Nancy Duarte

Nancy Duarte is a CEO and author of six best-selling books. For over 35 years, Duarte, Inc. has worked with the highest-performing brands and executives in the world. The insights from those engagements get transformed into training everyone can learn from. Duarte is a communication expert who has been featured in Fortune, LA Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and CNN. Nancy has spoken at American Express, Apple, Cisco, Degreed, Google, LinkedIn, McDonalds, Microsoft, Pfizer, and Qualcomm. Her TED talk has had over 3 million views. She writes for HBR, MIT-Sloan, and Forbes regularly. She has won several awards for communications, entrepreneurship, and her success as a female executive. She’s ranked #67 on the list of top 250 Women in Leadership and is the #1 Global Communication Guru. Her videos are baked into online courses at Harvard, she lectures at Stanford University, and her books are used at almost every top business school in the world. Her HBR book sold so many copies it is listed on the HBR Press Ideas with Impact List, and her work is featured in HBR’s 10 Must Reads for Business Students. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. Oh, and she has two grandsons.

Principal

Most presenters lose their audience before the first slide even appears. After studying hundreds of presentation openings, here are five that consistently work:

1. Start with a “Did you know…”
Shock them with a fascinating fact or unexpected insight. Curiosity drives engagement.

2. Use a “What if…”
Invite your audience into a possible future. This makes your idea feel like an adventure, not a lecture.

3. Share a secret.
Everyone loves insider knowledge. Phrases like “They don’t want you to know this…” spark instant intrigue.

4. Name your audience.
“This one’s for designers who…” When people hear themselves, they listen.

5. Address a struggle.
“If you’ve ever felt stuck trying to…” connects you emotionally with those who face that exact challenge.

The pattern behind all great hooks?

They promise transformation.

When people sense that something valuable, surprising, or emotional is about to unfold, they keep listening.

Don't assume your audience will listen just because you're speaking.

Use one of these five openers to earn their attention.

#PresentationSkills #BusinessStorytelling #PublicSpeaking

Nancy Duarte is CEO and author of six best-selling books. For over 30 years, Duarte, Inc. has worked with the highest performing brands and executives in the world. The insights from those engagements get transformed into training everyone can learn from. Duarte is a communication expert who has been featured in Fortune, LA Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and on CNN. Her TED talk has had over 3 million views. She writes for HBR, MIT-Sloan and Forbes on a regular basis. She has won several awards for communications, entrepreneurship, and her success as a female executive. She’s ranked #67 on the list of top 250 Women in Leadership and is the #3 Global Communication Guru. Her videos are baked into online courses at Harvard, she lectures at Stanford University and her books are used at almost every top business school in the world. Her HBR book sold so many copies it is listed on the HBR Press Ideas with Impact List. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. Oh, and she has two grandsons.

CEO at Duarte, Inc.

Sophie Smeets

You should never try to make yourself, your company, or your product look too good in your presentations. This is a classic mistake.

Because you are not the hero.

Your company is not the hero.

Your product is not the hero.

Your customer is!

Think about how this works in the movies:

Luke Skywalker faces incredible odds, but he doesn’t face them alone. He meets a mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who gives him the tools, guidance, and belief he needs to rise to the challenge.

Your product, idea, or recommendation is the tool they need, not the star of the show.

You equip your audience to succeed on their own terms. You give them the power and independence to fight their own battles and succeed.

You are the mentor, not the knight in shining armor.

Persuasion isn’t about taking credit for the win. It’s about helping your audience see themselves winning.

#BusinessStorytelling #PresentationSkills #MarketingStrategy

Most companies think they’re great at storytelling.

That is, until they look at this…

We recently created a framework called the Storytelling Maturity Scale. 

It rates your organization from 1 to 5 based on how well your teams can tell stories that grab attention and move people to action (from marketing and sales to internal communications).

Some leaders are shocked to find out they’re a 2 out of 5…

They think their teams are great at storytelling because they’ve gone through training, have an overarching brand narrative they reference, and know how important this skill is to develop.

But since “storytelling” can be so hard to measure, leadership doesn’t really know how good their teams are or in what specific areas they need to improve.

