Shows / Presentation Thinking
Presentation Thinking
Mikey and Molly have been beckoned by the gods to become legendary storytellers — a call impossible to refuse. Join our heroes as they dive deep down the rabbit hole, documenting their findings as they scour all industries and disciplines in search of outside insights, inside outlooks, and, well, anything and everything there is to know about the making (and delivery) of better presentations. This is Presentation Thinking™ Brought to you by www.GhostRanch.com — b2b marketers' partners in…
Episodes
Presentation ThinkingPresentation Thinking: The next chapter
Like all the great stories of our time, Presentation Thinking must also have an ending. Almost four years and 223 episodes ago, Mikey and Molly set out to…
Presentation Thinking#222. Keynote speaker and story collector Jay Baer
Professional keynote speaker, author, and tequila enthusiast Jay Baer joins Mikey to talk about his non-traditional path into public speaking and what he’s…
Presentation Thinking#221. How to measure GTM messaging
When it comes to messaging, every marketer is familiar with the following concepts: alignment, adoption, and performance. But just how well your messaging gets…
Presentation Thinking#220. World-building on a walking tour
We might say that Kara Zeiberg is a tour de force…of giving historical walking tours on Boston’s Freedom Trail! Have you ever considered how much…
Presentation Thinking#219. Nolan Haims wants your presentation to pack a punch
As a co-host of The Presentation Podcast, one of the original inspirations for starting our own pod, Nolan Haims is like a “Founding Father” to us. The…
Presentation Thinking#218. What’s the shape of “The Odyssey”?
When Christopher Nolan released his latest film, “The Odyssey”, this summer, there was much discourse (too much?) about its historical accuracy, its casting…
Presentation Thinking#217. Montana von Fliss moves millions by finding her “one”
Montana von Fliss is a master of distillation. From identifying a singular persona (AKA the “one”) that your talk will reach to honing your “secret sentence”…
Presentation Thinking#216. Story Camp ‘26 is almost here. Join the mountain magic.
You’re invited!! WHO: You! Marketers! Comms leaders! C-suiters! Sales powerhouses! PMMs! Anyone feeling like an “accidental” speaker coach! WHEN: November…
Presentation Thinking#215. How do museums present their stories?
If you’ve ever felt transported to a different world or time period in a museum, that’s a sign of good exhibition design and curation working together. After…
Presentation Thinking#214. How to speak and stand out at a conference—no matter the environment
Last month, GhostRanch CEO Allie Wilson and Founder Mikey Mioduski spoke together at the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo outside of Denver, Colorado—and had a…
Presentation Thinking#213. Presentation Book Club: The Science of Storytelling
Many have written about the shape of stories, archetypes, what stories do to the brain. But none have connected all these puzzle pieces in such a coherent and…
Presentation Thinking#212. Steve Jobs Introduces the iPod 2001—and changes music forever
Continuing our journey in analyzing every Steve Jobs keynote ever given, Mikey and Molly re-visit the talk that would change the way we consume music…
Presentation Thinking#211. Andrea Pacini is a Timeless Presenter—and you can be too
When you hear the phrase “timeless presenter”, you might think of MLK, Steve Jobs, Oprah... For us at Presentation Thinking, we’re adding Andrea Pacini to that…
Presentation Thinking#210. TED Talkin’ with Montana Von Fliss: Stand out with a “silent sentence”
Montana Von Fliss exudes confidence…even if she’s not actually feeling confident. How? Like any good actress and executive speaker coach, she’s got a secret…
Presentation Thinking#209. The virtual presentation help book you’ve been waiting for
Rick Altman has been around PowerPoint since its inception. As an early adapter of graphics and publishing software and later the founder of the Presentation…
Presentation Thinking#208. TED Talkin’: Angus Fletcher on the power of plot twists
Angus Fletcher is the ultimate Presentation Thinker. Currently the Professor of Story Science at Ohio State University’s “Project Narrative”, the world’s…
Presentation Thinking#207. The big value of short films
While the biggest Oscar buzz is reserved for flashy celebs and viral moments, a category usually overshadowed by those little golden statues is “Best Animated…
