Design Basics, a University of Texas at Dallas course, covers unity here.  The course defines unity this way: “In design, unity describes the feeling that all the elements in a work belong together and make up a coherent and harmonious whole. When a work of art has unity, we feel that any change would diminish its quality” (Source).  Similarly, in slide:ology, Nancy Duarte defines unity as “sensing the structure of information” (Source).  I like to think of unity as the common string that runs through a slideshow; that string links the first slide to the last.

Duarte says you can achieve unity in many ways including an overall structure (such as a grid); a theme; or a look or style (Source). Similarly, Design Basics at UTD explains that unity can be created by using repetition, proximity, and continuation.  Repetition occurs when an “element repeats itself in various parts of the design to relate parts to each other,” and proximity is about making “separate elements look as if they belong together” (Source).  Lastly, continuation creates unity because “continuity in the form of a line, an edge, or a direction from one form to another creates a fluid connection among compositional parts” (Source).

Here is one example using Duarte’s idea of “overall structure” as a part of unity:

In the image above, I used a grid to explain the three main parts of “connecting” with an audience, the first way Garr Reynolds explains delivery in The Naked Presenter.  I use a series of grids in my Delivery Workshop, and I keep returning to them to ensure the audience is on track and focused.  The grid is familiar for them.  I explain the grid above in greater detail here, and you can see a more detailed example of how I use grids throughout the Delivery Workshop slideshow.

People like unity because it makes a presentation easy.  Because of that common thread running through each slide in the presentation, the audience gets it.  The material is easier to understand because it is easier to visually process.

Templates are a form of unity.  However, premade templates in Keynote and PowerPoint suck.  Please do not ever use a template again.  As I’ve said time and time again, start with a plain black or a plain white slide – no text boxes, no headings, no picture placeholders.  Start with a blank slate so that you can truly think like a designer.  Templates are a form of unity for those who don’t know what they’re doing.  Learn more about why you should avoid premade templates here.

Instead, create your own unique template with its own unity unlike any other presentation.

Above is an example of my new visual resume.  The unity comes from many features.  First, I went with a unified color palette: black, white, and pink.  Additionally, the presentation is unified by the use of only black and white photography, 99% of which include vintage images.  Lastly, shapes are repeated to create unity.  On each slide, you will notice two large circles – one outlined by the other.  You won’t find unity like this in Keynote or PowerPoint.  You have to do it yourself, and the only way is to think like a designer.  You can pull inspiration from everywhere, just as I pulled my color scheme inspiration from Kate Spade’s website for Spring 2012.

What kind of unity have you designed in your own presentations lately?

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Since I first heard “thought leader,” I’ve been studying many definitions to come up with a more clear understanding of the term.  Mark Fidelman gives that definition in a language I can understand, and he does it with Mad Men style!

Fidelman is a businessman and thinker who operates Seek Omega, a site about social business strategy.  His 3-part strategy to being a thought leader include: 1) developing really, really creative content; 2) developing an emotional connection with an audience; and 3) sharing that content and that connection through appropriate channels.  I love that Fidelman’s idea of being a thought-leader is 100% audience-centered.  For example, even developing strong content is about asking what customers want (see slide 14).

Audience analysis is essential in presenting any information.  Nancy Duarte suggests using an Audience Needs Map before creating content to ensure your content will connect.  If you’re interested in being a thought-leader, this is a must-have tool!

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Download and use your own copy of Duarte’s Audience Needs Map here.

What suggestions would you add for being a thought-leader?

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Nancy Duarte explains that “language and power are inextricably linked,” and I think this is so important in a world where very few people present well.  If you are a strong presenter, you have the power to change minds.  If your public speaking skills are powerful, you can interest and engage people.  You could talk about anything from Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion to a ham sandwich!

At work this afternoon, I overheard a few teachers talking about their students’ poor presentations.  Why are those presentations so poor?  I believe it is because so many of our instructors don’t lead by example.  If an instructor is merely lecturing, the students are going to disengage because the material doesn’t matter to them.  If students aren’t paying attention, they’re not going to learn, and if they don’t learn, they can’t apply.  Our job as instructors is to engage students, and lecture doesn’t work.

