Presentation Thinking

Shark Tank is the reality show where passionate entrepreneurs pitch their product to a group of wealthy “sharks”—well-known Venture Capitalists—in hopes of investment funds and expert business guidance.  

It has televised hundreds of pitches and amounted to MILLIONS of investor capital. 

While this high stakes pitch environment isn’t necessarily the norm, the pitch structure and presentation of each product or service is well-worth examining—and learning from. 

We brought in Project Manager & lifelong Shark Tank fan Carly McKay who grew up watching these pitches to dissect four outstanding pitches—including a crowd favorite, Scrub Daddy.

This is an episode for: entrepreneurs, presenters and people that love Shark Tank (and Scrub Daddy!).

After our latest TWIST episode (This Week In Storytelling) on the subject, we wanted to bring in a presenter and product marketer perspective on what we can learn from these collaborations and how you can lean into other brands’ stories to tell your own.

This is an episode for: copywriters, speakers, product marketers & people that geek out on advertising

David JP Phillips is a Swedish communication expert whose name went viral with his 2014 TED Talk, “How to avoid death by PowerPoint.” 

In it, David walks us through 5 easy-to-employ design fixes backed by clear psychological science that can transform any deck you’re currently working on. While they remain simple concepts to use within the software, they're ACCESSIBLE to even the non-designer. Plus, the public’s general feelings towards PowerPoint tell us they’re needed more than ever. 

WOW your boss the way David wow-ed this TED audience by making sure your projects are following his methods to avoid the all-too-common office outcome of “Death by PowerPoint.”

This is an episode for: People that make presentations, speakers and sales teams that have to use the same deck over and over again.

Rain Bennett is a storyteller in all that he does: filmmaking, writing, being a story coach and even TikTok-ing—which is how we got connected to this jack of all trades! 

Rain’s perspective on the power of finding your personal story is enough to level-up anything you’re working on or get inspired to start something new. He is strategic in connecting people’s passions to their skills and leveraging unique experiences to any advantage.  

We talk about Rain’s personal journey, documenting others’ stories and even get into his new book, 6 Second Stories: Maximize Your Impact in Minimal Time. 

This is an episode for: Creatives, speakers, entrepreneurs and anyone in need of a bit of inspiration.

Listen to the full episode over at Product Marketing Insider! 

This is an episode for: product marketers, creatives and people that work with presentations regularly.

In this special interview episode, we sit down with Jill Richardson of K2 Productions to chat about her decade-long experience working as a teleprompter.

From high profile corporate events to celebs, she has seen—and helped put on—hundreds of presentations and events. Jill’s perspective on what makes speakers memorable is super valuable and her stories from being a part of live events are hilarious. 
This is an episode for: public speakers, frequent conference-goers and presentation perfectionists.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose 2009 TED Talk has over 33 MILLION views—and we all know that a well-viewed TED Talk is a clear indication of an effective speaker. 

Titled “The Danger of a Single Story”, Chimamanda’s talk illustrates both the power and the burden that stories can have. Growing up only reading books by American/British authors, it took her many years to learn that African characters can also exist in literature. Representation matters but also WHO is telling the story, WHERE it’s told, and so on. Media plays a powerful role in how countries portray other peoples—and when only one side of the story is told, stereotypes are formed. 

Adichie’s talk puts into practice her own advice. She peppers the 18 minutes with at least six personal stories where she both experienced and fell victim to the “single story.” 

Mikey and I analyze this expert display of storytelling and humanizing oneself to make a more powerful impact on an audience. 

This is an episode for: Writers, speakers, people that care about breaking stereotypes and TED Talk enthusiasts.

As part of our collaborative series with the Product Marketing Alliance, Mikey got to interview Jen on Product Marketing Life—check it out here!

For this episode, we pull out her super quotable highlights on networking, capitalizing on storytelling opportunities and her journey to the role of CMO.

With better empathy and understanding of what our sales, marketing and surrounding teams experience on the day-to-day, we can quickly find solutions and lead more efficiently.

This is an episode for: Product Marketers, Marketing Leaders, Sales Enablers & Aspiring CMOs.

We were lucky enough to collaborate with the Product Marketing Life Podcast where Mikey interviewed personal hero and incredible Product Marketing Manager, Esther Yoon from RingCentral.

(If you like this episode, tune into the full ‘sode over there and give Product Marketing Alliance a follow!)

