The Art of the Presentation

Dreaming up and building incredible, themed experiences that will be enjoyed by millions of people all over the world is truly an amazing experience. It’s one that requires the dedicated work of passionate individuals who collaborate as a team to deliver the business goals of a client. Of all the tools required in this a process, excellent communication factors the highest when measuring the success of the project team. As we continue in the series, “The Basics”, it’s important to understand how the presentation fits into the project process and how to assemble and deliver one with game-changing results. Many university degree programs or even corporate internships feature opportunities to present. However, even as good as those experiences are, little can prepare you for standing in front of a client when hundreds of millions of their dollars are entrusted to your team- that’s high pressure!

Assembling the presentation

Assembling and delivering a grea...

Theron Skees is the Chief Creative Officer of Designer’s Creative Studio. He also currently oversees Disney Cruise Lines as the Vice President, Creative Portfolio Executive with Walt Disney Imagineering.

“Story” as Brand Experience

Telling a story is at the heart of every one of our projects. We understand this as designers in the Themed Entertainment Industry. Story is our communication method and experience is the product we create. Our demographic is… well, everyone. Our design criterion includes the creation of experiences that appeal to the broadest possible audience. Those of us who have worked with the “legacy brands” in this industry like the Walt Disney Company know that we balance the need for nostalgiaand trend all within the same property. We also know that if our experiences don’t connect with our guests emotionally, they are less likely to return year after year. Retailers, tech companies, and automobile manufacturers have taken notice. They have followed our lead as an...

Recently, I was asked the question “is storytelling as important to themed attractions as it is to a film or TV show?” I believe that storytelling is a way of communication that has many different routes of delivery. From the earliest times in human history, storytelling was accomplished verbally and with simple drawings, human-to-human. The medium of film and television gives us the ability to communicate a story, in two dimensions, to millions of people at the same time.

Just like a great book, film and T.V. can draw an audience into the story and make emotional connections. When watching a story unfold on the screen, an audience travels through the story at the pace the director has chosen. All of the scenes, characters, and actions unfold as the director has established. The same is true of how an author guides a reader through a novel.

A story establishes a theme: which is the general meaning of the story or what audiences take away from the experience. Therefore, having a centr...