The 2015 film Steve Jobs is the perfect overlap of three key areas of interest for Presentation Thinking:
Steve Jobs’ life and presentation skills
Aaron Sorkin’s writing and storytelling (he wrote the script)
Aristotle
In our quest to watch every keynote Steve Jobs ever gave, we realized the 2015 Danny Boyle-directed film centers around 3 important product launches in Jobs’ life. A 3 act structure told with product launches, if you will.
Mikey and Molly host a film club episode to dissect the structure as it holds up to Aristotle’s Poetics and the Aaron Sorkin masterclass they took earlier this year. From the simple but clever formatting to the presentation preparation (and insane asks Jobs often made), Sorkin’s cutting dialogue keeps you gripped along the way.
Jobs was far from perfect but the story does humanize a larger-than-life figure that left a lasting legacy in the tech world.
This is an episode for: film/story structure nerds, Apple aficionados and Steve Jobs fans (and haters!)
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch the Danny Boyle film for yourself!
More about the 1998 iMac launch
The Super Bowl ad Apple ran in 1984 that had everyone buzzing?
Tune into Mikey and Molly’s Aaron Sorkin Masterclass experience
Read Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ memoir
Gerard Clarke is going to be your next favorite filmmaker.
As a director and creator based in Atlanta, Gerard has been involved in a countless variety of projects both creative, commercial and a blend of both.
He joins the ‘cast to discuss his experience in pitching (and selling) creative work, building out a visual story and the process that went into his latest short film, 500 Seconds to Tell You.
Filmmakers have a lot in common with the creative visionaries of B2B marketing. There’s typically a storyboard, a shot list and a kickass creative crew assembled to execute a vision—not unlike a big product launch, rebrand or narrative deck.
From Blockbuster memories to strategic storytelling advice, Gerard offers a unique perspective into the Presentation Thinking world.
This is an episode for: visual storytellers of all kinds, anyone that has to sell creative work and film geeks.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Follow more of Gerard!
Some of Gerard’s favorite films & media?
Vanilla Sky (2001)
He’s also a big Stranger Things fan for those watching the final season!
A fave director - Darren Aronofsky
Book recommendations?
Steal Like an Artist - Austin Kleon
Pi Screenplay and The Gorilla Diaries - Darren Aronofsky
Rebel Without A Crew - Robert Rodriguez
What is Gerard listening to?
Team Deakins podcast - brings in folks in the film biz!
Favorite talk?
Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, Do schools kill creativity?
Walkout song?
Parting shot?
“To quote the Shawshank Redemption, ‘get busy living or get busy dying.’”
PMM, Navy vet and overall cool guy Langley Barth joins the pod after Mikey and him connected at a Product Marketing Alliance summit in San Francisco (shoutout PMA!).
Langley is full of GREAT PMM advice—from becoming a subject matter expert on your product to getting to know the customer journey, he’s an expert at guiding conversations that “unlock the unknown unknowns.”
Langley also shares how his experience giving presentations in the Navy (who knew!) has informed his career. In addition to being a PMM, he connects veterans to purpose-driven careers through his organization, Civilian Compass.
This is an episode for: the product marketers, the sales team and any vets looking for new career inspo!
Our third annual installment of “PrezThanking” brings you a Spice Cabinet brimming with presentation resources, tech tips, people to follow and highlights from this year in recording.
Dig in with your pie and ice cream to this short n spicy episode.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Presentation TOOLS n TIPS we’re thankful for
Riverside technology! NOT AN AD but we’re loving it
Audacity - forever free recording tool
Figma Slides - it keeps growing!
LIVE EDIT PowerPoint files in Dropbox - we use this hack all the time
Data visualization is more important than ever in the age of AI
TED Talkin’: Ben Wellington’s NYC data story (Episode #174)
Dr. Steven Franconeri tells data stories—and you can too
GhostRanch YouTube QuickTip Tutorial Series! Created by Technical Director Steve Sheets
Don’t forget to GROUP objects!
