Weekly inspiration for enlightened leaders whose ideas matter too much to leave to slides.

Free • Arrives every Friday

New to
Life After Decks?Start here

    More about The Campfire Method →

    Every issue

      1. A Long Walk for a Shortcut Because some friction is load-bearing
      2. Presentations Are Haunted At least the ghosts mean well.
      3. A Sport With No Scoreboard What are you grading yourself against?
      4. We Brought a Fridge to a Presentation? Yep. And we got the yes.
      5. Who’s Telling Your Story in Year Ten? Are you presenting for a moment, or for momentum?
      6. Stay a While Remember who pays when you linger in slides
      7. How to Get Budget Approval Lessons from a sandwich chain that was late to the party
      8. Most Presentations Are Just the Middle Steal the three-part playbook to make a complete shape.
      9. Adrenaline is a Fickle Mistress And you'll drive yourself crazy trying to silence it.
      10. Four Sneaky Presentation Habits Who taught us these, and why do they stick?
      11. But it’s Just an Update The question most status reports are dodging.
      12. Stop Replacing Yourself In a virtual presentation, the deck doesn't just compete with you.
      13. Hi, Stakes 5 presentations where the deck does damage
      14. What do You Reach for When It Counts? Probably what your hands already know.
      15. If Nothing Moved, Did Anything Happen? Your "best" presentations might accomplish nothing at all.
      16. What Happens in the Silence What if your bravest move isn't something you say?
      17. The Room is Never Neutral You design it, or you inherit it.
      18. Ban the Deck. Examine the Habit. Jack Dorsey, the U.S. Army, and Jeff Bezos agree on one thing.
      19. You Always Could And when you realize it, it's liberating.
      20. I Want You to Feel Something Not know. Feel.
      21. The Pronoun Problem Why the story that worked in room one is tanking in room four.
      22. Going Places Five voices. Five surprises. One fire spreading on its own.
      23. A Field Guide to Life After Decks What recovery from DeckPendency looks like in the wild
      24. Putting the Deck in its Place What changed when The Beck Group reordered the operation
      25. Projections of People The audience you think you're addressing might exist only in your head.
      26. “Done.” The Most Expensive Feeling. It's the invoice for the win you didn't get.
      27. Layers, not Lightning Life After Decks is a posture, not a revolution.
      28. There’s a Braver Presenter in You The Campfire Method is available today
      29. The Dinner Table Test If you can't say it there, get it out of the boardroom.
      30. Presenting is a Team Sport Still hero-balling it? Your idea deserves better.
      31. The Campfire is Lit The circle is open.
      32. Other People’s Scars The advice is real. The experience behind it isn't yours.
      33. The Tool is not the Work The rubric has been wrong for forty years
      34. We, Not You One syllable that decides whether your audience follows
      35. The Tool That Ate the Room Your idea deserves respect, not safety.
      36. The Presentation Paradox Selling ideas is difficult. Story isn’t easy, but it’s the way.
      37. Your Idea is a Force of Nature Start treating it like one.
      38. You Handed Them a Puzzle and Called it a Pitch Thorough when you build it. Flat when you give it.
      39. The Real Saboteur Accepting conventions puts your high-stakes presentations in jeopardy
      40. Conversation > Presentation A true story about decision makers and the pressure from pitching.
      41. You Are the Medium Now When you ditch the deck, your idea travels through you.
      42. Why Slides Feel Safe (and Why They Fail) Half a billion people can’t all be wrong… but they might be stuck.
      43. Aesop Knew What’s Up What can we learn from the god-tier fablist?
      44. Looking Back and Forward Your year starts with a story, not a slide.
      45. Ditch the Deck. Get to Yes. Megan’s easy answer was wrong. Her braver one got the yes.
      46. The Transaction is the Reward, Not the Goal Build trust first. The sale follows.
      47. Get Time on Your Side Timing isn’t a scheduling chore. It’s part of the story.
      48. Get “Butts in Seats” for Your Vision The Movie Trailer is why people show up for change comms.
      49. Boil it Down. Make it Sticky. A Texas cold front and the art of saying less.
      50. Familiarity > Originality What can we learn from AC/DC and Billie Eilish? More than you think.
      51. Don’t Cook Dinner in the Dark You could do it. But would you like the results?
      52. Demystifying Executive Presence Presence starts with knowing what you stand for.
      53. Stop Pitching. Start Quantifying. No one buys an idea until they see what’s in it for them.
      54. Are You DeckPendent? Know the signs. Then break the habit.
      55. Make the Environment Your Ally The setting sets the tone. Choose it on purpose.
      56. Orchestrate Your Next Presentation If you’re a presenter, think like a composer.
      57. Most Presentations Don’t Need Slides. To present is to be present. Slides pull you out of the now.
      58. Breaking Free from Deck Addiction The lights dim. The projector hums. There’s another way.
      59. Peer Pressure? Just say no to slides. Everyone else brings a deck. You don’t have to.
      60. Stay Vigilant. The day slides betrayed me. Twelve silent miles later, a lesson.
      61. The Three Levels of Storytelling Every Leader Must Master Anecdote, story and narrative: know which one you’re telling.
      62. Story is Our Meaning-Making Engine A well-worn DVD and a lesson in storytelling.
      63. Feeling Frozen? THaW the freeze: stay human when leadership gets icy.
      64. The Bored Room Easy, tiger. Where will this meeting happen?
      65. The Case for a Culture of Storytelling When everyone can tell the story, the strategy moves.
      66. Stop Guessing. Start Archetyping. A shortcut to empathy: see your audience as archetypes.
      67. How a CMO Reclaimed her Team’s Trust with Storytelling She was sharp and ambitious, and already in trouble.
      68. One Hundred Twenty Two Percent Eleventh-hour slide design by committee never adds up.
      69. Be Like Freddie. What Queen’s frontman knew about owning the room.
      70. Delete one slide today. You already know which one.
      71. Six Tricks for Combatting Stage Fright Nerves are normal. These six moves put them to work.
      72. Be Yourself When You Present Thirty million presentations are created every day.
      73. The Atmosphere is The Idea Fine dining sells an experience. Your presentation can too.
      74. 3 Questions That Lead to Better Presentations [WORKSHEET] Audiences retain more when there’s structure.
      75. 11 Ways Your Environment Can Help Your Presentation Time, location and atmosphere can say more than you do.
      76. 8 Tips for Better Eye Contact Look up from your notes and connect with the room.
      77. Why are We Addicted to Decks? Seek first to understand the habit, then break it.
      78. Stories Open the Door to Your Mind That feeling when you and another person are aligned.
      79. This Just In: You’re Creative Self-esteem is often highest when we need it least.
      80. I Share, Therefore I Am We define our value by what we share.
      81. How to Funny: Using Humor in your Presentations Using humor in your presentations.
      82. How to Get People to Show Up at Your Presentations Traffic drives sales. So how do you get it?
      83. 7 Signs of Deck Addiction Corporate culture can hide the habit. Here’s how to spot it.
      84. 10 Things to Try Instead of Slides When’s the last time you nailed it because of your slides?
      85. 4 Presentation Mistakes You’re Probably Making and How to Fix Them And how to fix them.
      86. Anecdote vs. Story Humankind’s most enduring art form, and its most common imposter.
      87. When Should You Present? The Most (and Least) Persuasive Moments The most (and least) persuasive moments.
      88. Better Storytelling Through Chemistry Three chemical agents of motivation.