The greatest presentation lessons usually are not found in a book on using PowerPoint (or any other presentation tool). I have always said that some of the greatest advice on presenting on stage comes from the world of standup comedy. In the over twenty years of Presentation Zen, I have often pointed to the lessons from comedians. Stand-up is the most naked and most difficult kind of public…
In the Presentation Zen book, I speak briefly about the legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans and his great appreciation for simplicity, and his capacity for tremendous amplification through honest simplification. Amplifying through simplifying is something we want to do in the art of presentation as well. I’d like to point you to this 1966 documentary below, The Universal Mind of Bill Evans.This rare…
In an age when it is so easy to off-load thinking to AI—letting it draft the outline, suggest the content, and even generate the visuals—the temptation is greater than ever to place speed, ease, and efficiency over originality. But if you are going to do something different, if you are going to craft a talk that engages, illuminates, and even inspires, then your preparation is going to take…
In order to establish a connection with an audience, we must grab their attention right from the beginning. A punchy opening that gets the audience's attention is paramount. Granville N. Toogood, author of The Articulate Executive also stresses the idea of starting off quickly and beginning with punch. “To make sure you don’t get off on the wrong foot, plunge right in," he says. "To galvanize the…
Turning words/text into visual representations is a part of visual thinking, but it's only a small part. For example, in the summer of 2007 in a Waikiki hotel—six months before the first edition of Presentation Zen was published—I spent days writing my ideas—mostly in text form—onto sheets of paper before I begin writing the actual book (right). Eventually, those ideas become an outline and then a…
Let's embrace the spirit of the Rebel Alliance and push back against Imperial AI slop propaganda and the scourge of habit and conventional wisdom. If you have a large screen, use it to show visuals, not lines of text that remind you what to say. Stand with your visuals, becoming a clear part of the visual experience from your audience's point of view. Do not stand meekly in the corner or behind a…
Forest bathing, or shinrin‑yoku, is a Japanese practice of mindful immersion in nature, a practice that can help us step back from the stress of modern life. It is not about hiking necessarily, but about slowing down and simply being in the forest, engaging all the senses, listening, breathing, and letting the atmosphere wash over you. Research shows that this quiet presence in nature can lower…
Sometime in the mid-1990s, I serendipitously found a lovely book called The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams (the designer). As the title implies, this is a book for non-designers who need/want to learn some fundamentals about design that will help them make better graphics. The book focuses on four essential concepts: Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, Contrast. Of course, there is…
When designing our presentations and creating the supporting visuals, we should keep in mind the way our audience will actually process our presentation. We must design our visuals in ways that take advantage of how people process information. As a general rule, then, make slides as simple and visual as possible and limit the about of text. Here I show you how Steve Jobs used simple, clean, and…
A key tenet of the Zen aesthetic is kanso (簡素) or simplicity. In the kanso concept beauty, grace, and visual elegance are achieved by elimination and omission. Says artist designer and architect Dr. Koichi Kawana, "Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means." When you examine your visuals, then, can you say that you are getting the maximum impact with a minimum of…
Pixar Studios filmmaker Andrew Stanton gave a great TED talk where he stated that the key aim of any good story is that it must make the audience care. The greatest story commandment of all says Stanton is: "Make me care. Please—emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically — just make me care.” If you research the advice of famous directors and screenwriters of today and of years gone by you will…
Pixar-in-a-Box has been offered for free since 2015, and in a world of ubiquitous generative AI, it’s more important than ever to have a deeper understanding of storytelling and visual communication. This is an amazing free resource for those willing to take the time to learn from its offerings. Subjects have included color science, animation, effects, sets & staging, character modeling, and so…
Kamishibai is a form of visual and participatory storytelling that combines the use of hand drawn visuals with the engaging narration of a live presenter. Kami (紙) means paper and shibai (芝居 ) means play/drama. The origins of kamishibai are not clear, but its roots can be taced back to various picture storytelling traditions in Japan such as etoki and emaki scrolls and other forms of visual…
Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) was one of the truly great American writers of our time. In 2006, when Vonnegut was 84, a few students at Xavier High School in New York sent letters to the the legendary author asking him to visit their class. The fact that Vonnegut actually replied shows what a thoughtful and kind man he was. Vonnegut politely declined the invitation with humor and with grace: "I don't…
Shokunin kishitsu (職人気質) translates roughly as the “craftsman spirit." The documentary, in spite of its title, is not about sushi, it's about how to be a master shokunin, how to become truly great as a master craftsman. Yes, if you like sushi—and beautiful cinematography of sushi—then you'll not be disappointed. But even if you have zero interest in sushi, you will be motivated and inspired by…
Citizen Kane (1941) is a wonderful film that is fresh even today, but are there lessons in the making of the film that we can apply more broadly to other creative arts including presentations? I believe there are. The film was innovative and used techniques in storytelling and production that were not common for the time. There are many things that made the film remarkable, such as the good use of…
There is an old saying that goes “Once you think you have arrived, you have already started your descent.” One must never think they "have arrived." You may have heard the refrain "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is not bad advice necessarily. However, the spirit of kaizen suggests that there is always something to learn and ways to improve, and that it is also better to prevent problems…
Presentation and storytelling lessons from the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The lessons include: Visual simplicity, use of negative space, building complexity gradually, storytelling over technical flash, use of silence, speaking with authenticity, “show don’t tell” and many more. While Kurosawa was technically brilliant, his films succeeded because they told compelling stories. His technical…
True learning and quality content require time, deep thinking, and effort. Presentations should be a tool for learning and reflection, not just for quick communication of ideas. I propose a digital-analog-digital approach for preparation, which integrates initial AI-assisted research with dedicated time for off-line analog thinking, reading, reflection, organization, and finally digital design.
A common refrain is “less is more.” And while this is not always true, usually when we remove elements that we realize are not actually essential, the design will become clearer or have more impact. Reducing noise in slides or posters means carefully curating content, using visuals to illustrate or amplify ideas rather than repeat them, and designing layouts that enhance—rather than overwhelm—your…