Presentation PEOPLE we’re thankful for
Jay Schwedelson - email marketing Guru and founder of Guru Conference
Tom Fishburne’s “Marketoonist” cartoons
Ivan Wanis Ruiz - Presentation Coach & Founder of Public Speaking Lab
Krislam Chin - employing and enabling the next generation!! Looking for a career in design? Check her out Hello World Studio
Hayley Landsdorf for doodling by hand (not AI! Her clients particularly seek her out for this). Consider a “live scribe” at your next event! Thoughts Drawn Out
Cameron Magee for our “Some Guy from the Crew” series - founder of avad3, the AV and event production company
Hattie the PMM - If you’re a product marketer, follow her immediately!
Making marketing magic with Jimi Gibson (Episode #175) - the magician POV you didn’t’ know you needed for marketing
Presentation BOOKS we’re thankful for
Say it Well - Terry Szuplat
Presence - Amy Cuddy
Shoutouts!
John Harton, our amazing editor bringing our mic settings in sync
NoNo Flores, our episode illustrator giving our ideas visual life
Our previous episode (#186) with Cameron Magee covered the importance of rehearsals and the lead-up to an event or conference. This time, we’re talking about what’s going on AT the live event.
Continuing our “Some Guy From the Crew” series, Cameron Magee joins the podcast again to discuss live events, the layout of the room, stage, event trends and more!
As the Owner of avad3, a rad AV and event production company based in Arkansas, Cameron supports events of all kinds throughout the country. From LED screens to “the show must go on” moments, Cameron gives us more invaluable behind the scenes intel for anyone working in events.
This is an episode for: event planners and teams, AV nerds and conference speakers.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Tune into Part 1 of our Guy From the Crew series with Cameron
Hire Cameron and his team!
And learn more about their production work here: avad3
Craziest live event story
Not knowing if an event was indoors or outdoors, how many people would be showing up, where the speaker (ahem, the President) would be standing, etc.
Biggest piece of advice for live events?
Bring production on the site visit!
Mikey and Molly might be the first-ever students of storytelling to embark on a curious journey of studying every talk and keynote that Steve Jobs has ever done.
When discussing the greatest speakers of all time, the general B2B world typically includes Steve Jobs somewhere in the list and we nod our heads in agreeance. But aside from a few highlights of his talks (and what’s portrayed in various biopics of his life), we realized we weren’t super familiar with his “game” when it comes to the STORY, SCREEN & STAGE elements we typically break down.
So we’re off! We begin with one of Apple’s earlier “inciting incidents”: the introduction of the iMac computer in 1998. (You might recall this slick teal desktop setup in your school’s old computer lab).
For this talk, Steve has a combined goal of sharing “the state of Apple today” (Steve had just returned to the company) and a launch of this pretty revolutionary technology.
Steve’s skill in painting the world as is and presenting an alluring what it could be is absolutely “screamin’”. The 1998 visuals are nostalgic but still powerful. And Steve’s presence is a blast.
This is an episode for: Steve Jobs/Apple fans, fellow presentation nerds and anyone that is trying to make their product launch more compelling.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet??
Watch the talk for yourself:
Not necessary but fun viewing:
iMac evolution supercut
Steve’s walkout song? (Cheesey version, according to Molly)
Cameron Magee knows the ins and outs of an event’s backstage area.
Having led his production and AV company, avad3, for almost 15 years, they’ve produced over a thousand events all over the country. Trusted by Walmart, The White House and many more—Cameron is passionate about serving these events for their varying needs as an “event production partner.”
Cameron joins the ‘cast for the first of a several installment series taking an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the intersection of presentations, production and events.
While no two days look exactly the same in the event business, rehearsals are a consistent priority for Cameron and his team. Our discussion dives into the importance of rehearsal time, to-do’s and don’ts for event speakers (both beginners and pros!) and what to expect from the production team if it’s your first time speaking at an event.
This is an episode for: speakers of any kind, event professionals and anyone that gets intimidated by the tech side of events.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Hire Cameron and his team!
