Five Books to Enhance Your Presentation Skills

I watch a lot of presentations.... and most of them stink.

For example, today a group of us watched a 30 minute presentation that felt like 4 hours.
Don't get me wrong; the speaker had a lot of positive attributes.
He moved well. He engaged audience members. He had good stories. He was passionate.

The problem was that he had no (and I mean NO) structure.
We had no idea where he was taking us. It was a disorienting journey, with no end in sight.

Guy Kawasaki says (I'm paraphrasing), "The only thing worse than listening to a sucky presenter, is listening to a sucky presenter and not knowing when he will stop sucking".

Learning point: always show an agenda.

After he left, I asked the group what his key point was. I got 6 different answers.
When that happens - you failed.
Wait. Sorry, YOU FAILED!!!

Learning point: always have a core message.

If you don't have one, don't talk.
If you have more than one, you have none. Eliminate all but one.
Repeat your core message many, many times (hint: at least three times).
Make the core message short. Supplement it with appropriate gestures and image(s).
Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you want to get better at presentations, here are a few places you should go:

• Presentation Zen - The best frequent blog on presenting
• Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story by Jerry Weissman - As someone who teaches and coaches presentation skills, I've read most of the presentation books out there. While all have something to offer, this is the best. If you only buy one, buy this one.
• In The Line of Fire by Jerry Weissman - This DVD and it's partner book shows how to handle the toughest of questioning. The well-known video clips and Weissman's expert analysis provide powerful examples for us to learn from.

By the way, besides being an excellent host, Weissman seems to be a genuinely nice guy. We had a phone conversation today (part of what triggered this post), and he was very generous with his time to answer my questions.

• Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson - The best book specifically on using PowerPoint. Here's Cliff's blog.
• Finally, check out Edward Tufte; a fascinating, slightly controversial figure who hates, hates, HATES PowerPoint. He also has some interesting views on The Visual Display of Quantitative Data. I love his books, love his site, and am looking forward to seeing him in San Jose on December 6th.