Todd Cherches, CEO of BigBlueGumball and adjunct professor, dives into the world of visual leadership and communication. He highlights the power of visual language in presentations and critiques common slide design pitfalls. Todd shares his unconventional career journey and emphasizes empathy and storytelling in leadership. Listeners also learn about mastering the TED Talk experience, the balance between management and leadership, and the essential three E's of effective presentations: educate, engage, and excite. Book recommendations round out the insightful conversation.
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Todd's Colorful Career Journey
Todd Cherches's career path was a roller coaster from aspiring to be Superman to working in TV and eventually leadership development.
He worked diverse jobs from advertising to theme park project management before founding his consulting firm Big Blue Gumball.
insights INSIGHT
Essence of Visual Leadership
Visual leadership links how leaders see the world with their values and behaviors.
Effective communication happens when ideas move clearly from one person's mind to another's.
insights INSIGHT
Four Visual Communication Pillars
Four pillars of visual communication are imagery, mental models, metaphors, and storytelling.
Each pillar helps simplify complex ideas and engage audiences effectively.
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Carmine Gallo's "Talk Like TED" is a guide to crafting and delivering compelling presentations. It analyzes successful TED Talks to identify common elements, such as storytelling, emotional connection, and clear messaging. The book provides practical advice on structuring presentations, using visuals effectively, and engaging the audience. It emphasizes the importance of passion and authenticity in communication. Ultimately, it aims to help readers become more confident and effective speakers.
slide:ology
The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
Nancy Duarte
slide:ology, written by Nancy Duarte, combines conceptual thinking and inspirational design to help readers create influential presentations. The book provides practical approaches to visual story development, including connecting with specific audiences, turning ideas into informative graphics, and utilizing presentation technology effectively. It also includes insightful case studies from leading brands and emphasizes the importance of being a visual thinker to create impactful presentations.
Presentation Zen
Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
Garr Reynolds
Presentation Zen challenges conventional wisdom on making slide presentations, encouraging a more creative and minimalist approach. The book emphasizes understanding the audience, telling a story, and using high-quality images, minimal text, and negative space to create visually appealing slides. It also covers design principles like contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity, and provides tips on natural delivery, using multimedia, and overcoming common presentation challenges.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie
First published in 1936, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie is a timeless guide to improving interpersonal skills. The book is divided into four main sections: Six Ways to Make People Like You, Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking, and Nine Ways to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment. Carnegie's principles emphasize the importance of genuine interest in others, active listening, and avoiding criticism and argument. The book offers practical advice on how to build strong relationships, communicate effectively, and influence others by aligning their self-interest with yours. It has been a cornerstone of personal development and business success for generations[2][3][5].
Visual Leadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life
Visual Leadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life
Todd Cherches
The naked presenter
Garr Reynolds
Strap in for episode seventy-seven of The Presentation Boss Podcast. Over the past few months, Thomas has had some conversations with Todd Cherches about all things presentations. Given he has just released a book about visual communication, you can imagine those conversations were quite animated and aligned.
As is often the case with all professional communicators, the same advice and tips are shared. But Todd manages to drop out phrases that sound exactly like Kate and Thomas, but with a different accent. In this episode we discuss how you can become more visual in your presentations (even without slides), why it's so important to do so plus a raft of book recommendations.
Show your support for this episode on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/presentationboss
About Our Guest
Todd Cherches is the CEO and co-founder of BigBlueGumball, a New York City-based consulting firm specializing in leadership development, public speaking, and executive coaching. He is also a three-time award-winning Adjunct Professor of leadership at NYU, and a Lecturer on leadership at Columbia University. Todd is also a TEDx speaker, and the author of "VisuaLeadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life" published in May 2020.
What You'll Learn
• What the connection is between communication and leadership
• Why it is so important to use visual language when communicating
• How slide design can help, and how bad slide design tortures your audience
• The experience of applying for, and presenting a TEDx Talk
• About a hundred book recommendations!
Mentioned In The Show
• Todd Cherches' Website: toddcherches.com
• Nancy Duarte - 'Slideology'
• Garr Reynolds - 'Presentation Zen' and 'The Naked Presenter'
• Chris Anderson - 'TED Talks'
• Carmine Gallo - 'Talk Like TED'
Resources and Links
• Email us: podcast@presentationboss.com.au
• The Presentation Boss Podcast: https://presentationboss.com.au/podcast/
• Show your support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/presentationboss
• Join our online community: Presentation Bosses Facebook Group
• Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-norris/
• Thomas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-krafft/
• Presentation Boss on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/presentationboss/
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