slide:ology

slide:ology

by Nancy Duarte
Released August 2008
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596522346

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Book description

No matter where you are on the organizational ladder, the odds are high that you've delivered a high-stakes presentation to your peers, your boss, your customers, or the general public. Presentation software is one of the few tools that requires professionals to think visually on an almost daily basis. But unlike verbal skills, effective visual expression is not easy, natural, or actively taught in schools or business training programs. slide:ology fills that void.

Written by Nancy Duarte, President and CEO of Duarte Design, the firm that created the presentation for Al Gore's Oscar-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, this book is full of practical approaches to visual story development that can be applied by anyone. The book combines conceptual thinking and inspirational design, with insightful case studies from the world's leading brands. With slide:ology you'll learn to:

  • Connect with specific audiences
  • Turn ideas into informative graphics
  • Use sketching and diagramming techniques effectively
  • Create graphics that enable audiences to process information easily
  • Develop truly influential presentations
  • Utilize presentation technology to your advantage

Millions of presentations and billions of slides have been produced -- and most of them miss the mark. slide:ology will challenge your traditional approach to creating slides by teaching you how to be a visual thinker. And it will help your career by creating momentum for your cause.

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Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Foreword
  3. Brief History of Visual Aids
  4. Introduction
  5. Chapter 1. Creating a New Slide Ideology
    1. Don’t Commit Career Suislide
    2. A Case for Presentations
    3. So Where Do You Begin?
    4. Case Study: Mark Templeton Communication Pays Off
    5. The Presentation Ecosystem
    6. World Class Presentations Require Time and Focus
    7. Responding to Audience Needs
    8. How Do You Define Your Audience?
    9. Case Study: Rick Justice Creating Great Presence
    10. Case Study: ZS Associates An Incentive to Communicate Clearly
  6. Chapter 2. Creating Ideas, Not Slides
    1. Finding Your Inspiration
    2. Innovating with Sticky Notes
    3. Case Study: Bill McDonough Sketching Live
    4. Sketching Your Way to Success
    5. Collaborating to Get Clarity
    6. Case Study: Mitchell Baker Using Images Worth a Thousand Words
    7. Sketching Ideas Using Diagrams
    8. Sketching Complete Ideas
  7. Chapter 3. Creating Diagrams
    1. Classifying Diagrams
    2. Abstract Concepts: Flow
    3. Abstract Concepts: Structure
    4. Abstract Concepts: Cluster
    5. Abstract Concepts: Radiate
    6. Realistic Concepts: Pictorial
    7. Realistic Concepts: Display Data
    8. Making Diagrams Work Together
    9. Strengthening the Diagram’s Concept
  8. Chapter 4. Displaying Data
    1. Following the Five Data Slide Rules
    2. Telling the Truth
    3. Getting to the Point
    4. Picking the Right Tool for the Job
    5. Highlighting What’s Important
    6. Keeping It Simple
    7. Chart Makeovers
    8. Case Study: Healthy Waters Calling to Action with Images
  9. Chapter 5. Thinking Like a Designer
    1. The Value of Design
    2. Revealing Yourself Through Design Decisions
    3. Case Study: Al Gore A Brand Makeover
    4. Designing Effective Slides
  10. Chapter 6. Arranging Elements
    1. Placement of Elements Creates Meaning
    2. Contrast: Identifying the Main Point Quickly
    3. Flow: Ordering How the Information Is Processed
    4. Hierarchy: Seeing Relationships Between Elements
    5. Unity: Sensing the Structure of Information
    6. Case Study: Adobe Controlling Elements with a Grid
    7. Proximity: Perceiving Meaning from Location
    8. Whitespace: Getting Visual Breathing Room
    9. Finding Beauty in the Design Around You
  11. Chapter 7. Using Visual Elements: Background, Color, and Text
    1. The Ingredients of a Great Slide
    2. Background
    3. Backgrounds Are a Surface for Digital Assets
    4. Traversing Flatland and Dimensions
    5. Creating a Sense of Space
    6. Determining the Light Source
    7. Color
    8. About the Color Wheel
    9. Using the Power of Color
    10. Choosing Your Colors
    11. Using Industry Color Palettes
    12. Assembling a Color Palette
    13. Case Study: BzzAgent Limiting an Energetic Palette
    14. Text
    15. Dissecting a Font
    16. How Many Words Should Be on a Slide?
    17. Typesetting
    18. Typesetting a Block of Text
    19. Obeying Gun Laws and Bullet Laws
    20. Validating Your Font Size
    21. Playing Text Animations as the Audience Enters
  12. Chapter 8. Using Visual Elements: Images
    1. Assembling an Image System
    2. Photography Establishing a Photographic Family
    3. Case Study: School District Fun with a Focus
    4. Taking Your Own Photos
    5. Illustrations Using the Personality of Lines
    6. Creating an Illustration Library
    7. Illustrating Complex Stories
    8. Stylizing Diagrams and Illustrations
    9. Case Study: Dr. Mike Magee Home Is Where Our Health Is
    10. Case Study: Incorporating Video Presentation as Punishment
  13. Chapter 9. Creating Movement
    1. Designing Time-Based Scenes
    2. Planning Animations
    3. Animating Serves a Purpose
    4. Taking Lessons from the Movies
    5. Making Objects Move and Change
    6. Creating Scenes, Not Slides
    7. Case Study: Guerrino De Luca More Than the Sum of Its Parts
    8. Brainstorming Meaningful Metaphors
    9. Case Study: Rare All the World’s a Stage
    10. Avoiding Visual Vertigo
  14. Chapter 10. Governing with Templates
    1. Arming Your Workforce
    2. Making Template Design Decisions
    3. Case Study: Hewlett-Packard Branding as a System
    4. Experimenting with Various Looks
    5. Following Template Guidelines
    6. Building Presentations Collaboratively
  15. Chapter 11. Interacting with Slides
    1. The Power of Constraints
    2. Constraining the Text
    3. Reducing Text on a Slide
    4. Navigating Through Your Message An Interview with Bill McDonough
    5. Constraining the Length
    6. Case Study: Pecha Kucha Mapping It Out
    7. Constraining the Projector
    8. All the World’s a Stage
    9. How Many Slides? Use the 10/20/30 Rule.
    10. How Many Slides? The Sky Is the Limit.
    11. How Many Slides? Depends on the Technology.
    12. To Project or Not to Project
    13. Case Study: John Ortberg Faith and Flip Charts
    14. Small Device, Big Impact
    15. Case Study: Jill Bolte-Taylor A Stroke of Genius—Fewer Slides
    16. A Call to Relate
  16. Chapter 12. Manifesto: The Five Theses of the Power of a Presentation
    1. Treat Your Audience as King
    2. Spread Ideas and Move People
    3. Help Them See What You’re Saying
    4. Practice Design, Not Decoration
    5. Cultivate Healthy Relationships
  17. Index
    1. Numbers
    2. A
    3. B
    4. C
    5. D
    6. E
    7. F
    8. G
    9. H
    10. I
    11. J
    12. K
    13. L
    14. M
    15. N
    16. O
    17. P
    18. Q
    19. R
    20. S
    21. T
    22. U
    23. V
    24. W
    25. X
    26. Y
    27. Z

Product information

  • Title: slide:ology
  • Author(s): Nancy Duarte
  • Release date: August 2008
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596522346