Story-Driven Presentations, Nerdiness, and the Desire to Always Be Learning

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

One of my childhood dreams* was to become a children’s book illustrator. Now an adult, I’ve channeled my love of colorful drawings, bold lines, good stories, and the whimsical into the illustrated presentations that I put together for MarketingProfs.

So, when I saw Kapost‘s senior content director Jesse Noyes describe my illustrated presentations as having a “child-like interest in even the most nerdy topics,” I felt like my presentations really are conveying what I’ve been hoping they would: a hunger for learning, child-like (not childish) enthusiasm, and a love of nerdy topics (because Goonies never say die).

If you want to hear more about creating story-driven presentations and balancing text and visuals, check out the interview at Kapost.

* My other childhood dreams included becoming a novelist and time-traveling to marry Ludwig van Beethoven. I’m working on the first dream and ended up marrying a Graham, not Ludwig.

Happy Tolkien Reading Day

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

If ever you needed a reason to read (or re-read) The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by author J.R.R. Tolkien, today’s the day.  In 2003, The Tolkien Society (a group dedicated to the works of Tolkien) launched its own celebration: Tolkien Reading Day and the celebration now occurs every year.

Find out a little more about the author and his works in this very short excerpt from an archival BBC film. It’s an interesting peek at the man behind the astoundingly rich novels…

A longer documentary about Tolkien, narrated by Judi Dench:

What Makes Your Heart Beat? [Video]

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

Darling Magazine put together the following almost-two-minute film for Valentine’s Day, but the video can be appreciated all year through. If you need a gentle reminder to focus on what really matters, what gives Life its richness—far more than a bank account stat, the number on your scale, your Klout score—the following video is a delightful nudge…

What I like so much about this film—besides its visual beauty and narration—is the quiet sweetness and simplicity of the piece. I use “simplicity” not to mean “simple-minded” but as in focused and clear.

That spirit of beauty, simplicity, and intelligence is one reason that Darling Magazine has become a favorite read for me (and why I contributed an article). If you’ve some time, pour yourself a cup of something nourishing and sweet then enjoy some time reading through the site.

Five Must-Read Romantic Classics for Valentine’s Day

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

mermaid-readingRomantic love is far too complex to be covered in a two-hour movie, so on this Valentine’s Day, instead of hunkering down in front of the big screen (or the little one), we recommend curling up in your favorite chair and immersing yourself in a classic novel highlighting the joy, complexities and heartbreak of a romantic relationship.

Read the rest of my article at Darling Magazine..

Valentines for Bookworms [Downloadable Literary Valentines]

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

Imagine receiving a little note or valentine from Edgar Allan Poe, Flannery O’Connor, Jane Austen, or Daphne DuMaurier. What would it say?

I created six note-card size illustrations of some of my favorite authors with a twist of Valentine fun based on their famous works. (For example, Edgar Allan Poe’s valentine says, “Be still my tell-tale heart!”) I call them valentines for bookworms.

printable literary valentines for your favorite bookworm

printable literary valentines for your favorite bookworm

The literary mini note cards are now available in my Etsy shop for just $3. (For a little more than a latte, you get an original, whimsical piece of art. Sounds good!) Here’s a peek at what the mini note cards look like. Note: The watermark doesn’t appear on the PDF I send you.

The set features:

  • Edgar Allan Poe (“The Tell-Tale Heart”)
  • Flannery O’Connor (“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”)
  • E.B. White (“Charlotte’s Web”)
  • Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice”)
  • George Orwell (“1984″)
  • Charlotte Bronte (“Jane Eyre”)
  • Ernest Hemingway (“A Farewell to Arms”)
  • Daphne DuMaurier (“Rebecca”)

For just $3, you get this PDF to make as many personal copies as you wish. Print them out on card stock to use them for Valentine’s Day, note cards, gift tags, etc.

Valentines for Marketers [Slideshow]

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Late one night, I remembered how I had been unable to send out Christmas cards, so I had promised my marketing friend Courtney Bosch that I’d make her a Valentine’s Day card instead. Then I thought, “If only stores had valentines for marketers!”

Aha!

By the morning, I had a sketchpad with wording and concepts for the look of the following marketing valentines. After a couple of meetings with my colleague Corey O’Loughlin and a graphic designer, we had downloadable Valentines for Marketers from MarketingProfs.

Feel free to download the slides and hand them out to your co-workers and marketing friends. If you’re on Facebook, you may prefer sharing the images via our Valentines for Marketers album. (Note: This presentation made the Featured Presentations page for SlideShare!)

How to Make a Presentation That People Actually Want to See [Slideshow]

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masters-of-slideshare

Presentation slides once evoked the images of disconnected overdone slides that either made your eyes bleed from too much going-ons or made them close from sheer boredom. But one look at the presentation slides on SlideShare, the world’s largest community for sharing presentations, shows you that presentation slides can be an engaging, fun, and gorgeous communication tool.

Proving that point, Kapost recently published this fantastic slide show of tips from SlideShare enthusiasts—such as Jonathon Colman of Facebook, and Doug Kessler of Velocity Partners, and Michael Brenner of SAP—who make creative and entertaining slideshows.

(Disclosure: I’m in the presentation… and blown away to be among such amazing people.)

What strikes me as the most important aspect of the slideshow is its emphasis on the readers. The advice was not about how to best pitch your company or how to show off your assets… but the advice focused on what readers want in a slideshow (such as readability, quick info, crisp images), how to best honor the readers’ time (such as in giving them a reason to look at your presentation), and how to make information beautiful for them via captivating images and ideas.

Your presentation should honor the time that a reader has given you. Even if you only receive a glance, make sure the glance makes the time worthwhile to the viewer. Think I’m exaggerating? Remember when you were in high school and had a huge crush on someone. Can you recall how much work you put into your clothes, your hair, your fragrance, everything when you knew you’d have a .0000001% chance of seeing your crush that day?

You made the most of the time given to you—even if just a split-second look. And you packed that moment with all you had to transform that cursory glance into a conversation and  eventually a relationship.

The same is true with your time on SlideShare. No one owes your presentation a look. Unfortunately, myriad slideshows forget that very fact. The slapped-together-eye-killing-text-overkill slides tell the reader, “I’m complicated. I’m self-absorbed. And I don’t care a fig about you.”

Avoid making presentations that lack heart. Instead, find out how to capture longer, interested looks by checking out Jesse Noye’s post at Kapost and the SlideShare Masters presentation.

How to Inspire Customers to Love Your Company [Visual Sketchnotes]

Veronica Jarski Leave a comment

What inspires great love for a company? According to Loveworks author Brian Sheehan, the following eight traits have the power to draw your customers into a deeper relationship with your company.

While I listened to the podcast, I took notes of the eight traits he mentioned and drew illustrations for each one.

Here’s the slideshow based on his Marketing Smarts podcast interview with host Kerry Gorgone.

Updated on Jan. 25, 2014: This illustrated slideshow hit the Today’s Top SlideShares spot. Hooray!

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