Presentation Thinking™

Life is better in color - and presentations are more strategic with it, too. Associate Creative Director Lindsay Hadley AKA our resident “Color Commentator” joins the pod to discuss palettes, Pantone and the impact color can make on any project. How much is too much color? How do you find a memorable color combo? And what can Pantone’s Color of the Year tell us? Join this “Color theory 101” to pai...

You’ve probably heard of motivational speaker & “guru” Simon Sinek. Mikey and Molly dive into Sinek’s early 00s TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action . It’s inspiring, of course. It’s also a masterclass in great presentation skills. His use of repetition, a simple diagram and even—dare we say—the lack of slides are all perfectly executed. Whether you’re a Simon skeptic or stan, there’s a...

Aimée Mazara calls herself a Visual Journalist. Based in the Dominican Republic, her illustrations take on a dynamic watercolor-esque quality—you can feel the movement of the streets; the markets. Focusing on everyday life scenes, Aimée tends to start conversations with locals for inspiration. Her art has even been a method for fundraising and raising awareness for a neighbor in need. It was so mu...

Aimée Mazara calls herself a Visual Journalist. Based in the Dominican Republic, her illustrations take on a dynamic watercolor-esque quality—you can feel the movement of the streets; the markets. Focusing on everyday life scenes, Aimée tends to start conversations with locals for inspiration. Her art has even been a method for fundraising and raising awareness for a neighbor in need. It was so mu...

Molly reports back after attending this year’s STORY Conference in Nashville—a self-explanatory event about, well, storytelling. This immersive conference experience took us to Neverland—complete with fairy dust, Lost Boys running around and a mermaid in the fountain. From Narrative Strategists at NASA to the writer of Beauty and the Beast, the variety and caliber of speakers was stunning. This wa...

Illustrator Derek Abella might call himself “a silly little guy who draws”, but his creative work has garnered national and cultural significance. With soft lines, beautiful gradients and blended shapes, Derek’s work makes otherwise hard-to-depict subjects approachable AND beautiful. We discuss his creative journey as an artist and peel back the curtain on his process—with a lot of valuable takeaw...

Visual Designer Isabela Humphrey has always loved to draw, growing up surrounded by a family of creative people. But her journey to becoming a successful designer wasn’t so straightforward. From studying fashion design to side-hustling with card-making, Isabela is further proof that there are limitless pathways to becoming a full time illustrator. Her clients now include Apartment Therapy, Refiner...

For this episode’s “Presentation Book Club” discussing Making Numbers Count , we brought on our favorite CFO and the biggest “numbers guy” we know— Kip McCauley . Kip and Mikey break down their takeaways from Chip Heath and Karla Starr’s 2022 book, Making Numbers Count. How can we most effectively communicate data and numbers? It’s all about painting pictures, comparing them to human terms or tran...

We’ve arrived at the SEVENTH and final of the 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories —Rebirth. While “rebirth” conjures up images of a phoenix rising from the ashes, we now might also think of a wilting rose in a castle or the Ghost of Christmas Past. Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast & A Christmas Carol are all familiar classics that can be considered a “rebirth” plot. A dark shadow, menacing...

Lianna Patch knows the power of making someone laugh. In fact, she’s built her own business around it. Punchline Copy is one of many projects for this speaker, stand-up and professional conversion copywriter. After Mikey saw her present in Mexico City, we did a classic cold email to get her aboard the pod—and boy, was it worth it. From copywriting tips like her very professional “We-We" process, t...

On its surface, The Tragedy is a story we all know well—a sad and dark string of events that ultimately lead to a hero’s doom. (Debbie downer, I know). But for Christopher Booker’s book 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories , it follows another clear plot pattern that is well worth studying. From Romeo and Juliet to Bonnie and Clyde , tragedies tell us about a hero/heroine’s run with temptations, gre...

Todd Henry is an “arms dealer for the creative revolution.” And if that branded phrase of his doesn’t strike a creative chord somewhere deep inside you, well, keep moving. An international speaker, we’ve had the privilege of hearing from Todd on both big and small stages. For this episode, he joins Presentation Thinking to chat about translating creative concepts into slides for the stage. Author...

