Think Stories, Not Slides

Think Stories, Not Slides.
A compact guide to speaking with stories and presenting
with impact at your next talk.
Amit Kapoor
stories.amitkaps.com
See the
Idea
Show the
Visual
Tell the
Story
Engage the
Audience

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Introduction
“If I am to speak ten minutes, I
need a week for preparation; if
fifteen minutes, three days; if half
an hour, two days; if an hour, I am
ready now”
― Woodrow Wilson
Crafting a talk that engages, inspires and
connects with the audience requires time
and effort. Plan for it. Here is a short guide
to do so, in four sections ― See the Idea,
Show the Visual, Tell the Story, and
Engage the Audience. Read this guide and
then start working on your talk.
See the
Idea
Show the
Visual
Tell the
Story
Engage the
Audience

View Slide

Idea &
Meaning
Gardener &
Sculptor
Viewpoints &
Perspectives
Patterns &
Structure
Contrast &
Amplify
Subtract &
Simplify
Observe &
Learn
Talking &
Writing
See the Idea

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Idea &
Meaning
Define the one big idea that holds your
talk. The big idea is probably not the latest
tool or technique, but how and why of
what you did. Use it as an anchor to build
your talk. The idea should hold meaning
for the audience. Answer why they should
care about it? Show them what’s at stake
and then they may engage with your talk.
A mind that is stretched to a new
idea never returns to its original
dimensions.
― Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Gardener &
Sculptor
Start by being a gardner. Sow a hundred
idea seeds out there. Help them take roots.
Some may sprout but others will die. Then
be a sculptor. Look at all these ideas as a
lump of clay. Start to sculpt it. Remove
what is not making sense. Add back what
does. Then you will have a sculpture. Start
divergent & playful, and then be
convergent & focussed.
I never came upon any of my
discoveries through the process of
rational thinking.
― Albert Einstein

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Viewpoints &
Perspectives
Have a viewpoint. Don’t be rigid about it,
but it needs to exist. Use the talk as way of
build the connection and logic towards it.
Most ideas are second hand. What makes
them original is when you add your unique
perspective to it. A viewpoint allows the
audience to engage with it. They may agree
or disagree, but it will definitely make
them think.
The right attitude for learning and
creativity is to argue as if you are
right and listen as if you are
wrong, which strikes me as the
right path for developing “strong
opinions, weakly held”.
― Adapted from Karl Weick

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Patterns &
Structure
Scaffold a structure that you can hang your
ideas on. The audience needs a way to
understand how these ideas connect. Make
it easy for them to follow. Repeat the
structure through the talk and guide their
attention. If you don’t provide an explicit
pattern for them to follow, they will form
their own implicit one and probably a
different one.
Humans are pattern-seeking
storytelling animals, and we are
quite adept at telling stories about
patterns, whether they exist or not.
― Michael Shermer

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Contrast &
Amplify
We are attracted to contrasts - day and
night, past and future, speed and
endurance, or value and quality. Create
tension by using two contrasting ideas and
then resolve the tension to help amplify
the message. The audience can engage on
either sides and then go forward with an
understanding of both sides
The test of a first-rate intelligence
is the ability to hold two opposing
ideas in mind at the same time and
still retain the ability to function.
― F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Subtract &
Simplify
Try to simplify the idea and focus on the
main message. Remove the unnecessary
details and detours that happened in your
journey. Edit and see if there is a simple
perspective to share. Addition is mostly
mindless, but subtraction can be mindful.
When there is nothing more to subtract,
you may have something good to talk.
It seems that perfection is attained
not when there is nothing more to
add, but when there is nothing
more to remove.
― Antoine de Saint Exupéry

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Observe &
Learn
Start to look at the talks and presentations
around you. Recognise the patterns in the
ones that work. The stories, the
metaphors, the tools, the style - just
observe and be aware of them. Don’t copy
them, but internalize them. Soon they will
emerge out in your own unique way in
your talks.
To develop a complete mind, study
the science of art, the art of science.
Learn how to see. Realize that
everything connects to everything
else.
― Leonardo da Vinci