We really dig into the amazing takeaways with quotable highlights from that conversation and—you guessed it—paint a hero’s journey with Esther’s story.

This is an episode for: Product Marketers, Visual Storytellers & anyone who’s a leader in their work.

Full show notes here.

Following his exposure to presentations with the all-too-common “Death by PowerPoint” phenomenon, he would later found his presentation agency called 356 Labs. With the arrival of the pandemic, they created the Present to Succeed conference, the world’s largest gathering for presentation skills.

We’ve been longtime fans of 356 Labs, we’ve attended the conference and NOW—Boris joins us to chat presentations, catering to your audience & what it means to produce such a massively awesome event.

This is an episode for: presentation skills nerds, public speakers and (hybrid!) event producers.

Similar to our “What GhostRanch Learned at StoryCamp” (#32) episode, this is an episode for: Presentation designers, aspiring or current speakers and friends of the Ranch.

His TED Talk, The First Secret of Great Design, illustrates how breaking habituation is the first step in observing everyday problems around us that innovators can solve. What aren’t you noticing? And how can its design serve us better?

Mikey and Molly analyze this TED Talk and what we can learn from its content, Tony’s execution and, of course, the slides.

This is an episode for: TED Talk enthusiasts, engineers, product designers and tech nerds.

Tamsen Webster knows how to get to the heart of things, or rather—the Red Thread.

A strategic messaging expert and TED Talk aficionado, Tamsen has been working with brands and individuals to hone a talk, craft a message and get to the ROOT of a mission for almost 25 years.

Mikey and Molly are already big fans of her book, Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible. In this episode, we go through one of Tamsen’s fantastic tools “The Conversational Case” and we’re sure it’ll help you with your messaging and goals as much as it helped us.

This is an episode for: Strategic messaging folks, brand experts, storytellers & TED Talk enthusiasts

"Is this deck ready to pitch?" As Captain Ron says:“Best way to find out is to get her out on the ocean. If anything’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there.”

Consider this one step closer on Mikey’s journey to the TED Talk stage.

This is an episode for motivational speakers, presenters & people that work with young people.

Mikey and Molly dive into Sinek’s early 00s TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action.

It’s inspiring, of course. It’s also a masterclass in great presentation skills.

His use of repetition, a simple diagram and even—dare we say—the lack of slides are all perfectly executed.

Whether you’re a Simon skeptic or stan, there’s a lot to take away from this famous TED Talk.

Based in the Dominican Republic, her illustrations take on a dynamic watercolor-esque quality—you can feel the movement of the streets; the markets.

Focusing on everyday life scenes, Aimée tends to start conversations with locals for inspiration. Her art has even been a method for fundraising and raising awareness for a neighbor in need.

It was so much fun to hear about her process, her inspiration and hilariously—how she used PowerPoint to present the context of the “faceless doll” from the Dominican Republic to a client.

This is an episode for illustrators, storytellers and people that love Humans of New York.

Note: This episode is in English + Spanish. For English translation, listen to THIS version of the episode.

Based in the Dominican Republic, her illustrations take on a dynamic watercolor-esque quality—you can feel the movement of the streets; the markets.

Focusing on everyday life scenes, Aimée tends to start conversations with locals for inspiration. Her art has even been a method for fundraising and raising awareness for a neighbor in need.

It was so much fun to hear about her process, her inspiration and hilariously—how she used PowerPoint to present the context of the “faceless doll” from the Dominican Republic to a client.

This is an episode for illustrators, storytellers and people that love Humans of New York.

Note: This episode is in English + Spanish with English translation recorded over Spanish.

Molly reports back after attending this year’s STORY Conference in Nashville—a self-explanatory event about, well, storytelling.

This immersive conference experience took us to Neverland—complete with fairy dust, Lost Boys running around and a mermaid in the fountain.

From Narrative Strategists at NASA to the writer of Beauty and the Beast, the variety and caliber of speakers was stunning. This was the perfect place to learn how to be a better presenter, storyteller and simply get inspired.

Consider us fans of STORY and we can’t wait to see where they go next.

This is an episode for speakers, frequent conference attendees & everyone who needs a bit of inspiration.

Illustrator Derek Abella might call himself “a silly little guy who draws”, but his creative work has garnered national and cultural significance.

With soft lines, beautiful gradients and blended shapes, Derek’s work makes otherwise hard-to-depict subjects approachable AND beautiful.

