Presentation Thinking™

In our effort to practice what we preach (and spread the good word of presentation design), co-host Mikey Mioduski has embarked on a quest to the TED Talk stage.  For every keynote he gives, we give ourselves the opportunity to peel back the curtain into his thought process, training and delivery of a talk.  In August, Mikey presented at the Go-To-Market Alliance in San Diego and he debuted his “Bump, Set, Spike” keynote—a talk to help master both Problem & Solution Slides. There were volleyball metaphors, great feedback, likely a few pieces to leave behind and even the making of a “Signature Bit.” If you geek out on dissecting and discussing presentation iteration, this one’s for you.  This is an episode for: speakers, product marketers & anyone looking to refine their own presentation.

What makes a good speaker a REFERABLE speaker? That’s the question that Michael Port and Andrew Davis set out to answer in their 2021 book, The Referable Speaker. As presentation enthusiasts and aspiring speakers ourselves, Mikey and I made our way through this book for another Book Club episode—and we highly recommend it.  Port & Davis share their journeys to becoming public speakers, as well as Michael’s story in creating Heroic Public Speaking, a speaking university. But it’s more than that—they break down the business of hiring speakers, how to actually grow your network and make your speech SO good that it becomes referable.  If you’re currently a speaker, or want to make a career out of being a speaker, this book (and this episode!) is for you.

Forgive us, for we have sinned—with the 5 Deadly Sins of Presenting Creative work! Blurting, Ad Whispering, Wanderlust, Telepathy & Impalement. After years of experience in presenting creative work, author and presentation pro Kerry Feuerman (who we spoke with last episode!) has witnessed everything—from the nitpicky to the nuclear—that could go wrong in a presentation room.  It’s what inspired him to write this book, The 5 Deadly Sins of Presenting Creative Work so that we can all learn and level-up from others’ mistakes.  Mikey and I sit down with Creative Directors Jeff Carter and Lindsay Hadley—book club style—to compare Kerry’s sins to our own experience and discuss how Kerry’s “sin” metaphor so brilliantly delivers this advice.  This is an episode for: Creatives in advertising, speakers in general & presentation bookworms.

Kerry Feuerman is a presentation professional.  Having worked in advertising and presented creative work for a majority of his career, he’s well-suited to give presentations on, well, GIVING presentations. After receiving an amazing workshop at GhostRanch Story Camp in July of 2023, we knew we needed to learn more from Kerry’s experience. We discuss the power that a presenter has, what’s at stake and how everyone can implement some easy tactics to win over the next room (or Zoom) you present in.  We also chat about his book, The 5 Deadly Sins of Presenting Creative Work. (More on that in a “Book Club” episode of the pod later). If you give presentations at ALL in work or your personal life, this is for you. This is an episode for: presenters, creatives and anyone in advertising.

David Christian is a historian who knows how to keep the “Big Picture” in mind. In fact, he coined the concept of “Big History”, which examines universal patterns from the Big Bang to the present day.  Continuing our series on breaking down some of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time, David’s 2011 TED Talk, The History of Our World in 18 Minutes, boasts the kind of title you just HAD to click on. His impressive presentation takes you on a journey that starts several billion years before humanity—and closes with why it all matters. Mikey and I analyze how David can convey such dense subject matter to a mainstream audience in a short amount of time, and what other presenters might learn from it. This is an episode for: Presenters who have to to convey complex ideas, history and science nerds.

As a remote agency, the GhostRanch “Rancheros” rarely give presentations in-person. But at this year’s Story Camp in Boulder, Colorado, all of that changed.  On Day 1, we brought in Presentation Skills training specialist Kerry Feuerman to give his incredible workshop on “The 5 Deadly Sins of Presenting Creative Work”. And on Day 2, we practiced presenting in front of him. (Eeep!) Creative Director Allie Wilson, Designer Asha Alaji-Sharif & Director of Account Management and Growth Kelsey Jones join Molly to discuss how Kerry’s advice helped them through this process. We go through each of Kerry’s 5 Deadly Sins and what we learned from presenting in-person since…well, maybe the pandemic.  This is an episode for: people that present in-person, speakers and anyone who presents creative work.

If you’ve ever done a “Wonder Woman” pose before an interview, you might have Amy Cuddy to thank.  Her 2012 TED Talk, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, is one of the most popular TEDs of all time and for good reason. Cuddy’s research on non-verbal communication AKA body language includes an impressive string of books, studies and teaching at incredible universities.  Interested in how communication shows up in power dynamics, she was one of the first to term ‘Power Poses’ such as a Wonder Woman pose—simply putting your hands on your hips and standing up strong for two minutes—and seeing how that affected one’s performance in a subsequent interview.  The results show that we can, indeed, fake it til we make it through body language.This is an episode for: People that have to speak frequently, body language nerds & and anyone deep in a job search. 

UX Design—”User Experience”—is such a vital part of how anyone interacts with the internet or an app. It facilitates a user’s journey through using any product or interface. It’s more than simply changing the color of a site or adding bells and whistles—it’s world-building.  And UX Designer Daijah Reese fully endorses this notion through her work experience. Daijah joins the pod to discuss storytelling through UX design, its ever-evolving nature, her experience working at Google and how her international relations background brings a fresh flavor to this computer-centric career path.  Bonus - her cousin Asha also joins to bring in a holistic graphic design/illustrator perspective!  This is an episode for: product designers, developers and UX designers (or anyone interested in pursuing it!)

Andrea Pacini is a “Jack of all Trades” in the presentation world: An author, speaker, entrepreneur and Presentation Coach, we couldn’t have been more honored when he reached out to join the pod!  With his book, Confident Presenter, being released on July 18th, we revisit key components that make a speaker confident and what makes a good presentation GREAT—including message, visuals & delivery.  After years of helping entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground with his company, Ideas on Stage UK, Andrea has so much wisdom (and funny stories) to share.  Sign up to get your copy of Andrea’s book HERE! This is an episode for: Speakers, entrepreneurs and anyone a bit wary of public speaking.

If you’re a product marketer you know that Problem Slides and Solution Slides are important.  You have to clearly convey what the problem is in your industry, the pain points and then have your product or service swoop in as the magical “Good Witch” to solve all those issues.  It’s A LOT to convey in just two slides—but they’re also two of the most important opportunities for you to tell a memorable story.  Creative Directors Jeff Carter & Lindsay Hadley from GhostRanch join the pod to discuss their expertise in these areas, as well as the Lunch N Learns they’re hosting on the same topics. (Hint, hint—register here!) With clear yet bold design strategies, you can ‘wow’ an audience AND have them take action afterwards. This is an episode for: Product Marketers, Brand messaging folks and Anyone with a pitch deck.