Presentation Thinking#206. How to inspire students at your Alma Mater
What type of presentation podcast would we be if we didn’t discuss the actual presentations that we gave?? We’ve been tracking Mikey’s Road to the TED Talk…
Presentation Thinking#205. Harnessing humor with hilarious copywriter, Lianna Patch
World’s funniest conversion copywriter Lianna Patch and founder of Punchline Copy joins Presentation Thinking (again!) to revisit our conversation from the…
Presentation Thinking#204. Book Club: Save the Cat! (Part 2)
“What can screenwriting teach us about presentations?” That’s the question Mikey and Molly continue to answer in Part 2 of their Book Club style episodes on…
Presentation Thinking#203. Book Club: Save the Cat! (Part 1)
If you’ve ever been in a film studies class, you might’ve heard of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! billed as one of the ultimate guides to screenwriting. As…
Presentation Thinking#202. Tell an SKO story with Kaitlyn Hines
As SKO (Sales Kickoff) season falls behind us in the calendar year, GhostRanch reflects on the amazing opportunities provided to us by clients to support their…
Presentation Thinking#201. TED Talkin’: How framing is used in the science of storytelling
Dr. Nat Kendall-Taylor is a psychological anthropologist—meaning, he studies the way that culture influences how we think. One such concept in his field of…
Presentation Thinking#200. Transform your presentation into a performance with Carmen Sederino
Carmen Sederino is here to help you figure out what to do with your hands onstage. Carmen may have been a shy kid, but through theater and performing she grew…
Presentation Thinking#199. Storytelling, going stale and Super Bowl commercials
It’s that time of year—where brands spend a big chunk of their advertising budget for 30 seconds of your attention during the biggest game of the year: the…
Presentation Thinking#198. Study shows: debate training increases confidence
If you were part of the debate club in school, chances are you might be more confident or have stronger leadership skills than the average person. Corporate…
Presentation Thinking#197. Studying every Steve Jobs keynote ever: Damage Control at MacWorld (1997)
We’re on a mission to watch every Steve Jobs keynote ever and we’re deep down the rabbit hole now. To understand the context of this talk at MacWorld in 1997…
Presentation Thinking#196. TED Talkin’: Why Sir Ken Robinson has the most-viewed TED ever
It’s clear why Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED Talk is THE most popular TED Talk of all time. The author, researcher and coach posits an ultimate question, “Do…
Presentation Thinking#195. “Some Guy From the Crew” Part 3: Budgeting & building a team
Cameron Magee, Founder of the avad3 event production company, returns for the final installment of our “Some Guy from the Crew” trilogy peeling the curtain…
Presentation Thinking#194. Planning & Presenting for an Offsite
During the first week of December 2025, GhostRanch Communications hosted its 10 year anniversary offsite retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico! In honor of turning a…
Presentation Thinking#193. 2025 Wrapped: B2B & storytelling trends
End of the year means a look back at the 12 months and many more episodes that made up the Presentation Thinking pod in 2025. Mikey and Molly peel back the…
Presentation Thinking#192. Steve Jobs (2015) film: A story told in product launches
The 2015 film Steve Jobs is the perfect overlap of three key areas of interest for Presentation Thinking: Steve Jobs’ life and presentation skills Aaron…
Presentation Thinking#191. Filmmaker Gerard Clarke on creating visual stories worth telling (and selling)
Gerard Clarke is going to be your next favorite filmmaker. As a director and creator based in Atlanta, Gerard has been involved in a countless variety of…
Presentation Thinking#190. Unlock the unknown of your product (and customer) with PMM Langley Barth
PMM, Navy vet and overall cool guy Langley Barth joins the pod after Mikey and him connected at a Product Marketing Alliance summit in San Francisco (shoutout…
Presentation Thinking#189. PrezThanking 2025: What we’re thankful for (and how it can help you too)
Our third annual installment of “PrezThanking” brings you a Spice Cabinet brimming with presentation resources, tech tips, people to follow and highlights from…
Presentation Thinking#188. “Some Guy From the Crew” Part 2: Live events with Cameron Magee
Our previous episode (#186) with Cameron Magee covered the importance of rehearsals and the lead-up to an event or conference. This time, we’re talking about…
