How to Give a Great Presentation

From the HOW Design Conference session by Nancy Duarte:

This session was titled "Visual Storytelling: Resonate and Activate Audiences" because designers hate PowerPoint and no one would have attended if they knew the real subject. That being said, it was one of the most useful sessions I attended at the conference.

People cannot process talking and reading at the same time. So don't put a bunch of bullet points on your slides forcing people to read them as you talk. (That is PP's default and one of the reasons PP presentations are such snooze inducers.) Even worse, don't read your slides. Use visuals to support your talk. It's OK to throw in an occasional quote and read it aloud.

Know your audience and identify where they are and where you want to move them. Present from a position of humility and service to your audience. Reveal your flaws and failures. Don't pretend to be an authority and know-it-all--big turn off. In order to deliver a powerful presentation, you must have a big idea that you believe in. Use the art of transformation to bring your audience to your point of view.

Nancy analyzed powerful speeches such as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream, and Steve Jobs' iPhone unveiling. She found the underlying structure and shared it: Start with what is. Then describe what could be. That produces the "gap." Then move back and forth across the gap illuminating the contrast between what is and what could be. Add emotional and analytical texture with surprise, humor, facts, anecdotes. Tack like a sailboat against audience resistance. Wrap up your presentation with "the new bliss."

Somewhere in your presentation craft a STAR moment: Something They'll Always Remember.

Good communication is not something you can wing by the seat of your pants. Great speakers work hard, even if they seem to have an innate gift. Make the effort if your idea is worth communicating. Watch TED videos for inspiration.

Note: One of the other speakers used Prezi.com for her presentation, and it was very cool--nonlinear and overlapping "slides."