It all boils down to Duarte’s purpose: presentations that include storytelling allow audiences to be informed and entertained the same time.  We learn through story.  When teaching a class, how often are we just reciting data?  How often do we tell a story to reinforce our purpose?  More importantly, how often are we asking our students to participate and tell their own stories?  How much discussion is taking place in your classroom?  How much active participation?  How much Facebooking?

If you’re teaching public speaking and presentation, engagement becomes even more important.  We can’t ask our students to create and present superstar presentations if our own classes involve dull, boring, lecture.  What can we do to lead by example?

Duarte explains that a moving presentation follows a sparkline weaving “what is” and “what could be.”  Teachers, do your lectures follow this structure?  If not, you must rethink your approach to your own presentations, as you aren’t putting your audience’s needs first.  Here is Duarte’s sparkline:

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You’ll have to purchase Nancy Duarte’s resonate in order to fully understand her sparkline, but she provides some amazing resources on her website: http://blog.duarte.com/.

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I stumbled across an amazing article called “Five Types of Social Media Influencers.”  While the Klout’x matrix covers 12 different types of influencers, Lisa Barone narrows these down to 5:

• “The networker (Social Butterfly): one who has the biggest contact list and found on all platforms. He or she who knows everybody and everybody knows him or her.
• The opinion leader (Thought Leader): one who can become the best ambassador of a brand. He or she has built a strong authority in his or her field by based on credibility. Their messages are most often commented on and retweeted.
• The discoverer (Trendsetter): one who is always the first to use a new platform.  Constantly on the lookout for new trends, they become the “hub” in the sector.
• The sharer (Reporter): one who distributes information to the bloggers to journalists through the specialized webzines. He or she usually amplify messages.
• The user (Everyday Customer): one that represents the regular customer. He or she does not have a network as large as the networker, but his or her network remains equally important” (Source).

Which of Klout’s influencers do you most identify with?  Which of Barone’s five influencers do you feel is most like you?

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In this interview, Seth Godin talks about the end of the industrial age, an end to the putting your head down, doing what your told, going to work and being an average worker mentality.  I love his idea that people who are “average” doing “average work” are going to be replaced; it really gives me hope that all the innovative, dynamic people who really work hard will be rewarded somehow.

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I definitely need to step it up and revise mine immediately!  Learn more about Michelle Magoffin here.  This woman deserves the job of her dreams.

Also, it’s important to get your visual resume out using multiple websites.  For example, Business Insider wrote about the 7 cool resumes they found on Pintrest.

Part I of Everyone Communicates, Few Connect was called Connecting Principles and covered the elements of effective communication.  Chapters that I liked discussed charisma, choosing the right words, and energy.

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First, I like that Maxwell by way of Wetzel takes a stand on charisma.  The text explains that charisma is indeed developed – not innate – and I firmly believe this as explained in my series on charisma.  Everyone Communicates, Few Connect supports the idea that charisma isn’t about personality or some pizazz only special people are born with.  Instead, charisma is achieved when communication is perfectly successful: the presenter is energetic, passionate, and truly focused on his or her audience.  If you apply the concepts Garr Reynolds suggests in The Naked Presenter, you will have a charismatic presentation.

Second, a quote by Mark Twain really struck me as important, especially when creating content in a presentation.  Twain says, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug.”  Choosing the right words is such an important skill for speechwriters, and I think we can learn a lot from Twain in this area.  Consider Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  In this interview with NPR, Clarence Jones, one of MLK’s speechwriters, discusses the Dream speech.  Jones explains at 20:00 in the interview that Dr. King had an entire speech written on August 28, 1963, but when an audience member called on him to “Tell them about the dream, Martin,” he pushed back his notes and began speaking extemporaneously from the heart.  Jones describes that moment as “lighting in a bottle,” and, as Twain suggests, Dr. King’s decision to push back his notes and give an impromptu speech was all the difference between the right word and the almost-right word.