Presentation Thinking#187. Studying every Steve Jobs keynote ever: Introducing iMac (1998)
Mikey and Molly might be the first-ever students of storytelling to embark on a curious journey of studying every talk and keynote that Steve Jobs has ever…
Presentation Thinking#186. “Some Guy From the Crew” Part 1: The importance of rehearsals with Cameron Magee
Cameron Magee knows the ins and outs of an event’s backstage area. Having led his production and AV company, avad3, for almost 15 years, they’ve produced over…
Presentation Thinking#185. TED Talkin’: Sugata Mitra’s quietly powerful challenge to education norms
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…
Presentation Thinking#184. Presentation Book Club: Ivan Wanis Ruiz is re-writing the rulebook
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…
Presentation Thinking#183. Founder Krislam Chin’s creative approach to teaching creative work
Founder of Hello World Studio and Professor of Graphic Design at Mt. San Antonio College in California, Krislam runs their graphic design program, inspiring…
Presentation Thinking#182. TED Talkin’: Listen up! Sound researcher Julian Treasure teaches us how to be heard.
Listen up! Julian Treasure is a communication expert and sound researcher, interested in harnessing the power of voice and sound for speakers, listeners and…
Presentation Thinking#181. What can music videos teach us about visual storytelling?
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?…
Presentation Thinking#180. Ivan Wanis Ruiz is here to revolutionize your public speaking
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…
Presentation Thinking#179. The power of visual storytelling with “Chief Doodler” Hayley Langsdorf
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…
Presentation Thinking#178. Building Story Camp: a retreat for presentation development and nostalgic camp joy
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…
Presentation Thinking#177. Dr. Christopher Cummings on the high stakes (and universal value) of risk communication
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…
Presentation Thinking#176. Dr. Steven Franconeri tells data stories—and you can too
Dr. Steven Franconeri is a leading speaker and teacher on data storytelling, a professor at Northwestern University and the Founder of Becise - a platform…
Presentation Thinking#175. Making marketing magic with Jimi Gibson
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…
Presentation Thinking#174. TED Talkin’: Ben Wellington’s NYC data story
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…
Presentation Thinking#173. Presentation Party Time: Scott Hull and the importance of human-made stories
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…
Presentation Thinking#172. Mikey's Resource Roundup: May 2025
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#171. TED Talkin’: Hayley Langsdorf on the power of doodling during meetings
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…
Presentation Thinking#170. 3 truths about AI and design with expert Mike Parkinson
If you are interested in presentation design, you might already know Mike Parkinson—founder of Billion Dollar Graphics, speaker, trainer and self-described…
Presentation Thinking#169. Establishing “rules” of Visual Storytelling to avoid Death by PowerPoint
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…
Presentation Thinking#168. Aristotle’s “Poetics”: Presentation Thinking Book Club
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…
Presentation Thinking#167. TED Talkin’: Christopher Cummings on assessing risk and creating dark magic with communication
Social scientist Christopher Cummings takes the TED stage with his talk “The dark magic of communication: how we manipulate others” to show us that…
Presentation Thinking#166. What is Visual Storytelling? With Creative Director Allie Wilson
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…
Presentation Thinking#165. The evolution of soft skills, presentations & product management with April Thomas
experience of all varieties (we’re talking Oracle, Q2 and more). The throughline of her work? Communication is everything—and she joins the pod to share her…
Presentation Thinking#164. TED Talkin’: Will Storr’s take on the science of storytelling and everyone’s search for “Eudaemonic happiness”
At this point in our storytelling journey, Mikey and Molly have learned a lot about the “science” of storytelling and why our brains click so well with…