SXSW 2014 - Summary of a 2.5-hour workshop session with Nancy Duarte (@NancyDuarte) The key learnings included how to: Refine Big Idea: Improve your core message with a unique point of view. Make your audience: Move From – Move To; define the audience transformation. Make better Calls to Action: Clearly state what you want the audience to do.

1. How I learned to do
better
presentations
SXSW 2014
Pimp Your Pitch: Learn Visual Storytelling Workshop
Salomon Dayan
www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan

2. The reason to be there …
One of the first learnings I wrote on my first SXSW 2014 post (Sound
bites of SXSW Interactive 2014 - http://bit.ly/1k9LfaQ) was:
“Marketers come eager to [SXSW to] learn and identify partners
that they think are most likely to impact their business.”
There is an underlying challenge to this learning; these partners need
to show the marketer that they have the best idea to solve the
marketer’s problem (whatever it is).
That reminded me of a very similar challenge that Alex Lopez Negrete
(@LopezNegrete) put to all of us at LNC in a Monday morning
meeting:
How can we better sell our ideas to clients?
Alex actually pointed out that no matter how good the idea is, if we
don’t sell it correctly it won’t be adopted and then … another project to
the drawer.
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
http://www.houstoniamag.com/data/images/2013/6/image/1952/0713-negrete-1.jpg
4/8/2014 2

3. I attended an excellent workshop
SXSW 2014 gave me the opportunity to attend with my co-
worker Miguel (@sansegocreative) a 2.5-hour workshop
session with Nancy Duarte.
Nancy Duarte is the author of 3 bestselling books on
persuasive presentations. Her most notable work may be when
she helped co-writing the documentary: “An Inconvenient
Truth”
The key learnings included how to:
Refine Big Idea: Improve your core message with a
unique point of view.
Make your audience: Move From – Move To; define the
audience transformation.
Make better Calls to Action: Clearly state what you want
the audience to do.
So I decided to make a presentation of the presentation’s
workshop … well, actually a SlideDoc (another new term that I
learned in the workshop) a visual document that is intended to
be read and referenced instead of projected.
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan4/8/2014 3

4. Step 1: Refine your Idea
Nancy started her sessions by defining
the difference between a Presenter and
a Storyteller.
While a presenter conveys information
that may be important, a storyteller
creates an experience that touches the
audience deep inside and addresses
their needs, wants and self-interest.
The storyteller creates different acts
that connect to the audience and
eventually trigger an action.
However, what you say has to resonate
with something already inside your
audience.
[What you say] Must be able to resonate (move something within them)
like sound waves in order to move them #SXSW #pitchfix #SXLNC
(tweet by @sansegocreative)
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
When defining your Big Idea, you need
to create:
• Your Unique Point of View
• What’s at stake (consequences). It
is important to identify the
consequences if your idea is
adopted as well as if it is not
• Write it in the form of a sentence
Even before creating your Big Idea
statement you need to identify what is
“that thing” that makes your audience
listen and act upon your idea.
Some of the questions you need to
ask to identify the key triggers for your
audience may include:
• Why would they listen to you?
• What keeps them up at night?
• How can you solve their
problems?
• What do you want them to do?
• How might they resist?
Unique Point of View and what’s at Stake
Big Idea
Write your big Idea here
4/8/2014 4

5. Step 2: Make your Audience
Move From – Move To
Once you refine your Big Idea and
Stakes, the next step is to:
Persuasive presentations make your
audience Move From their current
situation and Move To another new
situation or way.
Nancy provided the list of words on the
right that can help you spark ideas for how
you want your audience to transform.
You will be “Mapping the Journey”
"Define the transformation" you want your audience to go through,
[and] plan for it #pitchfix #sxlnc (tweet by @sedayanr)
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
Being/Doing
Move From
Being/Doing
Move To
4/8/2014 5

6. Step 3: Make better Call to Action
Nancy’s approach for persuasive
presentations: Have a clear Beginning,
Middle and End.
The Beginning states the current
situation by defining the “What is”
circumstances. The Middle has ups and
downs constantly, showing your
audience “What could be” if they adopt
your idea and reminding then what the
current situation is. Finally the
presentation ends with the “New Bliss”
that is created when your idea is
adopted.
"Persuasive story form" makes rhythm. 3-act structure. Use contrast
so they will remember #sxlnc #pitchfix (tweet by @sedayanr)
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
http://cdn.www.duarte.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/02/LinkedIn_ND_164.jpg
This 3 act form is a “Sparkline”
The Sparkline is a persuasive story
form that Duarte uses to breakdown
presentations and move through the
“What is” and “What Could Be” waves.
It was strongly emphasized the fact
that as presenter, you should create a
dramatic gap between the “What is”
situation and your “What Could be”
solution.
One of the tools to create this needed
gap is to create Contrast.
The bigger the gap between them, the
more persuasive your presentation will
be.
Contrast is one of the key concepts in
great ppts. Contrast helps you move
your audience from what is to what
could be #sxsw14 #pitchfix
(Tweet by @RamiroCaso)
4/8/2014 6

7. Step 3: Make better Call to Action
Once the theoretical part was set up,
Nancy continued her explanation of the
Sparkline by breaking down a
presentation of one of the most notable
storytellers in corporate America: Steve
Jobs.
How could Steve Jobs hold an
audience’s attention for a full 90
minutes?
To understand the above, Nancy
created the Sparkline of the iPhone
2007 launch presentation.
Looking carefully at the presentation,
Nancy identified that the audience
laughed 73 times, clapped 105 times
and Steve Jobs himself marveled with
his own product 137 times … all in 90
minutes.
S.T.A.R moments. Insert this where necessary to compel an emotive, long-lasting
impression. #pitchfix #sxsw pic.twitter.com/SjDhUs5wz2 (tweet by @jdmltweet)
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
Jobs was able to spark people’s
attention with emotions, while igniting
passion and creating a S.T.A.R.
moment for the audience.
Something
They’ll
Always
Remember
The S.T.A.R. moment should be
significant, sincere and memorable.
It should be that one thing that your
audience will remember forever.
Click to Watch
4/8/2014 7

8. Summary
Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan
Click to Watch
A powerful speech/pitch speaks TO the audience, has cadence, tension, release. It
resonates, creates an emotive response. (tweet by @jdmltweet)
Download:
http://bit.ly/1lJwhYL
Define your Big Idea: with a Unique
POV, the consequences and in a
sentence form
Map your Audience Journey. Make your
audience Move From their current
situation and Move To another new
situation or way
Create the Sparkline. Define the “What
is”, shows yours “What could be” and
close with a “New Bliss”. Always include
a S.T.A.R. moment
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9. Salomon Dayan - www.linkedin.com/in/salomondayan4/8/2014 9
BONUS: Nancy at TEDx