Posted on February 7, 2012 by Tracy Boyer Clark

Back in 2010 I posted a cool infographic by design firm Duarte. As I wrote in that post:

“I loved checking out this company because I am continually annoyed by ugly powerpoint presentations. Building a business model around enhancing business communication is brilliant. I learned these two facts in my business communication class that proves Duarte is really on to something [even more so now, knowing that these figures are dated by six years!] …

Each day, around the world, business professionals deliver an average of 30 million powerpoint presentations.

Each year, poor Powerpoint design costs American businesses in excess of $252 million.

- Via Gordon Deal, Wall Street Journal This Morning, November 14, 2006″

In my eyes, Duarte is the business communication version of MediaStorm. They solve a HUGE need in the marketplace, which is the art of effectively conveying information to your stakeholders in a visually appealing manner. This is why I thoroughly enjoyed CEO Nancy Duarte‘s TED talk that was recently posted online titled “The secret structure of great talks.”

In it, she details a framework that she champions as the “secret sauce” to presentations, which takes the user back and forth between “what is” and “what could be” until finally you end at a “new bliss.” What I found so fascinating was her analysis of Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King Jr’s speeches and how they utilize this framework.

As she mentioned, “ideas are most effectively communicated with a story.” Thus, multimedia truly isn’t only for journalists but for communicators in general, which spans each and every industry. Aren’t you glad to know that your skills are transferable??

On that note, they are hiring (five full-time and three contract positions) …

---

• ← Multimedia usage within the classroom: Four mini case studies
• Infographic: A guide to UX careers →