And learn more about their production work here: avad3
Fave speakers:
Podcast recommendations
For business? 2 Bobs—with David C. Baker and Blair Enns
For faith? First15
“This book changed my life”
Anything by Dan Sullivan - Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork
Cameron’s walkout song?
Sugata Mitra is one of the few people to have five TED Talks. Why?
He’s a perfect combination of scientific, challenging norms and soft-spoken charm.
As a theoretical researcher with an interest in education and the role of the internet, Sugata’s “Hole in the Wall” experiment has become a famed example in how kids can self-organize and essentially teach themselves anything with access to the internet. And no, that’s not a bad thing at all.
He first tried this in remote areas in India and has since replicated it all over the world. Sugata’s conclusions from these experiments vary, but they all challenge traditional education teachings.
Mikey and Molly dive into Sugata’s quietly powerful stage presence, minimal visuals and storytelling skills to understand how he’s accrued some of the most famous TED Talks ever.
This is an episode for: People that give talks that challenge norms and anyone with an interest in education.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet??
Hear & see Sugata for yourself
Watch the talk we get into here, The Future of Learning (2018)
Watch Sugata’s other TED Talks here
Interested in his research on education and the internet?
Follow Sugata online here
His latest book - The School in the Cloud: The Emerging Future of Learning
Sugata’s Walkout song (according to Molly)?
Ivan Wanis Ruiz is ready for us to never be bored during presentations again.
Returning to the podcast for a Book Club style episode we dive into his book, End Boring: A Tactical Approach to Public Speaking and Communication.
For his research, Ivan speaks with buskers, professional wrestlers and police interrogators to study the neuroscience of why people absorb information the way they do. This is counter to a lot of public speaking advice out there, learning only from experts, gurus and elite keynoters.
Ivan brings in simple truths like acknowledging you might never not be nervous during a presentation—so how can you work around that? Understanding our limitations and digital-age attention spans is something we need to evolve with, not against.
All of Ivan’s ideas circle back to the one core goal of any presentation which is to create curiosity—to get the audience asking for more (following you online, ordering a product, asking for demos, etc.).
Through clear case studies and tactical tips that hold up to today’s world of rapid content creation and AI-generated thoughts, Ivan’s book reads like a relevant kick-in-the-ass towards presentation excellence.
This is an episode for: Leaders, managers, webinar creators/hosts, and presenters of any variety (especially those that get nervous).
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Read for yourself (or listen via Audiobook!)
Want more of Ivan?
Tune into our previous episode with Ivan, #180 - Ivan Wanis Ruiz is here to revolutionize your public speaking
Follow him on LinkedIn
And his company, Public Speaking Lab
Ivan’s reccos?
Unexpected book reccos:
Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan & Anne Druyan
Thirteen Steps to Mentalism by Tony Corinda
Propaganda by Edward Bernays
Great speakers:
Founder of Hello World Studio and Professor of Graphic Design at Mt. San Antonio College in California, Krislam runs their graphic design program, inspiring new waves of creators stepping into our visual storytelling world.
Krislam joins Presentation Thinking to discuss her favorite parts about teaching such a creative craft, how students transition their concepts into presentations and the value of learning how to present creative work so that concepts can sell.
She also shares the ethos around Hello World in allowing students to lead client projects and understand the ins and outs of a professional creative process.
This is an episode for: creative leaders, teachers and designers of all kinds.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Follow Krislam’s work (she does professional development workshops on the regular
Krislam’s favorite LA things?
Bookstores!
Culver City Steps
In-N-Out
Favorite books, resources?
Anything published by Victionary
Favorite font?
“I’m a serif girlie. Out the box, I have to give it up for Baskerville…that and then there’s also Garamond as a second choice.”
Walkout song? This Is What It Sounds Like - from the K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack
Listen up!
Julian Treasure is a communication expert and sound researcher, interested in harnessing the power of voice and sound for speakers, listeners and learners.
His TED Talk, How to speak so that people will want to listen, from 2013 is one of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time (a measly 47 million views and counting on YouTube).