We discuss his creative journey as an artist and peel back the curtain on his process—with a lot of valuable takeaways for presenters, editorialists & creatives alike.

His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal & Google.

This is an episode for visual storytellers, folks in the editorial world & people that get pumped about the ~process~.

Isabela’s continuous inspiration from the strong women in her family is apparent in her swoon-worthy Insta feed which you can follow here.

This is an episode for: aspiring illustrators, pro graphic designers & people that get pumped about the ~process~.

For this episode’s “Presentation Book Club” discussing Making Numbers Count, we brought on our favorite CFO and the biggest “numbers guy” we know—Kip McCauley.

Kip and Mikey break down their takeaways from Chip Heath and Karla Starr’s 2022 book, Making Numbers Count.

How can we most effectively communicate data and numbers? It’s all about painting pictures, comparing them to human terms or translating to a more digestible scale.

This is an episode for people that deal with data, reports, and everyone who’s intimidated by it.

P.S. Kip is leading our 11/15 webinar, “Do Data, Better” on the same subject! Register here.

We’ve arrived at the SEVENTH and final of the 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories —Rebirth.

While “rebirth” conjures up images of a phoenix rising from the ashes, we now might also think of a wilting rose in a castle or the Ghost of Christmas Past. Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast & A Christmas Carol are all familiar classics that can be considered a “rebirth” plot.

A dark shadow, menacing threats & finally, a redemption figure are key components in resolving a Rebirth story.

We’re excited to wrap up these 7 story frameworks with which you can/should start any project.

Are you (or your project) the hero that needs redeeming? The solution to overcoming the monster? The map to guide one’s Quest?

Assigning a plot and making a story out of something builds a more compelling case—and hopefully a happy ending.

It’s all here for you in Christopher Booker’s 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories.

In fact, she’s built her own business around it. Punchline Copy is one of many projects for this speaker, stand-up and professional conversion copywriter.

After Mikey saw her present in Mexico City, we did a classic cold email to get her aboard the pod—and boy, was it worth it.

From copywriting tips like her very professional “We-We" process, to bombing onstage, to running a full-on COURSE on infusing your marketing with humor, Lianna’s experience is so valuable. And hilarious.

This is an episode for speakers, wannabe speakers, copywriters & stand-ups alike.

But for Christopher Booker’s book 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, it follows another clear plot pattern that is well worth studying. From Romeo and Juliet to Bonnie and Clyde, tragedies tell us about a hero/heroine’s run with temptations, greed, lust and hubris.

Does a brush with death ALWAYS resolve a plot? And how could they serve as cautionary tales in our presentations?

Welcome to Presentation Book Club. Let’s talk about tragedies.

Todd Henry is an “arms dealer for the creative revolution.” And if that branded phrase of his doesn’t strike a creative chord somewhere deep inside you, well, keep moving.

An international speaker, we’ve had the privilege of hearing from Todd on both big and small stages. For this episode, he joins Presentation Thinking to chat about translating creative concepts into slides for the stage.

Author of six books, the most recent release called Daily Creative, Todd is also an expert on how to maintain prolific, brilliant and healthy work. AND he’s the host of the popular podcast, “The Accidental Creative.”

We’re big fans and constantly inspired by him—and know you will be too.

If you think you know the “Comedy” plot structure from Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories as the “SuperBad” movie or Jim Carrey’s slapstick—you’re not wrong.

But you don’t have the full picture.

This plot structure has undergone an evolution throughout history starting with Aristophanes’ “Old Comedy” in ancient Greece to an introduction of lovers facing ridiculous obstacles until finally, Shakespeare transformed it into the kind of Comedy that we know and love today.

And, plot twist—it doesn't necessarily have to be out loud “ha-ha” funny.

While Booker’s examples might be a bit outdated, Mikey and Molly are here to apply it to relatable Rom-Coms and Judd Apatow productions that will have you questioning what IS and ISN’T a comedy story arc.

“Voyage and Return” clocks in as the FOURTH plot of Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots book, bringing you a few all-time classic stories.

While Booker walks us through the commonalities in Alice and Wonderland, Wizard of Oz & Peter Pan, Mikey and Molly applied the plot to some PIXAR favorites—Toy Story and UP!

The idea of embarking on our own ambling journey is one of the most relatable plot shapes yet. Some of the best presentations are ones that share their respective “Voyage”....and “Returns.” (Get it??)

