Inner Universe Toastmasters Club

Six Minutes interviewed Nancy Duarte, who owes credit to slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. This is an fantastic new book that serves as a great reference for presentation skills.

Read on to discover insights from fascinating individuals in and around the speaking industry.

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Question: You revealed that the verbs which you most identify with your life’s mission are “conquer and liberate.” How do these verbs connect with your goals in writing this book or with your plans for Duarte Design?

When I set out to write the book two years ago, it was like a burning passion inside me. It was difficult to explain why I felt an urgency to write the book… but I did. My family was supportive and let me write (conquer) in the evenings and weekends.

It’s a well known fact that presentations are incredibly ineffective. We can keep complaining about the putrid output or stand up and say “enough”. I got tired of people blaming the tool and not owning the responsibility for the really bad presentations getting delivered every day. I knew that compiling years of experience could raise a new standard. The current way we use slides inhibits our ability to communicate effectively. All this is happening during an era when we have the most exciting innovation in all of history. I want those stories told well and indelibly.

I used to feel guilty about my verbs. When the verbs are combined, it makes me sound like I spend my weekends pillaging or something. I’m actually very caring about my clients and staff. At Duarte the verbs manifest in the culture and structures I put into place. I work hard at creating an environment where creative people feel supported and safe (liberated, per se).

Question: Consider a traditional organization still stuck with the Death by PowerPoint status quo. How would you recommend changing the environment so that higher presentation standards can flourish?

One of the most popular questions I’m asked is around this topic. Corporate citizens are afraid to be different and afraid to put a new stake in the ground and be different. People don’t know if they’ll be able to buck the collective system and still have a job the next day. Corporate-wide change is tough to tackle and can seem daunting. But the most important first step is to address your own presentation communication issues. Work hard on your content development and communication skills. If you can have the guts to change yourself and stand out among your peers, others will follow.

Question: I shared your preparation time estimates (36-90 hours for a 30-slide presentation) with one of my co-workers. His reaction was disbelief: “What? I don’t know anyone who has that kind of time.” What would you say to him?

Many of the principles in the book can improve many of the common run-of-the-mill presentations that people give internally every day. Your friend can apply these principles relatively easily to his next presentation, still spend the same amount of time he usually does and he will have a much better presentation than before reading slide:ology. But I guarantee that if he was gunning to win a one hundred MILLION dollar project or give the keynote address at an event with 15,000 people attending he’d kick in some hours. It’s all relative to how high the stakes are. Low stakes, low effort. High stakes, high effort. The farther folks work their way up the corporate ladder, the more care and planning needs to go into their communication and presentations. The time estimation in the book was a guide for when the communications are critical, not when they are common.

Question: One of the themes present throughout slide:ology is that of continuous refinement toward an end goal. (e.g. from idea to sketch to final image) The same process of gradual improvement over time holds true for speaking skills. As a speaker, what is one skill that you are currently working to improve?

There are two development areas I’m hyper conscious of right now. First, my gestures feel HUGE to me but are pretty wimpy. When on stage it feels like I’m as flamboyant as Dolly but in reality I’m pretty closed in. The other area I’m working on is relaxing my freakin’ forehead. When I am thinking through something, the muscles between my eyebrows contract creating a huge crevice and I look angry. My kids call it my butt head. It’s gotta go!

Question: As a final bonus for Six Minutes readers, can you share a public speaking tip that isn’t related to visual presentation skills? Perhaps a favorite delivery technique or tactic for rehearsing?

I still use 3×5 cards to practice my material. Once the content is final and slides are designed I rehearse the content using index cards. After the first run through, whatever points I miss get jotted onto a 3×5 card. I run through the presentation over and over until I don’t have any more cards in my hands and can still make all my points. There are still times when I bring the cards with me though just in case.