Upon first listen you might think “huh”—he gave me a few lists about ways that we misuse the voice, how powerful it actually should be and a handful of “tools” of the voice in order to execute our meaning more strategically. Big whoop.
But Mikey and Molly are here to recognize the storytelling that Julian employs is extremely powerful. He first sets up the world as is: the “deadly sins” of misusing speech and language—we’re all familiar with these and it builds rapport. Then he presents an idealized utopian vision with his acronym “H.A.I.L.”—the promised land for better use of language. But how do we get there? Well, next he provides the tools to unlock the “Happily Ever After.”
Julian studies intricacies of how our brain takes in sound—down to details like the architecture of open-office plans and classrooms. So it's rare to see such complex subjects so well executed in under ten minutes.
Julian’s stage presence, pace and masterful economy of language (ie: says a lot in just a few words) have all earned him a spot as one of the most viewed TED Talks ever.
This is an episode for: speakers, sound/audio nerds and anyone just wanting to communicate more effectively.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch Julian Treasure’s famous 2013 TED Talk:
Check out Julian’s books and other work on communications and sound research
Keep going down the rabbit hole! Julian’s 4 other TED Talks:
Julian’s walkout song? (according to Molly)
Stories and messages are best remembered with visuals. We’ve used countless examples of iconic movies to demonstrate this concept.
But what about music videos?
After the VMAs (Video Music Awards) were held a few weeks ago, it got us thinking about classic arcs, story shapes and how they might show up in our favorite music videos. Songs already tell stories themselves but when paired with a memorable dance, schtick or cultural moment, it makes the message that much stickier.
To tackle this episode, Molly brings in a few friends of the pod: filmmaker Asha Alaji-Sharif and Account Coordinator, Bridget Welch. From Madonna to Michael Jackson to Miley Cyrus—we dive into the most popular, most controversial and most memorable music videos of all time.
Music videos do indeed carry their own kinds of story archetypes that we can learn from in the B2B world.
This is an episode for: product marketers who like pop culture, music fans and anyone dealing with their nostalgia for MTV of the 80s & 90s.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
The “Best Of” lists we reference:
A handful of the heavy-hitter music videos we get into detail
Where to study the “shapes” of story:
Christopher Booker’s 7 Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories
Our personal picks for fave music video
Ivan Wanis Ruiz thinks bios are boring—but we’ll do our best to introduce this founder of Public Speaking Lab and the guy challenging all the presentation advice you’ve ever been taught.
Ivan’s background brings a little bit of everything. Event MCing, acting, marketing, finance and presently a founder and coach have all contributed to his adaptable presentation skillset—and he’s determined that the best and most memorable presenters don’t necessarily follow traditional public speaking advice.
From leveraging basic conversational networking skills to zero-ing in on how to keep audiences engaged in virtual webinars, Ivan emphasizes a much more natural approach to the ways we present and how we absorb information.
This is an episode for: keynoters, people that have to give presentations (but don’t want to) and anyone growing bored of virtual webinars.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Find more of Ivan:
Our episode featuring Dr. Steven Franconeri:
Ivan’s YouTube recommendations for what we can learn from Gen Z content creators:
Fave wrestler?
Macho Man
All-time favorite speaker?
Watch Sugata Mitra’s TED Talks
Ivan’s walkout song?
Visual thinker, founder and “Chief Doodler” Hayley Langsdorf can capture more with a sharpie than any bulleted list of meeting notes.
If you’ve never heard of a “live scribe”, neither had Hayley a few years ago. This is someone that sketches out important ideas from board meetings or keynotes at a conference in real-time.
Having studied English literature and worked in communications, Hayley maintains that visual thinking has been a core piece of the way she’s been able to process and understand the world around her. After realizing how live sketching could contribute to corporate communications, she founded her own company, Thoughts Drawn Out.
Hayley joins the ‘cast to discuss storytelling and memory, what she provides for clients, her TED Talk experience, AI and more.
This is an episode for: visual thinkers, NON visual thinkers and anyone that doodles in meetings.
What's in the Spice Cabinet??
