Mo asks Nancy Duarte: What’s your best advice on creating and closing the meaty business we all want?

Anytime you’re speaking to an audience, no matter where that is, the first thing you need to do is think about your audience journey. You need to think about who they are when they walk in the room and who you want them to be when they walk out. Your role in that journey is the mentor.
It starts with a big idea: Your point of view on an industry and what’s at stake if the audience doesn’t adopt your point of view.
One of the most important things about the hero’s journey is that they start in the normal world and then something happens that moves them into the special world. You need to look at every communication as an opportunity to enrapture the audience, bring them into your special world, and then have them go back to their normal world with new tools and gifts or special powers.
As presenters, we often think that we are the central figure, but the truth is that each person in the audience is the hero of their own story. As the speaker, you’re Yoda, not Luke Skywalker.
If you deliver your material in a way that makes the audience walk out the door with your idea in their head and their heart, you win.
Even if the audience isn’t physically leaving when you’re not giving value, they are mentally checking out.
Authenticity is crucial and the best way to be authentic is to use the story structure to convey your perspective. Being able to show vulnerability is what makes you more likeable and connects people to you.

Mentioned in this Episode:

How to Use Resonate to Create and Close More Opportunities, with Nancy Duarte