1. Crafting Outstanding Presentations - Storytelling Techniques
Presentation Transcript of Claudio Perrone's excellent presentation at
http://www.slideshare.net/cperrone/outsanding-presentations-4351640
(he posted the transcript, but it had many errors in it)
Slide# Contents
1. Claudio Perrone
2. How relevant are presentations to your career?
3. In late 2007, I was leading a happy life
4. One day, my phone rang…
5. I was offered to speak at a BIG conference
6. On the one hand,it was a fantastic opportunity
7. On the other hand,public speaking scared me to death
8. Year: 1997 Location: C.E.R.N.
9. I trained 15 scientists for a week
10. They skinned me alive
11. I ll never forget that experience…
12. There was no way I was going face another possible humiliation
13. Besides, I could brain-damage people with PowerPoint
14. What would you do?
15. 1. I Move Beyond Bullet Points
16. In Feb 2008, I joined the revolution
17. Leonardo Da Vinci: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication 
18. Despite my efforts, my first dry-run was a disaster
19. I had strong images, but lack of structure confused the audience
20. At first, I created a  logical  outline
Main Point: Agility + Communication + Creativity lead to success
1. Supporting detail: Agility
2. Supporting detail: Communication
3. Supporting detail: Creativity
Summary: Agility + Communication + Creativity lead to success
21. Then, I discovered BBP ("Beyond Bullet Points" by Cliff Atkinson)!
(for a good blog post regarding Atkinson's book, see
http://curiouslypersistent.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/the-beyond-bullet-points-
guide-to-presentations/ )
22. Let s  script  the first 5 slides
23. Let s see how they  play 
Action!
24. The downturn threatens the future of many individuals and organizations
25. You are an entrepreneur, meeting an investor for the first time
26. Investors can be so H A R D to persuade
27. You d love them to invest in your great idea
28. I suggest...
Move beyond bullet points.
Unleash the Power of Story.
Tame your story to persuade
29. …And Cut. Well done! (you ll add the cool pictures another time)
30. But wait… What if Spielberg showed up?
31. Dude, you are telegraphing. Your  story  has no drama.
32. How about this?
telegraphing
vs.
dramatic irony
vs.
dramatic tension
33. 2. Unleash the Power of Story
34. Enter a new world
35. Why Story? People make choices based on emotions (and use data to justify
them)
36. What s a good story idea?
Someone [character]
wants something badly [desire]
and goes after it
against great odds [obstacles]
37. Story revolves around conflict:

2. Protagonist vs. Antagonist Nature Society Self
38. Story has good structure
O u t e r j o u r n e y
Act 1 (Setup) Act 2 (Development) Act 3 (Resolution)
hook and inciting incident complication and higher stakes "Final Battle" and
aftermath
Turning Point #1 (Change of Plans) Turning Point #2 (Moment
of Truth)
39. Often, there is a character inner journey W+A=C
W: Weakness (psychological and moral)
A: Action (and struggle to accomplish it)
C: Changed Person
40. Let s see the  highlights  of a past presentation:
Action!
41. Most IT projects fail.
Will yours?
42. Once upon a time I was a successful software developer…
43. My technical skills made me feel invincible
44. Until one day…
45. …I entered a world of deception
46. It was Hell from day one
47. What would you do?
48. I choked
49. …but then, I decided to ffght back
50. This is what I tried:
1 Agility
2 Effective Communication
3 Deliberate Creativity
51. 1 Agility
52. …but the project was still at risk (editor's note: the lady in a business
suit with a Jason mask and a butcher knife is *too* much! LOL! :-) )
53. 2 Effective Communication
54. 3 Deliberate Creativity
55. So, what happened to the project?
56. Amazingly, it succeeded
57. Lessons learned...
 We moved from the Flintstones era to the future. - an end user
 I was part of something. I belonged. - a developer
58. …And Cut!
59. Agile Tales Walk-through (1/3) Setup
"Most IT projects fail." - Setting (+Hook)
"Once upon a time" - Setup (ordinary world)
"My technical skills made me feel invincible" - Character ffaw
( naivety )
"Until one day" - Inciting incident
60. Agile Tales Walk-through (2/3) Development
"…I entered a world of deception"- Enter special world
"Hell from Day 1" - Complication
"What would you do?" - Dilemma
"I choked" - Refusal of the call
"Decided to fight back" - Turning point (will he succeed?)
"Agility" - Action / Resolution
"…project still at risk" - New complication
61. Agile Tales Walk-Â through (3/3) Resolution
"So what happened?" - Dramatic question (restated)
"Amazingly, it succeeded." - Climax
"Lessons Learned" - Aftermath
"People Matter!" - Theme
62. How do you craft your own story?
63. 3 Tame Your Story
64. I used to rewrite a story ~30 times
65. Not anymore
66. I use a 7-step process
1. Research,

