An area of applied storytelling that continues to fascinate me is the use of stories in presentations. Without question, one of the best-known figures in incorporating storytelling into presentations is Nancy Duarte, who has just extended her expertise in a new book, Resonate — Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. Like many story practitioners, Nancy is very generous with her wisdom, offering sneak peaks of her books, “assets” (such as charts and diagrams) that folks can freely use in blogs and presentations, and enhanced Web content that extends the content in her books; you can find these goodies here. I’m honored that Nancy is participating in this Q&A series. This Q&A with Nancy will appear over the next five days. NOTE: Nancy will be a featured speaker during the Reinvention Summit that starts this Thursday. Her slot is Thu, November 18, 2pm — 3pm Eastern.

Bio: As CEO of Duarte Design, Nancy Duarte has advanced the art and literature of presentations, emerging with her agency as one of the most sought-after authorities in presentation design. Duarte and Duarte Design have worked with global companies and prominent thought leaders — including Adobe, Cisco, Food Network, Facebook, GE, Google, Al Gore, HP, Nokia, TED, Twitter, and World Bank — to help influence public perception of some of the world’s most valuable brands and many of humanity’s most pressing causes. In 2008, Duarte authored Slide:ology —The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, which won the Axiom Design award for its distillation of best practices in visual communications. She just released her second book Resonate — Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences about how presenters can incorporate story to create a groundswell for their cause or idea. For more information on Duarte and Duarte Design, visit the Duarte site.

Q&A with Nancy Duarte, Question 1:

Q: How do you define story in the context of a presentation?

A: Story can be used as an overall narrative structure in a presentation or for emotional appeal within a presentation. Since story is said to have an arc to it, I set out to determine if the best presentations also have a contour to them also. After collecting insights from the 20 years of presentations we’ve developed plus extensively studying cinema and literature (even topics like philosophy and mythology), I uncovered a story structure that works for presentations. Here are insights in a nutshell:

Beginning: Somewhere in the beginning of your presentation you need to dramatically paint a picture of the gap between the world without your idea (what is) juxtaposed to the world with your idea adopted (what could be). You should make that contrast as dramatically apparent as possible. This is similar to an inciting incident in a movie, it’s a Call to Adventure you’re taking the audience on. It will force the audience to contend with the imbalance created if the world if it doesn’t have your proposed idea in it.

Middle: The middle needs to be packed with contrast that creates a sense of rhythm. You can do that structurally by moving back and forth between “what is” and “what could be”, or you can create contrast by incorporating emotional appeal through stories and other devices, or you can create contrast by mixing up the delivery method by showing a video or involving the audience in some way.

End: You should end your presentation with a clear Call to Action…but don’t stop there. Conclude by stating as clearly and compellingly what the world will look like if they adopt your idea. What is the new bliss? Describe it as beautifully and articulately as possible; ending your presentation by painting the world as a better place.

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