If you think you know the “Comedy” plot structure from Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories as the “SuperBad” movie or Jim Carrey’s slapstick—you’re not wrong. But you don’t have the full picture. This plot structure has undergone an evolution throughout history starting with Aristophanes’ “Old Comedy” in ancient Greece to an introduction of lovers facing ridiculous obst...

“Voyage and Return” clocks in as the FOURTH plot of Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots book, bringing you a few all-time classic stories. While Booker walks us through the commonalities in Alice and Wonderland, Wizard of Oz & Peter Pan, Mikey and Molly applied the plot to some PIXAR favorites—Toy Story and UP! The idea of embarking on our own ambling journey is one of the most relatable pl...

Everyone enjoys a good sense of humor. But have you ever wondered what it might do for your career? Or better yet, your next presentation?? Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas are students of silliness. Having researched and taught on the subject at Stanford, their book, Humor, Seriously gets straight to the heart of the funny bone. They walk us through the anatomy of funny, the psychology behind it...

As we continue with Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots book, “The Quest” is his third “story shape”, lending itself to some of the most epic stories of all time. Homer’s Odyssey , Moby Dick, Lord of the Rings (kind of). We all cheer when the hero sets out to get the prize, destroy the ring, achieve the dream—but what are the lessons learned along the way? What are the patterns we can implement...

This summer, a particularly special gathering for the remotely-dispersed GhostRanch team called “ StoryCamp ” was created to level up our collective presentation storytelling. There was minimal structure but maximum learning with workshops, deep dives and, obviously, karaoke. It provided both much needed in-person time (hugs!) AND a reminder for GhostRanch’s values & mission. It’s something we...

When your presentation client’s content is detail-heavy and your design is full of different animations, fonts, etc.—it can be a lot to keep track of. After many years in the biz getting decks “client-ready”, there’s one Quality Assurance (QA) framework that Mikey and team have found provides consistent and dependable results…and that’s MTN FACES . What’s this, you ask? An acronym, of course! M -...

Richard Goring has long-since been a #PrezThinking icon of ours. Director (and co-founder) of BrightCarbon , a trailblazing company in the Presentation design space, he’s passionate about animations, eLearning tools, webinars & consuming other podcasts and presentation paraphernalia (just like us!). But we’ll let the prolific presenter speak for himself. A fun conversation with tips for presen...

#2 of Christopher Booker’s The 7 Basic Plots is the tried and true Story Shape: "Rags To Riches." From Cinderella to The Sandlot , we love cheering for the underdog moving up in the world. But WHY and HOW is this Story Shape so effective? How can we channel Remy the Ratatouille rat in your own life?? Mikey and Molly discuss all this Bippity Boppity Boo.

Can all stories be categorized into 7 different plots? That’s what English journalist & writer Christopher Booker spent 34 years researching for his mega-book, The 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories . In honor of GhostRanch’s 7th birthday (August 2nd!), we’re excited to dive into the first plot of this 7-part series, “Overcoming the Monster.” In a Disney context, an “Overcoming the Monster” st...

Phil Charron, Executive Vice President of Think Company , is a presentation pioneer. From helping put on PowerPoint presentations when physical slides still had to be switched manually to joining the UX design world as it was being invented, Phil truly has a holistic view of the evolution of presentations and design. What was it like to see PowerPoint change the landscape of presentations? What’s...

Andy Raskin is a strategic storytelling evangelist. For Mikey and Molly, his work was a gateway into the thriving ecosystem that is Presentation Thinking. From his in-person appearances to an online article gone viral, he emphasizes that your story IS your strategy—and it’s important to leverage it. Learn along with us how to use your story and invite people to join in your journey.

For our 25th “Quarter Century” episode, we brought in the reason our Presentation Thinking pod has stayed consistent—our brilliant editor, Will Kommor . Will is an audio and editing guru, and has a lot to share about what he’s learned from Presentation Thinking, the podcasting process, and being a media editor in general. We also think that improv and podcasting might be more alike than you think…...

Wadsworth Williams and the Nspire team are leading the charge in developing more efficient and comfortable nasal cannulas (tubes that help deliver oxygen) for babies. A low-cost commodity with potential for huge impact, Wadsworth has so much to say about innovation in the pediatric space, how to focus a pitch per audience while also sticking to their core mission—putting the patient first. Receivi...