Tagline: How to give a presentation with passion, persuasion, and impact. Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. Unfortunately all too often audiences leave feeling like they ve wasted their time or somehow missed the point completely.

Foreword Dan Post xvi Introduction xviii 1 Why Resonate? 1 Persuasion Is Powerful 2 Resonance Causes Change 4 Change Is Healthy 6 Presentations Are Boring 8 The Bland Leading the Bland 10 People Are Interesting 12 Facts Alone Fall Short 14 Stories Convey Meaning 16 You Are Not the Hero 18 The Audience Is the Hero 20 Resonance Rule #1 23 2 Lessons From Myths and Movies 25 Incorporate Story 26 Drama Is Everything 28 Story Templates Create Structure 30 The Hero’s Journey Structure 32 Crossing the Threshold 34 The Contour of Communication 36 The Beginning and Call to Adventure 38 The Middle: Contrast 40 Call to Action 42 The End 44 What Is a Sparkline? 46 Case Study: Benjamin Zander 48 Zander’s Sparkline 50 Resonance Rule #2 53 3 Get To Know The Hero 55 How Do You Resonate with These Folks? 56 Segment the Audience 58 Case Study: Ronald Reagan 60 Meet the Hero 64 Meet the Mentor 66 Create Common Ground 68 Communicate from the Overlap 70 Resonance Rule #3 73 4 Define The Journey 75 Preparing for the Audience’s Journey 76 The Big Idea 78 Plan the Audience’s Journey 80 Tools for Mapping a Journey 82 Acknowledge the Risk 84 Address Resistance 86 Make the Reward Worth It 88 Case Study: General Electric 90 Resonance Rule #4 95 5 Create Meaningful Content 97 Everything and the Kitchen Sink 98 More Than Just Facts 100 Don’t Be So Cerebral 103 Contrast Creates Contour 104 Transform Ideas Into Meaning 107 Recall Stories 108 Turn Information Into Stories 110 Case Study: Cisco Systems 112 Move from Data to Meaning 117 Murder Your Darlings 118 From Ideas to Messages 120 Resonance Rule #5 123 6 Structure Reveals Insights 125 Establish Structure 126 Make Sense 128 Case Study: Richard Feynman 130 Feynman’s Sparkline 132 Order Messages for Impact 134 Create Emotional Contrast 136 Contrast the Delivery 138 Putting Your Story on the Silver Screen 140 Process Recap 142 Resonance Rule #6 145 7 Deliver Something They’ll Always Remember 147 Create a S.T.A.R. Moment 148 Case Study: Michael Pollan 151 Repeatable Sound Bites 152 Evocative Visuals 154 Case Study: Pastor John Ortberg 156 Ortberg’s Sparkline 158 Case Study: Rauch Foundation 160 Case Study: Steve Jobs 163 Jobs’s Sparkline 164 Resonance Rule #7 167 8 There’s Always Room To Improve 169 Amplify the Signal, Minimize the Noise 170 Give a Positive First Impression 172 Hop Down from Your Tower 174 Value Brevity 176 Wean Yourself from the Slides 178 Balance Emotion 180 Host a Screening with Honest Critics 182 Case Study: Markus Covert, PhD 184 Case Study: Leonard Bernstein 187 Resonance Rule #8 191 9 Change Your World 193 Changing the World Is Hard 194 Use Presentations to Help Change the World 196 Don’t Use Presentations for Evil 199 Enron’s Presentations During Implosion 200 Gain Competitive Advantage 202 Case Study: Martin Luther King Jr. 204 King’s Sparkline 206 Case Study: Martha Graham 210 Be Transparent So People See Your Idea 214 You Can Transform Your World 216 Inspiration Is Everywhere 221 Case Study: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 222 Sonata Sparkline 224 Case Study: Alfred Hitchcock 226 Case Study: E. E. Cummings 228 Resonance Rule #9 233 References 234 Picture Credits 237 Index 239 Special Thanks 248

By leveraging techniques normally reserved for cinema and literature, Resonate reveals how to transform any presentation into an engaging journey. You will discover how to understand your audience, create persuasive content, and elicit a groundswell response. With Resonate, you'll be able to: Leverage the hidden story structures inherent in great communicationConnect with your audience empatheticallyCreate captivating contentCraft ideas that get repeatedInspire enthusiasm and support for your vision "Finally! Someone has incorporated the power of story into presentations!" —Damon Lindelof, Co-creator of LOST "To write a book about effective and inspiring communication is a challenge because it has to demonstrate what it advocates. Nancy Duarte has certainly done that. Compelling. Convincing. Utterly practical. This is a gem!" —Patrick Lencioni, President, The Table Group Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team "Few things excite me more than a great communicator—something I've wanted to be ever since I ran for president of the seventh grade. While I think I've come a long way on that journey, I never fully understood what it takes to be a world-class communicator until I read Nancy Duarte's Resonate. Read this book, absorb this book, practice what it preaches, and you'll be on your way to being a great communicator. Thanks, Nancy." —Ken Blanchard, Co-author of The One Minute Manager, Recipient of Golden Gavel Award