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Talking &
Writing
Talk, don’t only think. Talking helps you
see the rough edges in your ideas. There is
no better mirror for your thoughts than
your voice. Then write it down. Writing
adds distance between the ideal in your
head and what may actually work. Put the
first draft on paper as soon as possible, as
rough as needed. Then you can start fixing
it.
The time to begin writing an
article is when you have finished it
to your satisfaction. By that time
you begin to clearly and logically
perceive what it is you really want
to say.
― Mark Twain

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Coherence &
Space
Metaphors &
Models
Words &
Pictures
Graphics &
Diagrams
Simple & Focus
Framing &
Transitions
Colors &
Motions
Substance &
Style
Show the Visual

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Coherence
& Space
Choose a coherent and simple visual style
throughout your slides. Think like a
designer. Understand the basic principles
of subtraction, contrast, repetition,
alignment, proximity, and enclosure. Use
the visual space wisely. Don’t be afraid of
white space. Start to love it. Less is more
and big is better for showing slides in a
large auditorium.
Every [pixel] on a graphic requires
a reason. And nearly always that
reason should be that the [pixel]
presents new information.
― Adapted from Edward Tufte

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Metaphors
& Models
A visual metaphor describes the idea by
providing a point of comparison. Use
metaphors as a lens through which you
can get the audience to resonate with your
ideas and experiences. Models are evolved
and codified metaphors which can help
provide graphical structure to your ideas.
Use them to show different views of the
idea.
Metaphors have a way of holding
the most truth in the least space.
― Orson Scott Card

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Words &
Pictures
Don’t use dense text and endless bullet
points on your slides. Slides are not notes
for you to speak from, but cues for the
audience to follow your talk. Remember,
they can read faster than you can talk.
Make every word count. Think if you can
use a picture to support your idea instead.
The right picture can convey the idea
easily and compactly.
Use a picture. It's worth a
thousand words.
― Arthur Brisbane
● abcdefg...
● hijklmno...
● pqrstuvw...
● xy012345...
● 67891011...

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Graphics &
Diagrams
Ensure the graphics tells a visual story.
The graphics engages the visual sense, and
compliments the story, which hits the
aural senses. Nearly all bullet lists can be
converted to diagrams. Diagrams are
visual representation that can help clarify
hierarchy and relationships and make it
easy to understand process and concepts.
Makes some diagrams.
Never invest in any idea you can’t
illustrate with a crayon.
― Peter Lynch

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Simple &
Focus
Sketch your ideas before you start making
slides. Ensure you have only one idea per
slide. Choose the slides wisely. Design a
focussed template for each type of slide:
walk-in, title, section, quote, big-word,
diagram. data-chart, image, video,
walk-out. Think of hierarchy, flow,
contrast, and unity of design within the
slide. Make it simple and easy to follow.
That's been one of my mantras -
focus and simplicity. Simple can be
harder than complex: You have to
work hard to get your thinking
clean to make it simple. But it's
worth it in the end because once
you get there, you can move
mountains.
― Steve Jobs

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Framing &
Transition
Everything you put on the slide is what you
are biasing attention towards. Think like a
cinematographer. What do you put in each
frame and what do you leave out. Choose
what you focus in the frame carefully.
Then as you transition between frames, see
that you are able to hold the cognitive
thread together. Don’t lose the audience in
the transition.
The main task for the author of
visual narrative is to capture and
control what the audience is
looking at, and hence attending to,
from moment to moment.
― Colin Ware

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Colours &
Motion
Use colour to label, to measure, to
represent or imitate reality and to enliven
& decorate. Choose a colour palette, not
random colors. Select colours found in
nature, as they are familiar and coherent.
Play with saturation & lightness. Add
motion and animation to your slides, but
with care. We are sensitive to motion,
especially at the periphery of our vision.
… even putting a good color in a
good place is a complex manner.
Indeed so difficult and subtle that
avoiding catastrophe becomes the
first principle in bringing color to
information: Above all, do no
harm.
― Edward Tufte

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Substance
& Style
Use readable large text. Simple and
pleasing graphics. Easy to understand
diagrams. No flying animation or fancy 3D
effects. No jazzy transitions. Use
multimedia, but ensures it integrates well.
It is not paramount that the visual style is
memorable. What is important is that the
substance of the message is memorable for
the audience.
Form follows function - that has
been misunderstood. Form and
function should be one, joined in a
spiritual union.
― Frank Lloyd Wright
...
…
...
...