Watch Hayley’s 2019 TED Talk:
Visual Storytelling: Drawing out our collective intelligence
Mikey and Molly talk about it in Episode #171
Find and follow more of Hayley’s work:
Find Hayley on YouTube for behind the scenes information and visual storytelling tips
Favorite speakers & creators?
Building a deck: PPT or Google Slides?
“PowerPoint gets a bad rep but it’s still quite universal…I find PowerPoint to be the most accessible way to build stuff that people can continue to play with and manipulate and use and craft.”
Favorite childhood story?
Oh the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss
“I was also a big Roald Dahl fan”
Walkout song?
Originally built as the GhostRanch company retreat, Story Camp has been brewing for a few years. It’s a concentrated three day series where the company gets to focus, relax and level up on presentation skills.
This summer was different - we set our sights to invite clients and the public to join in on what we feel is a secret formula for blending professional presentation development and inner child camp joy.
With the help of some stellar keynote speakers—Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy, Data Expert Steven Franconeri and former speechwriter for President Obama, Terry Szuplat—Story Camp achieved that rare event magic where everyone felt like friends by closing time.
The architects behind this, of course, were Founder and CEO Mikey Mioduski and Executive Creative Director Allie Wilson. They both join this episode to talk about what went into the planning process, building the “Story, Screen and Stage” conference structure and how it felt hiking with our keynoters in beautiful Park City.
This is an episode for: the team planning a big event, professionals looking for their next conference and anyone with summer camp nostalgia.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet??
Follow Story Camp to stay in the loop for next year’s retreat!
Get inspired by the Story Camp 2025 Keynoters
Need an amazing AV crew for your next event?
Dr. Christopher Cummings may have started his career in the classroom but he would eventually find himself in the “COVID-19 war room” during the global pandemic in 2020.
A high stakes job you may never have considered, Chris is a behavioral theorist and Research Social Scientist.
He’s in the business of understanding—scientifically and psychologically—how we perceive risk. How do you convey complex concepts in sometimes scary times? How do you act swiftly while information is rapidly changing? Many of Chris’ answers share core concepts with the B2B world.
After watching Chris’s 2017 TED Talk, The Dark Magic of Communication (and talking about it in our subsequent episode #167), Mikey and Molly knew they had to get Chris on the ‘cast to confirm what they already suspected—Chris is the most interesting man in communications.
Together, we dig into Chris’s unique journey, navigating international comms on emergency vaccine research, presentation skills, his TED Talk experience, mold spores and more.
This is an episode for: speakers with high stakes presentations, anyone interested in social science and everyone still processing their pandemic lockdown.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Tune into Chris’s 2017 TED Talk:
Mikey and Molly talk about this pre COVID prophetic TED Talk in Episode #167 of Presentation Thinking
Favorite speakers you’ve admired that led you to your communications journey?
“ When I was a young child like 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, my parents had gotten me a set of audio cassettes. And I would fall asleep every night listening on my little boombox, you know, in the late 80s to the classic golden age of radio.
And so these were pre television comedy shows. Jack Betty, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Amos ‘n’ Andy, Abbott and Costello. So they had incredible uses of voice because they had to, right? It’s radio.
And so, you know, they, brought in props and made sounds that emulated like they were on a street corner in New York, yet they're in, you know, a phone booth sized, you know, recording studio. And I fell in love with language and communication at that age.”
Other comedy shoutouts
In the science world
David Attenborough
In the political world
Former President Obama
Book reccos?
Persuasion, Social influence and Compliance gaining - John Seiter, Robert Gass
Influence: Science and Practice - Robert Cialdini
Nudge - Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
Rumors: Uses, Interpretations and Images - Jean-Noel Kapferer
Dream presentation venue?
Maybe a major American monument like the Lincoln Memorial
Walkout song?
Where to find and follow Dr. Christopher?
PowerPoint? Google Slides? Canva?
“To me, they’re all poison.”
Dr. Steven Franconeri is a leading speaker and teacher on data storytelling, a professor at Northwestern University and the Founder of Becise - a platform helping people transform their data into compelling narratives.