Tune in for more storytelling breakdowns, what we can learn from the “Thrilling Escape” & a call-back to why PIXAR is always making us cry.

Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas are students of silliness. Having researched and taught on the subject at Stanford, their book, Humor, Seriously gets straight to the heart of the funny bone.

They walk us through the anatomy of funny, the psychology behind it and how to be more successful at work by being funny—all with the research and data to prove it.

Loyal listener Breece Justice joins Mikey and Molly for this book club episode comedy nerds are sure to love.

Our take? Humor, Seriously is seriously fun.

As we continue with Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots book, “The Quest” is his third “story shape”, lending itself to some of the most epic stories of all time.

Homer’s Odyssey, Moby Dick, Lord of the Rings (kind of).

We all cheer when the hero sets out to get the prize, destroy the ring, achieve the dream—but what are the lessons learned along the way?

What are the patterns we can implement into our Presentation Thinking world?

Is The Goonies a “Quest” kind of story??

Time to set out on our own Quest journey and find out.

This summer, a particularly special gathering for the remotely-dispersed GhostRanch team called “StoryCamp” was created to level up our collective presentation storytelling.

There was minimal structure but maximum learning with workshops, deep dives and, obviously, karaoke.

It provided both much needed in-person time (hugs!) AND a reminder for GhostRanch’s values & mission.

It’s something we’re hoping to duplicate for clients so first, we’re putting it out on the pod.

This episode brings on three “Rancheros” to rave about our shenanigans and share how this type of retreat could work for you.

Director (and co-founder) of BrightCarbon, a trailblazing company in the Presentation design space, he’s passionate about animations, eLearning tools, webinars & consuming other podcasts and presentation paraphernalia (just like us!).

But we’ll let the prolific presenter speak for himself. A fun conversation with tips for presenting, creating online tools & the future of presentation design.

Proof that meeting your heroes is, indeed, inspiring.

#2 of Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots is the tried and true Story Shape: "Rags To Riches."

From Cinderella to The Sandlot, we love cheering for the underdog moving up in the world.

But WHY and HOW is this Story Shape so effective? How can we channel Remy the Ratatouille rat in your own life??

Mikey and Molly discuss all this Bippity Boppity Boo.

That’s what English journalist & writer Christopher Booker spent 34 years researching for his mega-book, The 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. In honor of GhostRanch’s 7th birthday (August 2nd!), we’re excited to dive into the first plot of this 7-part series, “Overcoming the Monster.”

In a Disney context, an “Overcoming the Monster” story is the threat of perpetual winter taking over in Frozen. In our PrezThinking world, this might be “Death By PowerPoint” or bullet points.

How can these story arcs work for us? And what can we learn from applying them to work?

Let’s find out.

Phil Charron, Executive Vice President of Think Company, is a presentation pioneer.

From helping put on PowerPoint presentations when physical slides still had to be switched manually to joining the UX design world as it was being invented, Phil truly has a holistic view of the evolution of presentations and design.

What was it like to see PowerPoint change the landscape of presentations? What’s his perspective, having been both the line-level producer AND the client? And how, exactly, did he get electrocuted helping with a presentation??

A true storyteller, Phil is chock-full of hilarious anecdotes.

Tune in for an insightful conversation on the past, present and future of the world of Presentation Thinking.

Full show notes HERE.

Andy Raskin is a strategic storytelling evangelist.

For Mikey and Molly, his work was a gateway into the thriving ecosystem that is Presentation Thinking. From his in-person appearances to an online article gone viral, he emphasizes that your story IS your strategy—and it’s important to leverage it.

Learn along with us how to use your story and invite people to join in your journey.

For our 25th “Quarter Century” episode, we brought in the reason our Presentation Thinking pod has stayed consistent—our brilliant editor, Will Kommor.

Will is an audio and editing guru, and has a lot to share about what he’s learned from Presentation Thinking, the podcasting process, and being a media editor in general. We also think that improv and podcasting might be more alike than you think…tune in for serious laughs!

Wadsworth Williams and the Nspire team are leading the charge in developing more efficient and comfortable nasal cannulas (tubes that help deliver oxygen) for babies.

A low-cost commodity with potential for huge impact, Wadsworth has so much to say about innovation in the pediatric space, how to focus a pitch per audience while also sticking to their core mission—putting the patient first.