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Stories &
Journeys
Teller &
Listener
Structure &
Narrative
Context &
Messaging
Rhythm &
Flow
Imagery &
Emotions
Silence &
Pause
Finish &
Rehearse
Tell the Story

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Stories &
Journeys
Think stories, not slides. Try to think in
prose, not in bullet points. Stories have
characters, arcs, and emotions. Add them
to your story. Think about your whole
journey, and not only the final outcomes,
and you will probably have a good story to
tell. Try to get the audience to experience
and participate in that journey.
Stories are powerful because they
transport us into other people's
worlds and in doing that the
change the way our brains work
and potentially change our brain
chemistry - And that's what it
means to be a social creature.
― Paul J. Zak

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Teller &
Listener
Understand the storytelling triangle
between the teller, the listener and the
story. The key link is what the listener will
eventually have with the story. You can
only prepare, offer, suggest, guide this
relationship in all humility. If the listener
eventually can Retain, Recall and Retell,
even a part of the story - you would have
built this bond successfully.
Storytelling reveals meaning
without committing the error of
defining it.
― Hannah Arendt

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Structure &
Narrative
Effective stories have a broad three-part
narrative structure. A beginning, where
you establish the problem (setup). A
middle, where you elaborate the problem
(conflict, struggle). And an end, where you
resolve the problem (resolution). Build the
spine of your story in these three parts.
Once you have this structure, you can start
to extend it.
We experience life as a series of
ongoing narratives. As conflicts,
characters, beginnings, middles
and ends.
― Dr. Walter Fischer

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Context &
Messaging
Set up the context that the audience can
relate to it. Provide them with a way to
understand and get familiar with the story.
Ensure there is a balance between the
verbal and the visual messaging. Don’t
repeat by your telling, what the audience
can read. Instead create something they
will remember like a shocking stats or an
evocative anecdote.
Writers use narratives to select
from everything there is, and make
contexts by putting the pieces into
relation; that’s what writers do,
they make contexts.
― Paul Shepheard

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Imagery &
Emotions
Persuading the audience to a new
perspective requires appealing not only to
the logic (logos) but also to the emotion
(pathos). Try to balance the analytical and
the emotional part of your message.
Personal stories can help enhance the
emotional texture of your talk and help in
this transfer of imagery from you to the
audience.
Stories teach, model, unite and
motivate by transporting
audiences emotionally.
― Peter Gruber
`

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Rhythm &
Flow
Oral language allows you to use varying
emphasis, speed, repetition to enliven the
story. Repetition especially can help to
reinforce information and can contribute
to the rhythm and the tempo. Practice
story improv and tell the whole or part of
the story in 3 - 6 sentences. It will help you
to understand the flow and find your
rhythm.
Rhythm. Life is full of it; words
should have it, too. But you have to
train your ear. Listen to the waves
on a quiet night; you’ll pick up the
cadence. Look at the patterns the
wind makes in dry sand and you’ll
see how syllables in a sentence
should fall.
― Arthur Gordon

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Silence &
Pause
Silence is to story, what white-space is to
visuals. Don’t run through your story at
hundred miles per hour. Build in pauses
and breaks within your telling. It allows
the story to breathe and lets the audience
catch up to where you are. Their
imagination and imagery will work better,
if they have the time in between to use it.
Dare to pause! The courage to stop
the flow of words is an act of trust
in the power of your presence,
your non verbal communication
and your relationship to your
listener.
― Doug Lipman

