Presentation Thinking™

Last month, GhostRanch Technical Director Steve Sheets put on an amazing workshop called “Presentation Design for the NON Designer.”   So we brought Steve on the ‘cast to discuss the making of a workshop and his behind-the-scenes building process.  “Presentation Design for the NON Designer” is a 2.5 hour collaborative “class” where people who work in presentations but want to level-up their design...

It’s Graduation Season and that means Pomp & Circumstance, free graduation party food and, of course, commencement speeches.  And speeches are a kind of PRESENTATION.  Steve Jobs’ Stanford 2005 Commencement speech is widely regarded as one of the best. But what makes it so powerful? What kind of story devices does he use?  And how did he come up with this stunning Carpe-Diem-esque quote: “Reme...

If you know Rick Altman, you’ve probably had a good time with him—and discussed PowerPoint and/or tennis.  Rick is the founder of the annual Presentation Summit , one of the first conferences to focus fully around PowerPoint, and it’s been going strong for over two decades now. Though the summit topics would later grow to include speaking, presenting and other kinds of storytelling, the community...

Steve Earl knows that getting to the “starting line” of a presentation is all part of the marathon—NOT a sprint.  As a seasoned Product Marketer for the likes of Oracle (and marathon runner himself!), Steve joins the pod to discuss his formula for ensuring you have all the information you need to set yourself up for success BEFORE even opening PowerPoint.  We all know the Blank Page syndrome can k...

Shark Tank is the reality show where passionate entrepreneurs pitch their product to a group of wealthy “sharks”—well-known Venture Capitalists—in hopes of investment funds and expert business guidance.   It has televised hundreds of pitches and amounted to MILLIONS of investor capital.  While this high stakes pitch environment isn’t necessarily the norm, the pitch structure and presentation of ea...

Brand collaborations are such a cool way to expand a brand’s story and messaging. They can be powerful, strategic and often hilarious—we all know that Doritos x Taco Bell collab brought us a now staple item on the fast food menu. But did you know that Burger King famously created a “Day Without a Whopper” with the purpose of directing folks to McDonald’s to raise money for the McD’s charity? Why w...

We all know the phrase “Death by PowerPoint.” Too much text, too many bullets, over-produced animations—the list that incurs such a phenomena is endless.  David JP Phillips is a Swedish communication expert whose name went viral with his 2014 TED Talk, “How to avoid death by PowerPoint.”   In it, David walks us through 5 easy-to-employ design fixes backed by clear psychological science that can tr...

It’s Mikey’s birthday and he’s officially *shhhh* ~over the hill~.  So we thought, “What better way to celebrate than to put him in the hot seat and fire off the 40 Reasons Mikey Loves Being a Presentation Designer” ? A totally normal tradition, right!? From getting to meet incredible people to honing storytelling skills to getting onsite event experience—there’s so much to love about this special...

Rain Bennett is a storyteller in all that he does: filmmaking, writing, being a story coach and even TikTok-ing—which is how we got connected to this jack of all trades!  Rain’s perspective on the power of finding your personal story is enough to level-up anything you’re working on or get inspired to start something new. He is strategic in connecting people’s passions to their skills and leveragin...

Chris Lynch is the CMO of Mindtickle and he’s also a presentation connoisseur.  With a background at Oracle in product marketing, presentations were a daily part of his job. That’s why Chris views them as such an important opportunity for business storytellers.  This episode hones in on Chris’s creative process in developing presentations because, yes, they deserve a creative process just like any...

Ever wonder who works behind the scenes of a teleprompter? Or who even uses teleprompting anymore?? As it turns out, a lot of people - including Oprah!  In this special interview episode, we sit down with Jill Richardson of K2 Productions to chat about her decade-long experience working as a teleprompter. From high profile corporate events to celebs, she has seen—and helped put on—hundreds of pres...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose 2009 TED Talk has over 33 MILLION views—and we all know that a well-viewed TED Talk is a clear indication of an effective speaker.  Titled “The Danger of a Single Story” , Chimamanda’s talk illustrates both the power and the burden that stories can have. Growing up only reading books by American/British authors, it took her many years to learn th...

