Presentation Summit 2022: Conversation with Nolan Haims

    Nolan Haims has decades of experience designing visual communications for the largest brands and organizations. He trains organizations to communicate more visually and create compelling stories with data. Nolan speaks at national conferences, writes extensively on visual storytelling, and is one of the co-hosts of the long-running Presentation Podcast. As one of only 15 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the U.S., he regularly advises the PowerPoint development team on the industry standard software. He is the author of The Better Deck Deck and runs his own design consultancy in Montclair, NJ.

In this conversation, Nolan talks about his participation at the upcoming Presentation Summit 2022, being held on location in San Diego, CA, and virtually this year from October 9 to 12, 2022.

Indezine.com is the official media partner for the Presentation Summit.

Geetesh: Nolan, you are leading the Business Roundtable on Sunday, and doing three sessions: Charts that Wow, Remote Control, and No More Bullets! Tell us briefly about the roundtable and these sessions, and what will be participant takeaways?

Nolan: The late-night informal Business Roundtable is one of my favorite events to host, and I encourage everyone to attend. For those who are not familiar with it, we all gather somewhere in an unused ballroom or lobby, pull up chairs and couches, and have a very frank and open discussion about the actual business of presentation design. No topic is off-limits as we discuss pricing, contracts, client management, and anything anybody wants to know and share with others. You don’t have to be a freelancer or owner of a small or large agency to contribute and learn from others. I know I always walk away with so much from this session.

Charts That Wow will explore how to use PowerPoint (and Excel) to create presentation-worthy, but non-standard charts such as bullet graphs, proportional shapes, slope graphs, and much more. No More Bullets! covers perhaps my favorite topic of how to design slides without bullet points and will give attendees a peek inside my own design process when confronted with a wall of bullets. Lastly, Remote Control, a session I haven’t given before, will go over the hardware, software, and workflows I use when presenting and training remotely—things I like to think I’ve refined fairly well over the last couple of years.

Geetesh: The Presentation Summit is 20 years old this year. Please share some of your experiences at this Summit over the years.

Nolan: The Summit has truly been a foundational part of my career in presentation design as it has connected me with lifelong colleagues and friends. The support, learning, and friendship I’ve received and continue to receive just can’t be measured. I have so many good memories, but I’ll always remember my very first Summit where I knew nobody and yet was allowed to present a 5-minute tip on the last day which led directly to my presenting the next year and ever since.

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