The Storytelling Maturity Scale changes that. In about 5 minutes, it scores your organization on one of five levels and shows you exactly what to fix:

Level 1 - Non-existent: Storytelling isn’t on anyone’s radar. You’re marketing features instead of outcomes, your sales calls focus on closing rather than helping, and customers feel like numbers in a quota instead of humans with problems you can solve.

Level 2 - Emerging: You know storytelling matters, but it’s inconsistent. You might have a brand narrative document somewhere, but marketing tells one version, sales tells another, and customers still can’t articulate how you actually help them.

Level 3 - Integrated: Storytelling is becoming part of how your teams work. Marketing, sales, and leadership are telling a more consistent story. Product development evaluates features based on customer outcomes, and sales conversations focus on solving problems rather than pushing specs.

Level 4 - Systemic: Storytelling is built into your processes and culture. You have a centralized story library, people across your organization actively hunt for customer stories they can use, and you’re tracking which narratives actually drive results.

Level 5 - Transformative: Your narrative has become a competitive advantage. You’re shaping how your industry thinks, and competitors have to position against your story, not just your features.

Most organizations land somewhere between a 2 and a 3. Which means there’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot of revenue is being left on the table.

Take the free assessment to figure out where your organization stands when it comes to storytelling maturity (and get specific steps you can take to improve).

Link in the comments.

#BusinessStorytelling #BrandStrategy #SalesEnablement

When you're presenting, there’s always a second conversation happening in the room.

It isn’t spoken out loud. But it shows up on people’s faces, in the way they’re sitting, and in the shifts of attention that ripple across the room.

Most presenters miss it completely because they’re too focused on their slides or their talking points.

But if you can read that second conversation while you’re speaking, you'll know exactly when to go deeper, when to clarify, and when the room is ready to move with you.

In the latest issue of Storytelling in Business, I break down three things to watch for and one phrase that will help you stay connected to your audience and adapt when it matters.

#ExecutivePresence #EmotionalIntelligence #PresentationSkills

The end of a presentation is the worst time to address your prospect’s objections. Yet this is what most people do. At Duarte, we teach a different process:

In any sales presentation, the second you make a statement or claim about your product, your prospect forms an opinion, and it’s either acceptance or an objection (usually automatically and unconsciously).

Until that objection is addressed by you, it exists as an “open loop” in their mind, distracting them from anything else that comes after.

So each unanswered objection becomes a mental roadblock, preventing your prospect from moving forward.

That means handling objections should not be a separate part of your pitch.

Instead, it’s an extension of the structure itself.

As you build out your presentation, consider the natural questions that will arise in prospects’ minds after each statement.

Then, make sure those questions are addressed as soon as possible in your following sentences.

The longer your prospects’ objections sit unanswered, the larger they grow.

By addressing them early and often, you prevent them from becoming roadblocks.

#ObjectionHandling #SalesEnablement #PresentationSkills

We’ve coached thousands of speakers on building confidence. Most of them weren’t missing natural-born ability or charisma. 

But they were missing a clear understanding of their unique perspective.

Confidence isn’t about knowing you’ll perform perfectly in a presentation.

It’s about knowing you have something valuable to offer before you ever say a word. 

So my experts started asking our clients 4 simple questions:

1. How do you see this situation differently?

Different from your peers. Your managers. Your customers. You don’t have to be loud, but you do have to know what angle is uniquely yours.

2. What experience do you have that no one else has?

No one else grew up exactly like you, worked the jobs you did, or made the mistakes you’ve made. Your path matters.

3. What’s your expertise?

Yes, you have some. If you’ve been invited to a meeting to share or someone asked you to speak on a stage, it wasn’t random. There’s a reason. Find it. Name it. Own it.

4. What part of your personality shows up when you’re at your best?

Are you warm? Funny? Analytical? Direct? Good. Bring that. Don’t leave your personality at the door. It’s part of your power.

Most people have enough confidence buried somewhere deep inside them. Crystallizing your perspective is what helps bring it out.

#PresentationSkills #ExecutivePresence #ImposterSyndrome #PublicSpeaking

Your audience is the hero of your story...not you, not your product, not your company. 

Here are three ways to obsess over your audience so your message actually sticks.

#BusinessStorytelling #AudienceEngagement #PresentationSkills

What's the difference between an average leader and a great one? 

Three communication skills that drive breakthrough results with your team...