Receiving first prize in the Life Science & Medical Innovation Category at the VentureCat competition, designer Grace Morris also joins us to discuss how this blend of science and emotion translated into a winning deck.

Zuri Fertility founders Blair Matthews and Giuliana Zaccardelli are on a mission to help couples everywhere who are struggling with infertility.

Voted the “Audience Favorite” of the VentureCat 2022 Startup competition, they join the 'cast to chat about how they met, mistakes they’ve made & the real-life experiences that have fueled their real-life solution—an app that helps people connect with clinics and navigate the tricky journey that is infertility.

GhostRanch designer Emily Pantoja joins as well to discuss how this project translated into a deck.

It’s a personal journey, going through infertility. In making it public, Blair and Giuliana are going to help couples everywhere.

An installment of our “Founder Series” guaranteed to inspire.

Inside InfernoGuard’s winning pitch and one founder’s plan to prevent wildfires.

Kevin Kaspar joins Presentation Thinking to discuss his founder journey for InfernoGuard—a device that detects and reports wildfire conditions to first responders and land-owners before they get out of control.

We are lucky enough to be connected to the Northwestern University startup competition called VentureCat—even luckier that one of GhostRanch’s designers (Lola Lopez) helped to create the WINNING pitch for InfernoGuard.

We talk all things pitching (and bombing) and what the plan is for such an important device to receive funding and awareness.

Only YOU (and InfernoGuard) can prevent forest fires!

Having worked on a few classics such as Toy Story, Ratatouille & The Incredibles, Luhn shares in a 2017 TED Talk what it is that makes stories like this so successful—and how we can we apply that to our own work and life.

For Mikey and Molly, this is a breakthrough episode. We’re seeing patterns in the story structures our favorites are talking about and connecting some significant dots.

A TED Talk not to be missed and a discussion that is sure to stir up your PIXAR nostalgia.

Full show notes HERE.

So, not unlike other greats such as JRR Tolkien or the makers of Die Hard, we’ve split this into multiple parts. (Listen to Part 1 on “Simplicity” HERE!)

Part 2 covers “Unexpected”, “Concrete” and “Credible” on the SUCCESs checklist for story stickiness.

Need help in one of these areas? Tons of great examples and Heath brother-approved insight await.

“SUCCESs checklist”

Our “Patron Saint of Stories” Nancy Duarte AKA CEO/Founder of Duarte, Inc. has done the research to show us just that.

In her first viral ~2008 TED Talk, Duarte shows off her analysis of several Communication Greats (ahem, Steve Jobs, MLK…) to prove there’s a science—an ebb and flow—in how information and stories are presented.

Memorable communication follows a pattern.

And for our humble Storytelling Study Club, we’re anxious to learn from those footsteps.

Full show notes HERE! 

It wasn’t in Beijing, but the TechPoint Mira Awards in Indianapolis are what Mikey calls “a rite of passage for Indy tech people.”

We’re super proud to share that Mikey’s beloved presentation agency/brainchild, GhostRanch Communications (GRC), was a nominee for the 2022 Mira Awards’ “Service Partner of the Year.”

We don’t know if he won a medal (YET!) but in this episode, we’ll get into how GRC got nominated, what he did to prepare—and how he heavily relied on a “Presentation Taper” strategy. (Trademark pending).

Basically, it’s the strategy where you “cram and plan” early and then ease off—give your mind muscle a break. Know that you know your shit.

If you’ve ever had to present to a panel or are in the process of prepping something big, this is the episode for you.

Full show notes HERE!

See full show notes HERE.

Spirit Sox USA

Stay tuned for the PrezThinking version of this creative experience!!

I know, it would be cooler if we had actually interviewed Canva co-founder and CEO, Melanie Perkins, for this episode. But for now, we're just going to listen to someone else's interview and talk about it. Besides, Guy Raz is pretty decent at what he does. So, this is where we are in our storytelling rabbit hole so far, we are taking in a whole ton of content and trying to figure out what it all means. This week, we listened to an amazing episode of How I Built This featuring Melanie Perkins, from back in 2019, who paints a colorful picture of her journey pitching (and pitching and pitching...) her new concept for desktop publishing, Canva, to a whole lot of investors back around 2012. Bethany and I break down what we took away from Melanie's stories and discuss some takeaways that we hope we can apply to our own approaches to pitching.

Enjoy!