentations, Amazon starts [...] continue reading

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Celebrities – They’re One of Us! How the Year’s Best Commencement Speakers Made Themselves Relatable to Graduates

It’s that time of the year again: commencement season. Across the globe, crowds of students and their loved ones gather to watch the distribution of diplomas and listen to congratulatory words delivered by administrators, faculty members, and celebrity commencement speakers alike. There’s no doubt celebrity commencement speakers are one of the most beloved graduation ceremony [...] continue reading

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Use Contrast in the Middle of a Presentation to Transform

Doing a quick internet search for “Tips for the beginning of a presentation” and “Tips for presentation endings,” will serve up thousands of relevant results. But just try looking for tips on how to write the bulk of your presentation—the middle, and you won’t find much. That’s because most people don’t understand the significance of [...] continue reading

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3 Speaking Skills That Will Help You Communicate Data

Have you ever had lunch with a genius? And I don’t mean just someone really smart, but someone who lives and breathes their profession and can explain its mysteries with both passion and skill to anyone, regardless of education. I’ve met many geniuses like this in my life, and those conversations are some of my [...] continue reading

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How to Write a Great Talk: Murder Your Darlings

Writing teachers commonly use the phrase “kill your darlings” to describe the editing process. But, most don’t even realize it comes from prolific British author Arthur Quiller-Couch, who offered an even more extensive guideline for editing in his 1914 lecture on style: “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—wholeheartedly—and delete [...] continue reading

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Why Will Ferrell’s USC Commencement Speech Was a Grand Slam

Commencement season is upon us. You know what that means. Celebrities, statesmen, and scholars across the world are delivering words of encouragement as graduates cross school stages for diplomas. And we’re watching the videos. There have been lots of great commencement speeches so far this year. However, there was one speech, in particular, that’s become [...] continue reading

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