THE BLOG — 28 ESSAYS
Ideas that don't beg for attention.
Thinking about the ideas that make stories land — and the ones that make audiences lean in.
LATEST — Presentation Design TipsWhy the Most Memorable Presentations Have Almost Nothing on ThemEvery slide that didn't make it into the final deck made the final deck better. Subtraction is a design skill.Read the essay →THE CRAFT
Sep 2026Think Like a Filmmaker. Design Like a Director.Your deck has 22 slides. A film has 1,200 shots. Both are trying to do the same thing: get the audience to feel something at the right moment.Sep 2026Slides Don't Present Themselves. (But They Should Come Close.)If you can leave the room and your audience can understand your deck on their own — you've built a PDF, not a presentation.Sep 2026Connect the Dots to What the Organization Already BelievesThe most persuasive thing you can say in a boardroom isn't "here's a new idea." It's "here's why this was already inevitable."Aug 2026Altitude: Why the Same Story Needs Three Different DecksAn engineer, a VP, and a CEO need three different presentations — even if the core idea is identical.Aug 2026The One Question Every Slide Must Answer Before You Design ItDesigning before you know your audience is like building a set without knowing the play.Aug 2026If You Can't Say It in KPIs, You Haven't Earned the AskVague outcomes kill credibility. "Better engagement" means nothing to a CFO. Get specific or go home.Aug 2026The Rule of Three Isn't Just a Writing TrickEvery deck with seven key takeaways communicates zero. Structure is a memory device — and human memory runs on threes.Jul 2026Features Are Facts. Benefits Are Why Anyone Cares.Your product does X. So what? The slide that wins isn't the one with more specs — it's the one that answers "what does this mean for me?"Jul 2026The Business Tension Your Slides Are IgnoringEvery great presentation has a tension — a gap between where things are and where they need to go. Without it, the deck has no spine.Jul 2026Lead With the Outcome, Not the AgendaYour audience decides in the first 90 seconds whether the meeting was worth their time. Slide 1 is your entire argument, compressed.Jul 2026I Built This Website With AI. Here's What Actually Happened.A designer with no code, a dark room full of tools, and the learning curve nobody posts about — the vocabulary tax, the model maze, and what all the wasted evenings actually bought.Jul 2026Your Deck Has a Story Problem (Not a Design Problem)Most presentations fail upstream of the design. Story architecture comes first, always — design is the last mile, not the foundation.Nov 2025Breaking Projects into Scenes, Not StepsWhy people remember stories, not checklists.Nov 2025Designing for Others vs. Designing from the GutHow to lead clients past "safe" into transformative work.Nov 2025Embracing Storytelling as LeadershipHow leaders move people with narrative, not checklists.Nov 2025Learning to Speak in ImagesGrowing up with photographer parents taught me that images speak faster than words.Nov 2025The Art of Presentation as PersuasionDecks aren't slideshows — they're decisions in disguise.Nov 2025The Real ROI of Presentation Design for StartupsA well-designed deck is the fastest path from pitch to funding.
FIELD NOTES — the personal strand
Reinvention, ADHD as a creative asset, and honest notes for fellow travelers. The person behind the pixels.
Mar 2026How Being Neuro-Divergent Makes Me a Better Visual StorytellerPattern recognition as an ADHD superpower.Mar 2026What "Success" Looks Like When It's Not YoursThe danger of hitting all the wrong targets and why borrowed trophies don't count.Nov 2025Big Picture Vision, Tiny Picture DoubtsHow fear paralyzes, and how micro-steps unlock courage.Nov 2025Chaos as Raw MaterialWhy ADHD thrives in disorder and how to make chaos fuel clarity.Nov 2025Permission Slips for ReinventionStop waiting for diplomas, managers, or permission — write your own slip.Nov 2025Reinvention After BreakdownHow collapse became the doorway to creativity and truth.Nov 2025The Day I Fired My "Inner Impostor Boss"How ADHD magnifies impostor syndrome and what it takes to shut it down.Nov 2025The Discipline of CareWhy empathy and care are the ultimate creative edge.Nov 2025The First Time I Saw My Life as a Design BriefA pain au chocolat as metaphor for life design: messy, intentional, and creative.