Nancy Duarte's Blog, page 3

Focus Your Listening Lens: What Prevents Me From Being an Empathetic Listener?

As an executive speaker coach, when I ask a client, “What’s stopping you from being the best speaker you can be?” the answers usually come freely and quickly. I hear things like, “I get nervous in front of large crowds,” or, “I know I say ‘um’ and ‘uh’ too much,” or, “I need to work [...] continue reading

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How Do You Listen?

Before you start a new workout or nutrition regimen, it’s smart to take a baseline. You might measure your weight, your inches, your body mass index (BMI), and your heart rate and compare that against future measurements. Similarly, at Duarte, when we want to measure the improvement of a speaker’s delivery, we take a baseline: [...] continue reading

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Good Listening Is More Than Simply Paying Attention

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus “The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass “Listen more than you talk. Nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak.” – Richard Branson Most of us are very familiar with these [...] continue reading

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Four Storytelling Techniques to Bring Your Data to Life

The adage that “our world runs on data” means that decisions are being based on vast amounts of statistics. Data-derived insights drive what time trains stop running, when Starbucks introduces holiday cups, and the temperature of the building you might be sitting in right now. Even though most corporate roles now work with data, it’s [...] continue reading

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5 Ways to Motivate Your Team With Empathy and Authority

A crisis pressure-tests leadership and culture. Many new values are formed under the strain, and employees gain new perspectives on their organization and its leadership. Communication is the key to keeping them motivated and productive in a season of enormous distraction. The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t my first financial crisis. No matter how well you run [...] continue reading

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Good Leadership Is About Communicating “Why”

In an ongoing crisis, clear communication is more important and more difficult than when things seem normal. Employees and customers are hungry for information, so we’re tempted to pull together presentations and communicate with urgency instead of with careful planning. At my company, we rework thousands of talks each year for large brands and high-powered [...] continue reading

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3 Keys to Equitable and Inclusive Hybrid Meetings

Recently, I met a friend for coffee and upon arrival noticed he was rocking an Airpod, but only in his left ear. He greeted me and we began our conversation. Yet, I found it odd considering he’s not usually a solo-Airpod-in-public guy. So, I asked him about it. “Oh, I’m in a meeting,” he informed [...] continue reading

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Q&A: How to Influence Through Visual Storytelling

In our recent webinar, “Influence Through Visual Storytelling”, we received many thoughtful questions about using visuals in presentations. In part one of this two-part blog post, our host, Ryan Orcutt, creative director, head of design at Duarte, answers the top questions received so you can learn to think, speak, and work like a designer. Do [...] continue reading

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5 Keys to Perfecting Your Presentation Delivery in a Hybrid World

If I were to ask you to describe the average hybrid presentation, what words would you use? Clunky? Awkward? Disjointed? Distracting? There’s a good reason for that: Presenting to both in-person and virtual teams is still somewhat new. Sure, years ago we had a few lone rangers who worked from home and dialed in virtually. [...] continue reading

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Preferred Ways to Communicate Effectively at Work

Have you ever played a game of telephone? The concept is simple. Yet, it’s notoriously difficult to win. Someone starts by whispering a word or phrase in someone’s ear. That person whispers the same word or phrase into another person’s ear. And on it goes until you arrive at the last person who then reveals [...] continue reading

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