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.
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?
Mikey’s Resource Roundup: AI for presentations, Better comms for managers & a Brad Pitt throwback.
In this short n sweet episode, Mikey clues us in to the Presentation Thinking beat with an article he just read, a course he just took and—naturally—one of his favorite movie clips of all time.
This is a Spice Cabinet-esque episode that’s chock-full of goodies on how AI can best help to create powerful presentations, professional education greatness from West Kao and a throwback movie clip on the importance of the process via 1992’s favorite Brad Pitt film, A River Runs Through It.
“In order to be clear in our communication or clear in our writing, you must be clear in your thinking.” —Wes Kao
This is an episode for: anyone that designs presentations, folks looking to integrate AI, managers looking to improve comms and 90s films fans.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Article by Nancy Duarte
Follow Nancy Duarte for more
Course that I just took
Wes Kao’s Executive Communication and Influence for Senior ICs and Managers
Check out more of Wes Kao’s work here
One of Mikey’s favorite movie clips
You know the scene where Norman gets his paper edited further and further down to a quarter of its original length by his dad? Mikey says: “ To me, it highlights that importance of process and skill and craft and brevity, you know, and clarity. This stuff doesn't just happen.”
Want to improve your storytelling skills on a holistic level?
Hayley Langsdorf is an artist that uses Sharpies to illustrate big ideas from board rooms and beyond. She is a self-described “live scribe” for events, meetings and conferences.
Hayley’s 2019 TED Talk, “Drawing out our collective intelligence", draws out—literally—the power of the pen. As humans, we’re all moved by story; and when visuals are added, it’s extra memorable.
Even simple figures and shapes—doodles during meetings to help illustrate what was talked about can create a more powerful record than a list of bullets.
Hayley’s talk reminds us that simple visual storytelling can help support day-to-day communications. She argues that drawing out ideas to get on the same page could help reduce over-used jargon, excess emails and even combat stifling office environments.
Business communicators, consider this your cue to get the colored pack of Sharpies.
This is an episode for: doodlers, communicators of all kinds and self described “non creatives”.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch Hayley’s talk for yourself:
Find more of Hayley’s work
This TED talk reminded us of…
The “Marketoonist” extraordinaire, Tom Fishburne - author of Your Ad Ignored Here
Tim Pollard’s work- author of The Compelling Communicator
Wes Kao’s work on keeping people engaged
Hayley’s dream talk (according to us)
Venue? - Something hosted by Bic or Micron or Sharpie??
Walkout song? Beautiful World by Colin Hay
If you are interested in presentation design, you might already know Mike Parkinson—founder of Billion Dollar Graphics, speaker, trainer and self-described “visualization and graphics geek”.
Mike joins Mikey to chat about how he got into such a niche business, his “M&M” approach, visual storytelling through data and, of course, how AI is shaping the design landscape.
In Mike’s realization that AI isn’t going anywhere and his feeling that designers should embrace that fact, he’s developed 3 truths around this:
Designers or creatives who embrace AI will thrive
AI might always be part of the process—but it won’t be the product
As designers, we want to be able to learn to use the right tool the right way. Use your tools accordingly!
This is an episode for: designers of all kinds, data viz nerds and anyone curious how to work with AI, rather than against it.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Where to find Mike’s work:
He may or may not be working on a new book…stay tuned!
Rapid fire round:
Google Slides or PowerPoint: [no hesitation] PowerPoint!!!
Fave color? Blue - apparently the most universally appealing color
Dream presentation place? Croatia
Go-to walkout song?
After exploring WHAT Visual Storytelling is with Creative Director Allie Wilson in Episode #166, we thought it’d be useful to establish exactly HOW to achieve successful Visual Storytelling. What are the “rules” to implement in each of your slides?
In this episode, Molly sources data directly from presentation designers of GhostRanch to inform several clear “rules” for visual storytelling—keeping ONE idea per slide, establishing a clear hierarchy of information, being intentional with content and keeping your style consistent. While these may seem like simple concepts, breaking out of the typical Header + Bullets style can go a long way.
