How can you use design storytelling and presentation to stay ahead of the curve?

1 Know your audience

Before you start designing your story and your presentation, you need to understand who you are talking to, what they care about, and what they expect from you. You need to tailor your message and your tone to suit your audience's needs, goals, and preferences. For example, if you are presenting to a client, you might want to focus on how your design solves their problem, meets their requirements, and delivers value. If you are presenting to a peer group, you might want to highlight your design process, your inspiration, and your challenges.

2 Define your purpose

Once you know your audience, you need to define your purpose. What are you trying to achieve with your story and your presentation? What do you want your audience to think, feel, or do after listening to you? Your purpose should guide your content, your structure, and your delivery. For example, if you are trying to inform your audience, you might want to provide clear and relevant information, use a logical and coherent structure, and use a confident and authoritative delivery. If you are trying to inspire your audience, you might want to use emotional and vivid language, use a dramatic and suspenseful structure, and use a passionate and expressive delivery.

3 Craft your story

Now that you have your audience and your purpose, you can start crafting your story. Your story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning should hook your audience's attention, introduce your main characters and conflict, and set the context. The middle should develop your plot, show your design journey, and build the tension. The end should resolve your conflict, show your design outcome, and call your audience to action. Your story should also have a theme, a message, or a lesson that connects your design to your audience's values and emotions.

4 Design your presentation

Your presentation is the visual and verbal representation of your story. You need to design your presentation to support and enhance your story, not to distract or overwhelm it. You need to use design principles such as contrast, alignment, hierarchy, balance, and harmony to create a clear and attractive layout. You need to use design elements such as color, typography, imagery, icons, and graphs to convey meaning and emotion. You need to use design techniques such as animation, transitions, sound, and video to create interest and engagement.

5 Practice your delivery

Your delivery is the final and most important part of your design storytelling and presentation. You need to practice your delivery to ensure that you are confident, fluent, and natural. You need to use your voice, your body language, and your eye contact to communicate with your audience. You need to use your tone, your pace, and your pauses to emphasize your key points. You need to use your gestures, your facial expressions, and your movements to express your personality and passion.

6 Get feedback and improve

Your design storytelling and presentation are never finished. You need to get feedback and improve your skills constantly. You need to seek feedback from different sources, such as your peers, your mentors, your clients, and your audience. You need to ask for specific, constructive, and actionable feedback that can help you improve your content, your design, and your delivery. You need to apply the feedback, make changes, and test your results. You need to keep learning, experimenting, and growing as a designer and a storyteller.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?