3. 2. Prepare,
3. Fill and CLuster,
4. Identify Story Ideas,
5. Create Dramatic Outline,
6. Launch PowerPoint,
7. Refine
67. Step 1: Research (Create a Data Dump)
Mind maps, case studies, heard of, stories, anecdotes, product benefits,
product features,metaphors, ideas, experience
68. Step 2: Prepare
POV Subject Listeners Action Benefit
Listeners: Who are they? What are their demographics, needs, attitudes?
Point Of View: The ⁁So what?⁁ of your message. Think of this as the one
think you want your listener to remember.
Action: What do you want your listener to do with the message?
Benefit: What⁁s in it for them? How will your listener benefit as a result
of taking your action?
(see "Creating Messages that Motivate" by Bert Decker; see
http://blog.slideshare.net/2008/03/17/design-in-presentation-bert-decker/ and
http://www.duarte.com/blog/how-decker-made-me-different/)
69. Step 3: Fill and cluster content
ToDo Doing Done
70. Step 4: Identify Story Ideas
"What if?" "Take to extreme" "Center on strong dilemma" "reverse benefits"
"who wants what badly against what great odds?"
71. Reverse Benefits
Features -> Benefits -> Reversed Benefits
(what, how) -> (why, WIIFY) -> (lead-to why)
Features:
Steel Nib Body Cap Blue ink ...
Benefits:
Does not leak, Provides physical pleasure, Thoughts fiow on paper, Can write
beautiful poetry ⁦
Reversed
Benefits: Leaks, Infiicts physical torture, Thoughts don⁁t fiow on paper,
Writes terrible poetry ⁦
E.g.: Candidate Scenario 1
A poet struggles to leave her mark on this earth. She writes terrible poetry,
her thoughts don⁁t fiow on paper, all the pens she tries are physical torture
for her hand. Until one day⁦
72. Step 5: Create a dramatic outline
Complication: Claudio fears public speaking
Development:1. Claudio moves beyond bullet points
2. Claudio unleashes stories
3. Claudio tames stories
Resolution: Claudio conquers fear
(see "Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction", by Jon Franklin;
see the comments at Amazon)
73. Step 5. Dramatic outline II (saga)
Major Complication: Claudio fears public speaking
Semi-Major Complication: Claudio kills with PowerPoint
Development 1,2,3
Interlinked Complication: Spielberg challenges Claudio
Semi-Major Resolution: Claudio moves Beyond Bullet Points
Semi-Major Complication: Spielberg challenges Claudio
Development 1,2,3
Interlinked Complication: Stories consume Claudio
Semi-Major Resolution: Claudio embraces stories
Semi-Major Complication: Stories consume Claudio
Development 1,2,3
Semi-Major Resolution: Claudio tames stories
Interlinked Complication: Claudio fears public speaking
Semi-Major Complication: Claudio fears public speaking (restated)
Development 1. Claudio pursues emotion

4. Development 2. Claudio welcomes obstacles (carpe diem)
Development 3. Claudio finds own voice
Major Resolution: Claudio conquers fear
74. Final Thoughts
75. Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken" --- Oscar Wilde
76. Thank you! Claudio Perrone
claudio@agilesensei.com www.agilesensei.com
www.twiier.com/agilesensei