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."

How to Turn Good Design into Great Design

From the HOW Design Conference session by Cameron Moll:

good: necessity; great: passion
good: influence; great: inspiration
good: creative drive; great: creative pause
good: solutions; great: problems
good: give up; great: keep believing

Challenge yourself. Eustress is positive stress (opposite of distress). Follow your passion and finish what you start. Create opportunities to earn inspiration (travel, museums, music), and a method to capture it (sketchbook, camera, blog). "Creative pause" is a shift away from being fully engaged to disengaged. It allows space for subconscious mind to work.

The solution you create is only as strong as the problem you define. Ask the right questions.

Reduction vs. organization: beyond simplicity is visual hierarchy. Once information is reduced to its essential elements, it still must be organized.

Sometimes you have to blur your eyes to see more clearly. (See the big picture.)

How to Find Your Personal Style

From the HOW Design Conference session by Eleanor Grosch:

What do you like? Who are you? What are your early influences? What were you attracted to from a young age? Whose work do you admire?

Follow your instincts, and research what you find. You can work in a style that others are working (have worked) in. You can't help but bring something unique and individual to the style. Visual art has a limited vocabulary, it's all about how you express yourself.

As you gain notoriety, you will acquire imitators and detractors. Don't be threatened by imitators. Keep growing, keep your art fresh. Don't respond to detractors. That only encourages them.

Practice, practice, practice, to refine you style.

How to Bring Ideas into Reality

From the HOW Design Conference session by Scott Belsky:

Designate windows of non-reactionary time. You won't make steps towards your goals when you are constantly reacting and letting other people drive your agenda. Carve out time for your long-term goals.

Organize with a bias toward action. Focus on tasks rather than ambiguous concepts. When you come out of a meeting, each person should have a list of concrete steps to take.

Let competition energize you. No need to fear it. Everyone can succeed (not a zero sum world).

Share your ideas with a community. Great ideas die in isolation. When you share, you create accountability, feedback, and engagement.

When presenting your idea to a client, know your "sacred extremes," the 5-10% that you won't compromise on. Fight for the concepts you believe in, be willing to compromise on everything else.

Hire people with initiative. Develop them through appreciation. As a leader and mentor, know when to be silent. Talk last.

http://www.behance.net/

Tell a Story

A story has an arc—a beginning, a middle, and an end. A good story builds tension and anticipation, and has a climax followed by a resolution. An engaging story has a wealth of interesting detail, but themes that are universal. You can tell a story in a 30-second TV commercial, a building, or a symphony. Whatever you are creating, think about how your audience will experience it as it unfolds.

Why Be Creative?

Overcome obstacles by coming up with a new way around.

Resolve conflict with creative thinking. When my daughter was 16, I found out that she was not staying with her dad on the weekends as I believed, but with her boyfriend. I could have insisted she be home every night by curfew, and called her if she wasn't home, and tracked her down if she didn't answer her phone. I imagined that could lead to getting the police involved if she couldn't be found. That is a path I did not want to start down. My daughter was strong-willed and would not give in to a parental power play. So I asked her if she would take the dog with her on weekends. She agreed. What I really wanted was for my daughter to be a responsible young adult, and by taking the dog she accepted responsibility. (I also made an appointment for her at the gyno.) She has proven to make wise decisions for herself ever since.

Creativity gives you a competitive advantage no matter where you work.

Personal growth is available to the creative.

Thinking creatively brightens your outlook, because you know that there are no insurmountable problems. There are only opportunities that haven’t yet been discovered. My boyfriend Andy and I were driving to the Indianapolis airport one cold morning in January for a trip to Florida. It had been warm the day before and I-74 was a sheet of slick ice. Going over 35 mph meant losing control of the car. With a little luck and skillful driving, we made it to the airport. However, the drive took us 90 minutes longer than we had planned. I was getting bummed out that we might have missed our flight and end up stuck in Indianapolis. Andy said, if we have to stay here we will check in to the Canterbury, visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and have dinner at the hotel’s French restaurant. At that point, I almost hoped we would miss our flight. Well, we made it to Florida after a delay of many hours. Andy’s creative thinking made a potential disappointment into a desirable opportunity.

Being creative makes life interesting, because you are open to new ideas wherever you look.

As you can see, I do not have anecdotes for all of these because I don't want it to be all about me. Please share how creativity has improved your life in the comments.

Limitations and Parameters

What is more intimidating than a blank page? The best spark for creativity is a limitation. Do not strain against parameters, use them to transcend the obvious. Deadlines and budgets are motivators. Materials and locations offer you their strengths (and weaknesses). How many of the things you love were created with unlimited time and money? Having no restraints can be paralyzing, or lead to worthless excess. Embrace your limitations and parameters.