#CommunicationSkills #LeadershipDevelopment #ProfessionalGrowth

Duarte has spent decades helping leaders present their most important ideas in high-stakes environments. The most convincing leaders all share one thing in common:

They have deep empathy for their audience.

People often talk about empathy like it’s an emotion, but in leadership, it’s more than that. 

Empathy is a sixth sense that lets you sense what others need, process it, and respond in a way that builds trust. You might think empathy is a personality trait, that you either “have it” or you don't. 

I disagree. 

Empathy has a genetic component, but it is not purely genetic. In my experience, empathy is a learnable skill that grows stronger with practice.

If you’re preparing a presentation and want to practice empathy for your audience, start with these 3 questions:

1. What pressures or priorities are driving this audience right now?
(Think about what they’re being measured on or worried about this quarter.)

2. What outcome would make them feel successful?
(What result would make them feel this presentation was worth their time?)

3. What concerns or risks might keep them from saying yes?
(What hidden fears could block their decision?)

Those questions are the input. Clarity is the output.

Empathy is how you anticipate objections before they’re voiced and craft stories that meet people where they are. 

Empathy is a repeatable process that makes people feel seen, and when people feel seen, they listen.

#Empathy #CommunicationSkills #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence

Just like Dr. Martin Luther King, many of you have a dream, a cause, and a passion too. Maybe this will inspire you to shape your ideas so your dreams can come true. #dream 
 
https://lnkd.in/e5wekvBi

I had a great conversation on today’s episode of The World Class Leaders Show with Andrea Petrone! We talked about how leaders can win with AI and what’s changing for CEOs and leaders in the AI era. I hope you enjoy the episode. #LeadingWithEmpathy #FutureOfWork
https://lnkd.in/eH8KnwKH

I’m so proud of our incredible designers who were recently featured on the Marketing Team of One podcast. Ryan Orcutt and Cameron Flett brought their brilliance to the conversation by sharing their expertise on one of the most powerful presentation principles we teach: use one idea per slide.

Their conversation is a reminder of why thoughtful design can completely change how a message is received.

Anyone who creates presentation should listen, enjoy! #slidedesign 
https://lnkd.in/giQDmeB8

Want your next presentation to be the best you’ve ever given?

Remember these 3 things (they’re just 59 words):

1. Your audience is the hero.
They’re the central figure. Your role is to guide them toward success 

2. Infuse your talk with story.
Data informs. Story moves. It gives structure, emotion, and meaning to your message.

3. Ask yourself: “Can they see what I’m saying?”
Each idea should have a clear visual moment; something your audience can grasp instantly.

Giving great presentations takes work, you’ve got this!

#BusinessStorytelling #CommunicationSkills #ExecutivePresence

Reposting this clip from a conversation I enjoyed last year with Brendan McGurgan. Hope it’s useful for anyone building, leading, or rethinking what’s next. Happy New Year everyone! #leadingwithempathy #storytellinginbusiness

Inspiring, Connecting and Enabling Ambitious Leaders of SMEs to Scale with Purpose. Co-Author of Best-Selling Book ‘Simple Scaling’ | Host of ScaleX Insider Podcast | Investor | Scale up CEO | Co-Founder | WHM Instructor

Many SME leaders treat the future like a destination they have no hand in. 

"We'll get there when we get there."

Nancy Duarte (CEO of Duarte, Inc.) creates it….having scouted it out before hand.

"As leaders, it is our job to be scouts. We live between the known and the unknown."

On ScaleX Insider, she shared the exact ritual she uses to predict the future of her company.

Every November, she disappears. No team. No email. Just a notebook. She asks two questions (based on the Book of Nehemiah):

- The Trowel (Building): What are we constructing? What is the opportunity?
- The Sword (Defending): Who is coming for us? What needs to be fixed?

She calls it "offensive building and defensive protecting."

For years, she even invented a fake competitor, a "scrappy young MBA", just to keep her team from getting complacent when they were winning.

If you are just "operating" your business, you aren't leading it. You are the park ranger in the tower. You need to be looking for smoke (danger) and looking for the sunrise (opportunity).

The future doesn't just happen to your business. You don’t build it in black and white. You build it in full colour or you defend against it.

Watch the full clip to see how she does it. 

#Leadership #Vision #Strategy

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