Resonate by Nancy Duarte, Book Summary and Review

Introduction

Presentations are a fact of life. And they’re one of the most effective ways to communicate ideas. However, most presentations are lacking because no one has taught you how to develop them. When some people think of PowerPoint, they think of presentations. But a presentation is not about the software used to create it. Presentation design is so much more. Resonate by Nancy Duarte gives you strategies to create presentations that impact audiences.

Organizations are always changing if they expect to survive. The same goes for you personally. The ability to effectively communicate your ideas with effective presentations can be the catalyst for meaningful change when the presenter connects with the audience. It takes a lot of work and energy to breathe life into an idea. You need to stand above the noise. You need to stand out from your competitors.Communicate your message differently. People are looking for a human connection.

Summary of Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte

Resonate is the prequel to Slide:ology and both are by the same author, Nancy Duarte. After reading Resonate by Nancy Duarte, you’ll never approach a presentation the same again.

“Resonate uses story frameworks to create presentations that will engage, transform, and activate audiences.”

Why do you need to know the information in Resonate?

Organizations have to change if they are expected to survive. The same goes for you personally. The world is going through a global pandemic now. All of us have to change to survive. It’s scary to move toward an unknown future riddled with uncertainty and anxiety. How do you communicate to your employees and direct reports? A presentation is an effective tool to transform an audience.

The ability to effectively communicate your ideas with effective presentations can be the catalyst for meaningful change when the presenter connects with the audience. It takes a lot of work and energy to breathe life into an idea.

Have you read?

Want Presentations that Rock? Joey Asher’s 15 Minutes Including Q&A Delivers

Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte, Book Summary and Review

Years ago, Distinction, a communication company, conducted a survey and found:

“Of the executives surveyed, over 86 percent said that communicating clearly impacts their careers and incomes, yet only 25 percent put more than two hours into preparing for very high-stakes presentations. That’s a big gap.”

The power of the spoken word is that it takes an idea from out of someone’s head and presents it to the world for feedback. If you want to become a better presenter, you must first become a better storyteller. Present your ideas and get others to accept them. Telling stories is part of the human experience.

When you deliver presentations, you’re often doing so to persuade an audience to change their minds or behavior. Therefore, presentations are about change. I’ve always loved the following George Bernard Shaw quote.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

All you really need is one idea. So get it out into the open. Package your idea in a story framework to create unstoppable ideas. Duarte studied screenwriting, literature, mythology, philosophy, combining them with what she knew about presentation.

Invent the future with your presentations. When you use techniques from story and cinema, you'll learn some strategies for connecting to an audience. It takes discipline to be an excellent communicator. Great presenters transform their audience. They get them to adopt ideas and take action.

Presentations fall between reports and stories. Reports inform while stories entertain. Presentations have both information and a story. Use your presentation to create an experience. Adjust to the frequency of your audience, so your message resonates with them. Send a message that's tuned to their needs.

All of us have to change to survive because of the pandemic. You have to reinvent yourself. And everywhere you look, you hear people talking about pivoting. It's scary to move to an unknown future. Use your presentation as a platform for persuasion. Duarte mentions the book, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field. A screenplay has plot points.

Definition of Plot a Point

A plot point is an incident, episode or event that spins the story in a different direction.

Presentations as Screenplays

A great presentation is similar to a screenplay in many ways. 

• It has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• It has an identifiable, inherent structure.
• The first plot point is an incident that captures the audience’s intrigue and interest. In presentations, we’ll call this a turning point.
• The beginning and end are much shorter than the middle.

Place the audience at the center because they’re your heroes. That means you have to make them see themselves as the heroes of the story. Presentations should take the audience to a threshold. You're proposing an idea you want adopted. Change is hard, so acknowledge that. Prepare the audience as much as possible for what to expect.

A screenplay has a sparkline. It’s a line that moves up and down between what is and what could be. Design your presentation with your audience in mind. Think of them as people in a line waiting to talk to you. Try to segment your audience. Effective communication takes research. Define your audience accurately.

A presentation should have a destination. Every piece of content you share should take the audience to a destination. You'd like your audience to let go of an old belief and embrace a new one. Resistance will set in. The big idea is the one key message you want to deliver.

Content Creation

Idea Collection

1. Collect presentation components from peers.
2. Collect information about competitors’ messages.

Idea Creation

1. Invent new ideas.
2. Take risks.
3. Generate new ideas.

Filter: It’s  important to make the message clear and easy for the audience to understand. Synthesize, and categorize the information.

Create a Star Moment: Something They'll Always Remember

There are Star Moments.

1. Memorable dramatization: Small dramatizations can convey insights.
2. Repeatable sound bites: Small, repeatable sound bites will help to feed the press with headlines, populate and energize and amplify your social media channels with insights, and give employees a rallying cry.
3. Evocative visuals: You’ve heard it said countless times that a picture is worth a thousand words. And it’s also worth a thousand emotions. Choosing the right image can create an emotional link to the information.
4. Emotive storytelling: Stories package information in a way that’s unforgettable for people. Attaching a great story to the big idea makes it easily repeatable beyond the presentation.
5. Shocking statistics: If the statistics are shocking, draw attention to them.

Conclusion: Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte

I loved Resonate by Nancy Duarte  because it contains information that can take your presentation to a much higher level. After you read the book, you’ll never create presentations the way you do now. Some ideas I particularly liked in Resonate include: Use your presentation to help change the world. Be transparent, so people see your ideas. Only put elements on your slides that help the audience recall your message.

Next Steps

Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:

1. Buy and Read Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte

2. Buy my new book, Leadership Reading: Spilling the Tea on How Top Leaders Read

3. If you want to Consult 1:1 about Effective Reading Strategies

4. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

5. Join the Art of Learning Membership Site

6. Download Unlock Your Genius Power Reading Tips Sheet

7. Buy me a cup of coffee!

If you want access to Bookish Note Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte, which has more information than the above summary, please consider joining my membership site, the Art of Learning.

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