It’s time to practice what we preach—with Mikey’s first keynote speaker experience!  We were so excited when Product Marketing Alliance asked Mikey to give a keynote talk at their recent Product Marketing Summit in NYC.  But what topics to fit into a 30 minute pre-lunch slot?? Demo vignettes, of course!  As part of Mikey’s Road to the TED Talk journey , this episode dives into the content, deck cr...

Having worn an abundance of hats, Jen Jones leads with true empathy for her teams as the CMO for CommerceTools. As part of our collaborative series with the Product Marketing Alliance, Mikey got to interview Jen on Product Marketing Life— check it out here ! For this episode, we pull out her super quotable highlights on networking, capitalizing on storytelling opportunities and her journey to the...

We were lucky enough to collaborate with the Product Marketing Life Podcast where Mikey interviewed personal hero and incredible Product Marketing Manager, Esther Yoon from RingCentral . (If you like this episode, tune into the full ‘sode over there and give Product Marketing Alliance a follow!) We really dig into the amazing takeaways with quotable highlights from that conversation and—you guesse...

Jonathan Pitts knows how to collaborate with an audience. An improv performer, expert and teacher for over 15 years, working in various environments, giving workshops and speaking to different audiences has kinda been his job. If you know improv, you know the “Yes, and…” approach can be applied to many aspects of work and life—that’s especially true for presenters. With an upcoming workshop called...

Rukma Sen is always looking to find a good story. Whether she’s being the rockstar Product Marketing Manager for Google that she is or working through her “Five Why” framework, Rukma is passionate about creating “human to human” messaging. Having studied English Literature in college, our conversation circled around finding the story in every project, product marketing insights and tips for public...

Advertisers have been vying for your attention (and paying big bucks for airtime) ever since the Super Bowl began. So what sticks out in 2023 and how can a brand tell its story in a memorable way? What’s cringe and what’s catchy? Creative Director and ad guru Jeff Thomas joins us to go through “milestone” ads over the years, groundbreaking storytelling strategies and what our faves were from this...

What’s the forecast say for presentations in 2023? Rainy with a sprinkle of G Slides? GhostRanch Creative Director Allie Wilson and Kelsey Jones, Director of Account Management, join Presentation Thinking to get their presentation meteorology skills on! They’re experts in what they highlight as the “Three C’s” to look out for: Cohesion, Composability & Continued Learning. Tune in for some fres...

Boris Hristov was destined to improve the world of presentations. Following his exposure to presentations with the all-too-common “Death by PowerPoint” phenomenon, he would later found his presentation agency called 356 Labs . With the arrival of the pandemic, they created the Present to Succeed conference, the world’s largest gathering for presentation skills. We’ve been longtime fans of 356 Labs...

Ever wonder if there’s ONE thing you need to be doing to improve your presentations? The Rancheros have answers. When GhostRanch retreated to Palm Springs for a “Winter Workation” last week, we did hot-seat style interviews! From art director to designer to technical director, we got advice that people (like you!) can easily implement to level-up their presentations. And for good measure, we asked...

Tony Fadell might not be a name you know, but it’s attached to products used around the world. Starting his career at Apple with Steve Jobs and designing the early iPod, Fadell later went on to invent the Google Nest smart thermostat. His TED Talk, The First Secret of Great Design , illustrates how breaking habituation is the first step in observing everyday problems around us that innovators can...

Tamsen Webster knows how to get to the heart of things, or rather—the Red Thread. A strategic messaging expert and TED Talk aficionado, Tamsen has been working with brands and individuals to hone a talk, craft a message and get to the ROOT of a mission for almost 25 years. Mikey and Molly are already big fans of her book, Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible . In this episode, we...

What we learned starting a presentation podcast and where (we hope) it’s going. This episode’s “Year in Review” peels back the curtain so we can tell you EXACTLY how many regular listeners we have, which episodes came out on top and how many nicknames Mikey has gifted the ‘cast. It’s been a journey—From figuring out what the heck to talk about, to getting folks to interview, to avoiding over-enunc...

When Mikey is asked to return to his college Alma Mater and present to a club for business leaders, he is posed with the challenge: How do you engage & inspire young people with a presentation? Thus began the pod’s first endeavor into a motivational presentation. We discuss the story Mikey shared, how he prepped and exactly how many laughs he got. "Is this deck ready to pitch?" As Captain Ron...