In our continuous journey for Presentation Excellence, we talk about avoiding the dreaded “Death by PowerPoint” a lot. By establishing these clear parameters, Molly also gives context and a 2025 update to that constant corporate phrase.
This is an episode for: non-designers, visual storytellers and anyone that creates presentations.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch David JP Phillips’ OG TED Talk:
Listen to Mikey and Molly discuss it in Episode #67
Want to dig into DEFINING what Visual Storytelling is?
Queue up Episode #166 with Creative Director Allie Wilson
Need help establishing the type of slide you’re working with to get started?
Prezent has a great blog - “10 powerful visual storytelling examples for successful presentations”
Want to improve your storytelling skills on a holistic level?
Join us at Story Camp July 23-24 in Park City, Utah!
We finally got around to talking about who some refer to as the “father of storytelling”—and the 3 Act Structure—the one and only Aristotle.
In this “Book Club”-esque episode, Mikey and Molly read “Poetics”—an exploration of genre and the elements that make a great story all that it is.
Film buffs and students of storytelling have been examining it for years and we’re here to make our own Presentation Thinking connections.
From the “tragic beats” in a plot, to character arc, to the “cherry on top” that is song and spectacle—Aristotle’s early mappings of storytelling still resonate strongly today.
This is an episode for: film buffs, story nerds and Aristotle fan-girls.
What's in the Spice Cabinet?
Read Aristotle's “Poetics” for yourself. Note that quotes and experience will vary slightly depending on the translation you read
Buy the book (from a local bookstore!)
Some helpful extras summarizing “Poetics”
How did we get into this again?
Aristotle’s rules of storytelling come highly recommended by award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin his Masterclass
Want to improve your storytelling skills?
Join us at Story Camp July 23-24 in Park City, Utah!
Aristotle’s walkout song?
Social scientist Christopher Cummings takes the TED stage with his talk “The dark magic of communication: how we manipulate others” to show us that communication is like magic—and magic can be used for good or evil. (Dun dun dunnnnnn!)
What kind of “dark magic” could we be talking about? As a social scientist and health/risk communicator, part of Christopher’s job is assessing risk and just how dangerous or risky something actually is. We all know there’s a difference between perceived risk and actual risk but how does that get determined?
Christopher walks us through synesthetic ideation, the risk algorithm, how ‘affect’ and ‘fear’ both play a role in communicating risk and why it’s important to be critical of headlines and overly hyped media.
Mikey and Molly have seen their fair share of neuroscience-backed communication TED Talks but this was a fun (and important) new spin.
This is an episode for: neuroscience nerds (Christopher makes it digestible!!), journalists and communicators or presenters that relay important or sensitive information.
What’s in the Spice Cabinet?
Watch Christopher Cummings’ 2017 TED Talk
Who did Christopher remind us of?
(What we think) Christopher’s walkout song is?
Have a fave TED Talk we haven’t talked about yet? Send it our way!
molly@ghostranch.com
B2B folks everywhere:
You’ve probably heard of “visual storytelling” and how important it can be for your brand and for your presentations.
However, like many a buzzword, we’ve seen the phrase thrown around so much, we fear its true meaning is often confused with a focus on style, rather than substance. Visual storytelling goes beyond decoration, embellishment and off-brand AI imagery. True visual storytelling helps marketers achieve clarity in their communications—it helps to bring the core of our messages to life with meaning and memorability.
To join us in this Visual Storytelling deep dive, we invited Creative Director of GhostRanch Communications, Allie Wilson, to unpack its definition, how it works, why it matters now and the immense value of investing in it at all.
Because Allie presented on the same subject at the PMA Summit in NYC in March, we also get into her own Visual Storytelling methods, design red flags and how she put together her presentation.
This is an episode for: brand strategists, graphic designers and anyone that has to put together presentations.
