Books

Not all these books are on presentation skills, but are helpful in thinking strategically about the process of presentation strategy, design and delivery.

I’ve included this because Cal gives some insight into how to focus – not just one off, but making it a habit. By developing this skill then our prep for our presentations becomes easier.

Data Story teaches you the most effective ways to turn your data into narratives that blend the power of language, numbers, and graphics. This book is not about visualizing data, there are plenty of books covering that. Instead, you’ll learn how to transform numbers into narratives to drive action.

How do you memorise a presentation? You don’t! You link key words together via a ridiculous story – it works! Here’s Harry demonstrating the technique.

The Extreme Presentation method is a step-by-step approach for designing presentations of complex or controversial information in ways that drive people to action. It is based on extensive empirical research and has been pilot tested among leading corporations, including Microsoft, Exxon-Mobil, Kimberly-Clark, eBay, and Motorola.

In Ted Talks Chris Anderson, Head of TED, reveals the inside secrets of how to give a first-class presentation. Where books like Talk Like TED and TED Talks Storytelling whetted the appetite, here is the official TED guide to public speaking from the man who put TED talks on the world’s stage.

From Kawasaki’s site: “I am evangelizing the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a pitch should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. This rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.”

Garr tackles the conventional wisdom of making presentations with slides and shares his approach to designing and delivering successful and provocative presentations.

Check out these posts for some insight into how we can over come the perils of presenting

How not to choke under pressure #1, #2 and #3

When telling anecdotes it helps to follow a bit of a formula to make sure it is engaging and dynamic. According to Booker, after examining thousands of books, plays and films – there seven! If you want a visual of this have a look at this presentation by Kurt Vonnegut.