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Finish &
Rehearse
Finish the story. It will not be perfect, but
stories only get better as you keep telling
them. But do rehearse. Don’t let making
the perfect story come in the way of the
rehearsal. Speak it aloud, get feedback,
practice in person, on stage or on camera.
The story will take its own life after that.
And it will flow out with ease on the dais
eventually.
What it boils down to is one
percent inspiration and
ninety-nine percent perspiration.
― Thomas Edison

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Passion &
Emotion
Being &
Becoming
Audience &
Focus
Voice &
Body
Preparation &
Technology
Interactivity &
Dialogue
Questions &
Answers
Social &
Relationships
Engage the Audience

View Slide

Passion &
Emotion
Believe in your story. Nothing bores the
audience more than an half interested
speaker. Bring your passion and emotion
to play in the story. Use the stage. Look at
the audience, not the slides. Make eye
contact with them. Show them that you
belong there and you have something
interesting to tell.
Your intellect may be confused, but
your emotions will never lie to you.
― Roger Ebert

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Being &
Becoming
Don’t aim to come across as only smart
and articulate, but as open and sincere.
People are then more likely to trust you
and your ideas. Remember, the more
human the action, the more human the
response. Don’t try to be the next Hans
Rosling or Ken Robinson. You are not
them. The audience wants to get to know
you. Be yourself. Be real. Be authentic.
Always be a first-rate version of
yourself, instead of a second-rate
version of somebody else.
― Judy Garland

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Audience &
Focus
Put the audience first. Never believe that
your are the audience. And what is
interesting to you, may not be that
interesting to everyone else. Focus on what
will engage the audience. Surprise them
and show them something intriguing.
Engage them in a way that they will take
away something from the talk.
To make our communications
more effective, we need to shift our
thinking from "What information
do I need to convey?" to "What
questions do I want my audience
to ask?”
― Chip Heath

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Preparation &
Technology
Technology is liable to fail at the last
possible hurdle. Prepare for it. Test that
your slides work on the conference
projector. Bring any connectors you need.
Bring backups on a usb drive. Test the
audio and play the videos ahead of time.
Ensure you can continue without wifi or
3G connection. Record your demos, just in
case.
We are stuck with technology
when what we really want is just
stuff that works.
― Douglas Adam
`

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Voice &
Body
Understand your voice ― pitch, tone,
volume, rhythm and use variations of them
appropriately. Try to keep the uh’s and
um’s in check. Speak naturally as you
would in a conversation. Make eye contact
with the audience. Project emotion with
your face. Have an open body posture. Use
gestures appropriately and connect them
with the content.
There are four ways, and only four
ways, in which we have contact
with the world. We are evaluated
and classified by these four
contacts: what we do, how we
look, what we say, and how we say
it.
― Dale Carnegie

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Interactivity
& Dialogue
Make the talk interactive, if you can. Find
ways to engage the audience through the
talk. It could be questions, instant polls or
reactions, simple activities that the
audience can do or just options on an
interactive charts. Prepare for them well. If
the talk is not a lecture but a dialogue,
then the audience is more engaged and
you are likely to learn from it.
A speaker should approach his
preparation not by what he wants
to say, but by what he wants to
learn.
― Todd Stocker

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Question &
Answer
Plan for audience Q&A and reduce your
own talk time as needed. Keep it at the end
or manage it between sections of your talk.
Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
Listen carefully and empathetically and
then answer. Admit when you don’t know
the answer. Don’t just walk off the stage.
End the Q&A with a short recap of your
main message.
So once you do know what the
question actually is, you'll know
what the answer means.
― Douglas Adams
? i

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Social &
Relationships
Be social. Be accessible and engage with
the audience even after your talk is
finished. Take questions. Share slide deck
and additional material with the audience.
Engage on social media after the session.
Get honest reaction and feedback. The talk
is the first step in persuading the audience
and building a long-term relationships
with them.
Saying hello doesn’t have an ROI.
It is about building relationships.
― Gary Vaynerchuk

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Stories
Talk
Interactive
Talk
Demo
Talk
Process
Talk
Narrative
Talk
Conceptual
Talk
Visual
Talk
Perfomance
Talk
Talk Types

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Stories
Talk
"On the Building of A
PostgreSQL Cluster"
by Srihari Sriraman
Talk link: YouTube video,
slides
Watch out for how Srihari weaves together
four long stories and four short stories
through his talk. He takes a complicated
technical topic and makes it relatable
through the stories. Each story in itself is a
narrative journey through the problem,
the quickfix, the root cause, the correct fix
and the lesson learnt. A great example of
how stories can help connect.