(Steven ALSO just so happens to be one of our guest speakers of our first-ever Story Camp—an annual presentation thinking skills summit that you should definitely check out next year.)
Steven joins the pod to discuss why we should take PowerPoint more seriously, his consulting experience, how decks differ dependent on audiences and how to avoid the curse of expertise in data storytelling.
With his professorial experience and research, Steven has seen validation after validation wherein data and debate presented with stories always resonate better than those without.
This is an episode for: data viz nerds, the family “debater” and storytellers of all kinds.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Where to find Steven and his work:
Follow Becise
Check out his newest creation, Point Taken Game—A writing-based conversation game that turns heated topics into moments of reflection, connection, and clarity
Steven’s walkout song?
“Something electronic and melodic like house or funk”
Parting shots for Presentation Nation?
Jimi Gibson is the VP of brand communication at Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, TEDx speaker and also, a magician (amazing combo, right?).
After starting a career in magic as a young kid receiving Merlin’s Mail-Order Magic, Jimi was introduced to marketing through an advertising agency. He realized the structure of a magic trick is not unlike a successful marketing message and Voila—his Magic Script framework was born.
Molly and Jimi sit down to discuss his journey through magic, marketing, brand storytelling, preparing and presenting a TEDx talk and how to be a more confident speaker.
And of course, there is a magic trick!! (Tune in at minute 13:45).
This is an episode for: marketers of all kinds, anyone in brand comms and magic enthusiasts (or skeptics).
Fave speakers, marketers or magicians that Jimi is inspired by?
Books and resources for presenting and storytelling?
Matthew Dicks - won many Moth Grand Slams
TED Talks by Chris Anderson
Watch Jimi’s TEDx Talk
Favorite childhood books?
Peter Pan
Ideal venue and walkout song?
Venue: A classic Vaudeville theater
Song: Yello - Oh Yeah
Where to find and follow Jimi
If you’ve ever had to stare at a data set and wonder how to make meaning of it, this is for you.
Ben Wellington is a teacher, researcher and the creator of a little blog called “I Quant NY”.
With the release of NYC Open Data, there were hundreds of data sets newly available to the public for anyone to view and use. To learn data mapping tools and combine his interest in urban planning, Ben started mapping quintessential Big Apple experiences like parking tickets, bike accidents and where New Yorkers hail cabs.
In his TED Talk, Making data mean more through storytelling, Ben interrogated what it was about his data “stories” that caught the attention of publications as well as the Metro Transit Authority. His conclusion? Not unlike his passion for improv—good storytelling.
Though this TED talk is a decade old, building a good data story takes the same elements today. The tools may look different but relating to people, keeping it simple and making an impact are still part of the data viz picture.
This is an episode for: Data viz nerds, people that hate data but have to work with it and New Yorkers.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch the TED Talk for yourself
Create your own NYC data story!
NYC open data - there’s even a Central Park squirrel census
Where to find more of Ben’s work
Dream Venue?
Molly says Times Square (probably not though lol)
Walkout song?
You’re Invited…to Presentation Party Time!
Presentation Party Time is a deep-dive type episode dedicated to a specific project so that we can understand the inception, development and execution of the presentation process.
For this episode, it’s a sales deck GhostRanch worked on with Scott Hull + Associates—an artist agency helping get creatives hired. And in an age of GenAI, this is a super interesting and complex space to tell a story.
Scott joins Mikey, along with copywriter Colin Dullaghan who worked on the story, to discuss the skeleton, the story mining and the creation of the deck’s look and feel (with the help of talented illustrator, Penelope Dullaghan).
AI is here to stay but does generic art kill brand credibility? What’s unique about human storytelling and how we can work with AI as creatives?
This is an episode for: creatives, storytellers and anyone that builds decks with (or without) AI.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Learn more about Scott’s work on his site
Team PowerPoint or Google Slides?
Scott - I would say PowerPoint but it’s dependant on who I have supporting me
Colin - PowerPoint
Walkout songs?