Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

by Nancy Duarte
Released September 2010
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470632017

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Product 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.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Foreword
  4. Introduction
    1. How to Use Resonate
    2. Invest Your Time
  5. 1. Why Resonate?
    1. 1.1. Persuasion Is Powerful
    2. 1.2. Resonance Causes Change
    3. 1.3. Change Is Healthy
    4. 1.4. Presentations Are Boring
    5. 1.5. The Bland Leading the Bland
    6. 1.6. People Are Interesting
    7. 1.7. Facts Alone Fall Short
    8. 1.8. Stories Convey Meaning
    9. 1.9. You Are Not the Hero
    10. 1.10. The Audience Is the Hero
    11. 1.11. RULE #1: Resonance causes change.
  6. 2. Lessons from Myths and Movies
    1. 2.1. Incorporate Story
    2. 2.2. Drama Is Everything
    3. 2.3. Story Templates Create Structure
    4. 2.4. The Hero's Journey Structure
    5. 2.5. Crossing the Threshold
    6. 2.6. The Contour of Communication
      1. 2.6.1. The Presentation Form
    7. 2.7. The Beginning and Call to Adventure
    8. 2.8. The Middle: Contrast
    9. 2.9. Call to Action
    10. 2.10. The End
    11. 2.11. What Is a Sparkline?
    12. 2.12. Case Study: Benjamin Zander
      1. 2.12.1. TED Talk
    13. 2.13. Zander's Sparkline
    14. 2.14. RULE #2: Incorporating story into presentations has an exponential effect on outcomes.
  7. 3. Get to Know the Hero
    1. 3.1. How Do You Resonate with These Folks?
    2. 3.2. Segment the Audience
    3. 3.3. Case Study: Ronald Reagan
      1. 3.3.1. Space Shuttle Challenger Address
    4. 3.4. Meet the Hero
    5. 3.5. Meet the Mentor
    6. 3.6. Create Common Ground
    7. 3.7. Communicate from the Overlap
    8. 3.8. RULE #3: If a presenter knows the audience's resonant frequency and tunes to that, the audience will move.
  8. 4. Define the Journey
    1. 4.1. Preparing for the Audience's Journey
    2. 4.2. The Big Idea
    3. 4.3. Plan the Audience's Journey
    4. 4.4. Tools for Mapping a Journey
    5. 4.5. Acknowledge the Risk
    6. 4.6. Address Resistance
      1. 4.6.1. Refusal of the Call
    7. 4.7. Make the Reward Worth It
    8. 4.8. Case Study: General Electric
      1. 4.8.1. Showing the Benefit of Change
    9. 4.9. RULE #4: Every audience will persist in a state of rest unless compelled to change.
  9. 5. Create Meaningful Content
    1. 5.1. Everything and the Kitchen Sink
    2. 5.2. More Than Just Facts
    3. 5.3. Don't Be So Cerebral
    4. 5.4. Contrast Creates Contour
    5. 5.5. Transform Ideas Into Meaning
    6. 5.6. Recall Stories
    7. 5.7. Turn Information Into Stories
    8. 5.8. Case Study: Cisco Systems
      1. 5.8.1. Hop to It
    9. 5.9. Move from Data to Meaning
    10. 5.10. Murder Your Darlings
    11. 5.11. From Ideas to Messages
    12. 5.12. RULE #5: Use the big idea to filter out all frequencies other than the resonant frequency.
  10. 6. Structure Reveals Insights
    1. 6.1. Establish Structure
    2. 6.2. Make Sense
    3. 6.3. Case Study: Richard Feynman
      1. 6.3.1. Gravity Lecture Structure
    4. 6.4. Feynman's Sparkline
    5. 6.5. Order Messages for Impact
    6. 6.6. Create Emotional Contrast
    7. 6.7. Contrast the Delivery
    8. 6.8. Putting Your Story on the Silver Screen
    9. 6.9. Process Recap
    10. 6.10. RULE #6: Structure is greater than the sum of its parts.
  11. 7. Deliver Something They'll Always Remember
    1. 7.1. Create a S.T.A.R. Moment
    2. 7.2. Case Study: Michael Pollan
      1. 7.2.1. Memorable Dramatization
    3. 7.3. Repeatable Sound Bites
    4. 7.4. Evocative Visuals
    5. 7.5. Case Study: Pastor John Ortberg
      1. 7.5.1. Emotive Storytelling
    6. 7.6. Ortberg's Sparkline
    7. 7.7. Case Study: Rauch Foundation
      1. 7.7.1. Shocking Statistics
    8. 7.8. Case Study: Steve Jobs
      1. 7.8.1. MacWorld 2007 iPhone Launch
    9. 7.9. Jobs's Sparkline
    10. 7.10. RULE #7: Memorable moments are repeated and retransmitted so they cover longer distances.
  12. 8. There's Always Room to Improve
    1. 8.1. Amplify the Signal, Minimize the Noise
    2. 8.2. Give a Positive First Impression
    3. 8.3. Hop Down from Your Tower
    4. 8.4. Value Brevity
    5. 8.5. Wean Yourself from the Slides
    6. 8.6. Balance Emotion
    7. 8.7. Host a Screening with Honest Critics
    8. 8.8. Case Study: Markus Covert, PhD
      1. 8.8.1. Pioneer Award Winner
    9. 8.9. Case Study: Leonard Bernstein
      1. 8.9.1. Young People's Concerts
    10. 8.10. RULE #8: Audience interest is directly proportionate to the presenter's preparation.
  13. 9. Change Your World
    1. 9.1. Changing the World Is Hard
    2. 9.2. Use Presentations to Help Change the World
    3. 9.3. Don't Use Presentations for Evil
    4. 9.4. Enron's Presentations During Implosion
    5. 9.5. Gain Competitive Advantage
    6. 9.6. Case Study: Martin Luther King Jr.
      1. 9.6.1. His Dream Became Reality
    7. 9.7. Case Study: Martha Graham
      1. 9.7.1. Showed the World How She Felt
    8. 9.8. Be Transparent So People See Your Idea
    9. 9.9. You Can Transform Your World
  14. Inspiration Is Everywhere
    1. Case Study: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
      1. Be Flexible Within the Form
    2. Sonata Sparkline
    3. Case Study: Alfred Hitchcock
      1. Be a Collaborative Visionary
    4. Case Study: E. E. Cummings
      1. Break the Rules
    5. RULE #9: Your imagination can create a reality.
  15. References
    1. CHAPTER 1
    2. CHAPTER 2
    3. CHAPTER 3
    4. CHAPTER 4
    5. CHAPTER 5
    6. CHAPTER 6
    7. CHAPTER 7
    8. CHAPTER 8
    9. CHAPTER 9
    10. CODA
  16. Picture Credits
  17. Special Thanks

Product information

  • Title: Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences
  • Author(s): Nancy Duarte
  • Release date: September 2010
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470632017