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Interactive
Talk
“Exponential Growth Model”
by Ashok Banerjee
Talk link: YouTube video
Watch out for how Ashok integrates the
Q&A with his session. He uses the lens of
exponential growth as the narrative tool to
anchor the entire session. And his style
was very professorial but in a good way.
He carries the audience through with his
Q&A approach baked into the talk,
ensuring a high level of engagement and
conversation.

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Demo
Talk
“Visualising Text”
by S Anand
Watch out for the nice narrative arc –
starting with Anand’s personal journey
into text visualization to beginners viz to
advanced viz. The content is engaging and
the contexts are setup nicely. Also
presented in a personal style with humour.
There is a bit too much switching between
screens but for a demo style talk it can
work, if paced well.

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Process
Talk
"A Billion Snapshots -
Principles and Processes in the
Census of India"
by Varsha Joshi
Watch out for how Varsha unpacks the
entire principles and process of census
using a simple narrative. The slides are
kept basic and limited to one idea per
slide. The text size is large and highlighted
with font size. Large graphics are used to
illustrate key issues and challenges in the
process. The overall tone is very
conversational and pleasing.

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Narrative
Talk
“What happens with Firefox
Crashes”
by Erik Rose
Talk link: Vimeo video
Watch out for how Erik builds a three part
narrative. Starts with the big picture to
answer why this is important. Then uses a
singular anchor visual - the process
diagram (with zooming and focus) to guide
us through a complex system stack that is
used. And then ends the talk with big
patterns - teasing out the generic learnings
for big data users.

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Conceptual
Talk
"Co-occurrence Analytics: A
versatile framework for
finding interesting needles in
crazy haystacks!"
by Shailesh Kumar
Talk link: Vimeo video
Watch out for how Shailesh takes one
conceptual approach and applies it across
multiple domains to give different
perspectives. The use of the metaphors like
needles, haystack and common
terminology across examples anchors the
audience understanding. The verbal
rhythm is strong in carrying the message
across along with humor and wit

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Visual
Talk
"Visualising
Multi-Dimensional Data"
by Amit Kapoor
Talk link: Youtube video,
slides
Watch out for how Amit gives a talk which
is focussed on ‘show, not tell’. He builds up
the concepts gradually from small to wide
data and then uses a singular anchor
dataset to illustrate all the concepts. It
definitely helps that the talk is about
visualisation, but the consistent design
helps in communicating the message
visually and vibrantly.

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Performance
Talk
"Learning Djembe Visually
with p5.js"
by Amit Kapoor and Ashok
Kumar
Talk link: YouTube video,
website
Watch out for how Amit and Ashok
coordinate to give a talk with live music
and live visualisation. With this many
moving parts technologically, it is
important to prepare well and use a tool
that provides a seamless presentation.
Also, it is critical to have good timing and
communication between the two people on
stage. Listening for cues is important.

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On Speaking by Brad
Frost
No need to Kill it by
Christian Heilmann
Speaking Tips by
Mark Boulton
Public Speaking by
Zach Holman
Killer Presentation by
Chris Anderson
Public Speaking by
Robin Hawkes
Invited to speak by
Lea Verou
Conference Speaking
Tips by Dave Addey
Thoughts on the Web

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Think Stories, Not Slides.
A compact guide to speaking with stories and presenting
with impact at your next talk.
Amit Kapoor
stories.amitkaps.com
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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Think Stories, Not Slides

Think Stories, Not Slides

Amit Kapoor

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