Thinking Digital 2011 – Nancy Duarte

 

“You have the power to change the world and the most powerful device to change the world is an idea”.

Nancy Duarte’s talk was one of those most engaging this year. She looked at how ideas are most effectively conveyed through storytelling. Nancy spent years researching into why we physically react to a story, but not to a presentation. Through the study of cinema and literature, she looked to find a better way to build presentations.

Stories are essentially made up of a three part structure:

  • A likable hero
  • Who encounters a roadblock
  • And emerges transformed

The TED talk above is essentially the same talk that she delivered at the conference, and looks at how Steve Jobs’ 2007 iPhone launch speech and Martin Luther King’s speech are overlayed to show the attributes of an engaging presentation. 

Author: Jas

Jas Dhaliwal is a highly experienced International Social Media Strategist. Currently working as AVG Technologies, Director of Communities and Online Engagement, he specialises in building and engaging with social communities across the web. Born and bred in London, he is passionate about technology and social anthropology. Prior to AVG, Jas launched the social media program for Microsoft’s MVP Award program. Jas holds a BSc (Hons) in Information Systems and has an MBA from Brunel University in London, England. You can follow Jas as @Jas on Twitter or on Google+