Third, I loved the idea of the “Four Unpardonable Sins of a Communicator.”  Maxwell explains that when he was in school, he took a speech class where his professor explained the “ ‘Four Unpardonable Sins of a Communicator’: being unprepared, uncommitted, uninteresting, or uncomfortable” (Source).  Learn more about these four unpardonable sins here.

Fourth, Part II of the book about Connecting Practices really speaks to audience analysis in order to connect.  Learn more about audience analysis from Nancy Duarte here.  Part II also emphasizes simplicity.  This concept was explored in Made to Stick, and you can read my review here.

What did you think about Everyone Communicates, Few Connect ?  Are you as disappointed as I am to learn that Maxwell doesn’t write any of his books?

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Indelible Branding shows off their marketing prowess with this gorgeous deck featured on Slideshare.  I love the effective use of text and color.  This slideshow proves that effective presentation design isn’t about eliminating all text on a slide; it’s about thinking like a designer when using a combination of images and words to effectively communicate a message.  Think about it… Advertisements aren’t exclusively images.  Text is placed purposefully and meaningfully.  Text becomes visual itself when considering font, size, weight, color, and placement.  Text ISN’T in a bulleted list in the “Industrial” template in Keynote, and text isn’t a speaker’s notes thrown up on a slide in paragraph format.

What great slideshows have you seen on Slideshare lately?

In addition to being creative, superteachers are passionate about learning.  Yes, this is the most overused, cliched phrase in an educator’s vocabulary.  Still, it’s true.  Superteachers show their passion for learning because they are constantly learning themselves.  They always have a book in their hands and an idea to improve their classes.  A superteacher knows his or her job is to learn.  In this way, a superteacher never gets bored or stagnant with class because lessons are constantly developing, changing, and improving.  A superteacher is excited about learning and about sharing knowledge with others to increase learning exponentially.

In “Developing and Fostering a Passion for Learning and Engagement,” passion is defined as interest, attainment value, flow, and a focus on mastering learning (Source). This scholarly paper suggested that “schools are not structured to foster passion for learning” (Source).  This rings true and not only disturbs me, but also makes me wonder why we have an education system in place if it doesn’t even meet the minimum requirement: making students excited about learning.

It all comes back to the teacher as the presenter, the vessel of information.  Students aren’t excited about learning because the instructor isn’t excited about teaching.  John C. Maxwell’s Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What The Most Effective People Do Differently is a study on communicating ideas effectively.  His Chapter 4 is titled “Connecting Always Requires Energy,” and he’s right.  For teachers to effectively convey a message to their students, they must put in authentic energy and passion.  The students will only get out of the lesson what the teacher puts in.

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I get it: teachers are burned out.  After a long, eight-hour day of helping over a hundred students, the energy drains, and the passion fizzles.  Professional development should be a time to recharge, learn new things, and become excited about teaching again.  Professional development should be a space where brainstorming and sharing ideas occur so teachers can refocus, renew, and reengage.

Because Professional Development is typically the opposite of an exciting, idea-sharing forum, teachers should do something each afternoon to recharge.  For example, at the end of the day, I need to exercise.  A three-mile run, some yoga, or an hour of dancing at Zumba may be all it takes to get you refocused and ready to show your energy or passion again the next day.  Often, and often after exercise, I need a few minutes of alone time reading or writing.  Whatever you do, make certain it’s constructive.  Sitting in front of the television and mindlessly watching terrible reality TV is not the ticket.  You must put the time in to take care of yourself so that you can nurture your passion. Why?

Because students need you to be passionate about teaching your subject in order for them to be passionate about learning that subject.  The essence of leadership is passion.  Harvard Business School’s Jonathan Byrnes says that there are “eight essential characteristics” of a strong leader (Source).  The first, of course, is passion.  Byrnes writes, “First and foremost, you need a burning drive to make things better” (Source).  So as a thought-leader and teacher, your job is to keep that passion alive for your subject to best serve your students.

Teachers: how do you recharge to ensure you keep the passion alive for your subject?