Download Free Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

Author: Nancy Duarte | Language: English | ISBN: 0470632011 | Format: EPUB

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences Description

Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they've wasted their time? All too often, presentations don't resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.

Just as the author's first book helped presenters become visual communicators, Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action. The author's approach is simple: building a presentation today is a bit like writing a documentary. Using this approach, you'll convey your content with passion, persuasion, and impact.

Author has a proven track record, including having created the slides in Al Gore's Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth
Focuses on content development methodologies that are not only fundamental but will move people to action
Upends the usual paradigm by making the audience the hero and the presenter the mentor
Shows how to use story techniques of conflict and resolution

Presentations don't have to be boring ordeals. You can make them fun, exciting, and full of meaning. Leave your audiences energized and ready to take action with Resonate.

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 28, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0470632011
ISBN-13: 978-0470632017
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Foreword (Dan Post).

Introduction.

1 Why Resonate?

Persuasion Is Powerful.

Resonance Causes Change.

Change Is Healthy.

Presentations Are Boring.

The Bland Leading the Bland.

People Are Interesting.

Facts Alone Fall Short.

Stories Convey Meaning.

You Are Not the Hero.

The Audience Is the Hero.

Resonance Rule #1.

2 Lessons from Myths and Movies.

Incorporate Story.

Drama Is Everything.

Story Templates Create Structure.

The Hero’s Journey Structure.

Crossing the Threshold.

The Contour of Communication.

The Beginning and Call to Adventure.

The Middle: Contrast.

Call to Action.

The End.

What Is a Sparkline?

Case Study: Benjamin Zander.

Zander’s Sparkline.

Resonance Rule #2.

3 Get To Know the Hero.

How Do You Resonate with These Folks?

Segment the Audience.

Case Study: Ronald Reagan.

Meet the Hero.

Meet the Mentor.

Create Common Ground.

Communicate from the Overlap.

Resonance Rule #3.

4 Define the Journey.

Preparing for the Audience’s Journey.

The Big Idea.

Plan the Audience’s Journey.

Tools for Mapping a Journey.

Acknowledge the Risk.

Address Resistance.

Make the Reward Worth It.

Case Study: General Electric.

Resonance Rule #4.

5 Create Meaningful Content.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink.

More Than Just Facts.

Don’t Be So Cerebral.

Contrast Creates Contour.

Transform Ideas Into Meaning.

Recall Stories.

Turn Information Into Stories.

Case Study: Cisco Systems.

Move from Data to Meaning.

Murder Your Darlings.

From Ideas to Messages.

Resonance Rule #5.

6 Structure Reveals Insights.

Establish Structure.

Make Sense.

Case Study: Richard Feynman.

Feynman’s Sparkline.

Order Messages for Impact.

Create Emotional Contrast.

Contrast the Delivery.

Putting Your Story on the Silver Screen.

Process Recap.

Resonance Rule #6.

7 Deliver Something they’ll Always Remember.

Create a S.T.A.R. Moment.

Case Study: Michael Pollan.

Repeatable Sound Bites.

Evocative Visuals.

Case Study: Pastor John Ortberg.

Ortberg’s Sparkline.

Case Study: Rauch Foundation.

Case Study: Steve Jobs.

Jobs’s Sparkline.

Resonance Rule #7.

8 There’s Always Room to Improve.

Amplify the Signal, Minimize the Noise.

Give a Positive First Impression.

Hop Down from Your Tower.

Value Brevity.

Wean Yourself from the Slides.

Balance Emotion.

Host a Screening with Honest Critics.

Case Study: Markus Covert, PhD.

Case Study: Leonard Bernstein.

Resonance Rule #8.

9 Change Your World.

Changing the World Is Hard.

Use Presentations to Help Change the World.

Don’t Use Presentations for Evil.

Enron’s Presentations During Implosion.

Gain Competitive Advantage.

Case Study: Martin Luther King Jr.

King’s Sparkline.

Case Study: Martha Graham.

Be Transparent So People See Your Idea.

You Can Transform Your World.

10 Inspiration Is Everywhere.

Case Study: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Sonata Sparkline.

Case Study: Alfred Hitchcock.

Case Study: E. E. Cummings.

Resonance Rule #9.

References.

Picture Credits.

Index.

Special Thanks.

I loved Nancy Duarte's 2008 book, Slide:ology. She has now written her first book, Resonate. Yes, you read right. Her second book came out two years ago. (Sort of like how the first Star Wars movies came out a couple of decades after the later films.)

Duarte describes Resonate as the prequel to Slide:ology. And she's right.

Resonate is the book to read first, because it is about the reason for giving a presentation: to change people's minds, to persuade, to take action. In contrast, Slide:ology is more about design of visuals: the things that you work on once you've know what you want to talk about.

At the core of Resonate is her thesis that all good presentations have a common structure. Great presentations start with "the way it is." Then, they make repeated contrasts between "the way it is" and "the way it could be." Finally, great presentations end with a call to action, and a promise that new, greater things are possible.

It's simple, but don't dare think for a second that it's stupid. Scientists will probably appreciate the repeated analysis that Duarte has done to show that this structure is variable and rich. It's similar to how stories can follow the same basic plot structure, but differ profoundly in almost every other way.

Another unexpected inversion is in how Duarte conceives of the importance of story. She has something more in mind than anecdotes or telling a narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The presenter's role is not to be someone like Sherlock Holmes, who explains and unravels the plot.

The presenter's part is to be Ben Kenobi.

It takes a little while to get used to this view. At first, it's somewhat paradoxical to think of the person given a presentation as a supporting character.

I bought this rather expensive book because of the fantastic reviews from others, and because of Nancy Duarte's reputation. I am so incredibly disappointed in this book... Incredibly disappointed. I teach SEO, Social Media, and AdWords both online and in San Francisco (just Google 'Jason McDonald' to find me), and so presentations are critical to my work. I teach what are pretty boring subjects to pretty busy people and work really hard to make those presentations shine - a sense of humor, a good story, lots of workable analogies, and concrete to-do's for my students.

LEARNING FROM THE BEST?

I am always eager to learn, and improve. What better way than some of the best of the best, Nancy Duarte, for example?

I opened the book, and loved the acknowledgements page - pictures of Nancy and the gang with their heads on little dolls... good explanations of who did what, a positive vibe. I thought - WOW, this will be a great book, as it already mixes visuals and words to be interesting!

Then begins the disappointment. Page upon page of teeny tiny type. With platitudes like 'You can have piles of facts and still fail to resonate. It's not the information itself that's important but the emotional impact of the information.' (pg. 14). You're kidding? You need to have more than facts? Wow! I never in a thousand years would have thought that, Nancy.

Or 'incorporate story.' 'It's become the cultural norm to write presentations as reports instead of stories. but the presentations are reports.' Really? You should tell stories? How about a story of a struggling teacher who read a lot of great reviews on Amazon from your pals, bought your expensive book, and just nearly wept because it was such a waste of money. That's a story.

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences Preview

Link

Please Wait...