Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks

Jun 1, 2023

Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte Inc., has transformed how major organizations like Apple and TED present their ideas. In this discussion, she highlights the power of empathy in storytelling and shares practical tips for creating captivating presentations. Nancy explains strategies to combat nerves, the importance of understanding your audience, and the concept of 'torchbearer' leadership. She also reflects on her journey landing Apple as a client and how effective communication can elevate both personal and professional interactions.

01:17:24

Creator website

Episode guests

Nancy Duarte

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Quick takeaways

Empathy is crucial in presentations as it helps the audience get unstuck or succeed.

Utilize story structures like the three-act structure to captivate audiences and create impactful presentations.

Slides should support the one big idea and consider the audience's preferred visual communication style.

Deep dives

Make the Listener the Hero

Empathetically understanding your audience is crucial. Presenters should come alongside the audience and help them get unstuck or provide them with a solution or tool to succeed.

The Visual Structure of a Great Story

02:30

Empathy as a Core Element in Communication

00:34

The Importance of Torch Bearer Leaders in Movements

01:25

The Power of Verbal Communication and Tips for Effective Slides

03:27

Intro

3min

The Impact of Presentation Crafting on Silicon Valley's Evolution

2min

The Evolution of Presentation Impact

4min

The Art of Presentation Storytelling

23min

Communication Dynamics in Marriage and Presentations

13min

Crafting Impactful Presentations: The Power of Storytelling Techniques

3min

Mastering Presentation Skills

13min

Leading with Purpose and Authenticity

12min

Innovative Hiring and Presentation Strategies in a Story-Driven Culture

2min

10.

Harnessing Passion for Powerful Presentations

2min

Brought to you by Microsoft Clarity—See how people actually use your product | Lenny’s Job Board—Hire the best product people. Find the best product gigs | Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments

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Nancy Duarte is the CEO of Duarte Inc. and has helped create over 250,000 presentations for influential business leaders across the globe, including Apple, TED, the World Bank, and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. She’s also written six best-selling books, and her TED talk has garnered over 3 million views. She regularly contributes to HBR, MIT-Sloan, and Forbes, and her books are essential reading in leading business schools worldwide. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Why empathy is at the heart of everything Nancy does

• Why you’re presenting more often than you think

• Tactics for creating interesting presentations and telling better stories

• The concept of a “torchbearer leader” and why it’s important

• Strategies for overcoming stage fright and nerves

• Tips for communicating and presenting remotely

• How Nancy landed Apple as a client and what she learned

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how

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Where to find Nancy Duarte:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyduarte

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyduarte/

• Website: https://www.duarte.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Nancy’s background

(03:25) The insane number of presentations Nancy has helped create

(04:52) The most memorable presentation of Nancy’s career, and what it taught her

(07:04) The lasting impact of working with Al Gore

(09:00) How Nancy landed Apple as a client

(11:44) How working with Apple informed future presentations

(16:22) 3 things to remember when creating a deck

(17:33) The importance of empathy

(20:29) Empathy in action

(22:40) Why internal presentations are so high-pressure

(23:09) Signs you’re doing a good job making the audience the hero of the story

(25:38) The structure of great talks

(28:08) Lessons from great historical speeches

(30:02) You’re presenting more often than you think

(32:07) How Nancy uses this story structure in her marriage

(35:00) The framework What is? What could be? What is the ideal bliss?

(36:07) The importance of visuals

(41:12) Slide-making principles (titles, organization, and more)

(45:46) The Minto Pyramid Principle

(48:02) Think and plan before diving into software

(50:00) The Duarte process for crafting presentations

(53:18) How remote work has influenced the way we communicate and present

(55:46) Strategies for overcoming stage fright and nerves

(1:01:10) The concept of “torchbearer leaders” and why it’s important

(1:04:54) The surprising truth about informal vs. formal production quality

(1:07:37) Examples of PMs telling great stories

(1:11:49) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth: https://algore.com/library/an-inconvenient-truth-dvd

• Apple’s Think Different campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sMBhDv4sik

• The Secret Structure of Great Talks (Nancy’s TED talk): https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks

• The Structure of Great Talks graphic: https://www.google.com/search?q=nancy+duarte+ted+talk+great+story+up+and+down+like+teeth&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2hoCZmJH_AhVXATQIHb1KC2AQ0pQJegQIBxAB&biw=1512&bih=838&dpr=2#imgrc=5Jei-bDCXe2qQM

• I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

• The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking and Problem Solving: https://www.amazon.com/Minto-Pyramid-Principle-Writing-Thinking

• The Minto Pyramid Principle and the SCR Framework, by Lenny: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/minto-pyramid-principle-scr

• Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols: https://www.amazon.com/Illuminate-Through-Speeches-Stories-Ceremonies

• Marshall Ganz: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/marshall-ganz

• Brian Chesky: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/

• Airbnb’s Snow White storyboards: https://uxdesign.cc/how-airbnb-proved-that-storytelling-is-the-most-important-skill-in-design-15d04ac71039

• The Writer’s Journey: https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journey-Anniversary-Mythic-Structure

• Business Proposal: https://asianwiki.com/Business_Proposal

• Writer: https://writer.com/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks

Episode guests