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Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters

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Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters

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About

Features

Discover how to make outstanding presentations from actual examples, presented by the world’s #1 presentation coach!

  • The new presentation guide from the legendary Jerry Weissman, author of the bestseller Presenting to Win.
  • Real examples and specific solutions for sharpening content, graphics, and delivery.
  • Shows how to listen more effectively and answer even the toughest questions.
  • Helps presenters put it all together to deliver presentations that get results!

Description

  • Copyright 2011
  • Dimensions: 6" x 9"
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-248962-7
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-248962-1

World-renowned presentation coach Jerry Weissman has spent 20 years helping top executives succeed in the most important business presentations of their lives, and he’s learned the best way to get his message across is to show his techniques in action. Weissman does just that in Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters. He teaches how to make spectacularly successful presentations by showing exactly how great presenters have done it. Weissman dives into his library of outstanding presentations, sharing examples from current events, politics, science, art, music, literature, cinema, media, sports, and even the military. His compelling examples don’t just demonstrate what’s universal about effective human communication: they also reveal powerful ways to solve the specific challenges presenters encounter most often.

This book’s five sections focus on each element of the outstanding contemporary presentation:  Content: Mastering the art of telling your story; Graphics: Designing PowerPoint slides that work brilliantly; Delivery skills: How to make actions speak louder than words; Q&A: How to handle tough questions; Integration: How to put it all together.

From clarifying “What’s in it for you?” to crafting better elevator pitches, improving flow to using anecdotes, Presentation in Action is packed with solutions–and packed with inspiration, too!

Sample Content

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Introduction to Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Introduction and Index)

Table of Contents

Introduction     1

SECTION I     Content: The Art of Telling Your Story

1          A Lesson from Professor Marvel aka The Wizard of Oz     5

            How to Customize Your Presentation

2          Obama and You     8

            The Most Persuasive Word

3          The “So What?” Syndrome     10

            …and How to Avoid It

4          Beware of Jokes     12

            Dispelling a Common False Belief

5          Presentation Advice from Abraham Lincoln     14

            Clarity, Ownership, and Add Value

6          It Ain't What You Say, It’s How You Say It     16

            Lessons in Structure from Jeffrey Toobin and Andrew Weil, M.D.

7          Presentation Advice from Mark Twain     18

            Brevity Takes Time

8          Presentation Advice from Mike Nichols     20

            How to Find Value in Your Story

9          Show versus Tell in Hollywood     22

            The Wrong and Right Way to Tell a Story in Three Films

10        Slogan Power     24

            Why the US Army's "Be All That You Can Be" Succeeded

11        How Long Is Too Long?     26

            When in Doubt, Leave It out

12        The Elevator Pitch in One Sentence     28

            How to Describe Your Business Succinctly

13        Do You Know the Way to Spanish Bay?     30

            The Correct Way to Practice

14        Getting to “Aha!”     32

            The Magic Moment

15        This Is Your Pilot Speaking     34

            A Lesson in Flow from the Airlines

16        Presentation Advice from the iPhone     36

            Substance and Style in Your Story

17        Presentation Advice from Steve Jobs     38

            The Power of Positive Words

18        Presentation Advice from Novelists I     40

            Begin with the End in Mind, Then Write, Rewrite, and Rewrite

19        Presentation Advice from Novelists II     42

            Storyboard and Verbalize

20        Microsoft Slogans Score a Trifecta     44

            Three Persuasive Techniques

21        Presentation Advice from a Physician     46

            Audience Advocacy

22        Presentation Advice from a Politician     48

            Audience Advocacy

23        Ronald Reagan Meets Lenny Skutnik     50

            The Catalyst of Human Interest Stories

24        Human Interest Stories: A Double Advantage     51

            Two Ways to Use Anecdotes

SECTION II    Graphics: The Correct Way to Design PowerPoint Slides

25        The Presentation-as-Document Syndrome     55

            Never the Twain Shall Meet

26        Blame the Penmanship, Not the Pen     57

            Operator versus User Error

27        You Can't Use a Sentence As a Prompt     59

            Less Verbiage Is More Useful

28        Baiting the Salesperson     60

            Selling Is about In-Person Communication

29        PowerPoint and Human Perception     62

            Scientific Support for Graphics Design

30        PowerPoint Template: Combined Picture and Text     64

            The Best Positions for Pictures and Text

31        Shady Characters     67

            The Wrong Way and the Right Way to Build Text

32        “I Can Read It Myself!”     69

            Three Simple Steps to Avoid Reading Slides Verbatim

33        A Case for Case I: Initial Caps or All Caps     71

            Text Design in Presentations

34        A Case for Case II: Serif or Sans     73

            Font Design in Presentations

35        What Color Is Your PowerPoint?     75

            Contrast Counts

36        Presentation Advice from Corona Beer     78

            Peripheral Vision Counts

37        The Cable Crawlers     80

            How Television Animates Text

38        Computer Animation     82

            Three Simple Rules

39        PowerPoint and the Military     84

            Sometimes More Is More

SECTION III   Delivery Skills: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

40        The Art of Conversation     89

            Eye Contact and Interaction Start at Infancy

41        Presentation Advice from Edward R Murrow     91

            The "Person-to-Person" Role Model

42        Nonverbal Communication     93

            Look Them in the Eye

43        Presentation Advice from Pianist Murray Perahia     95

            Concentration Creates Control

44        Presentation Advice from Actress Tova Feldshuh     97

            Concentration Creates Communication

45        Presentation Advice from Michael Phelps and Dara Torres     99

            How to Control Stress under Pressure

46        Presentation Advice from Frank Sinatra     101

            The Art of Phrasing

47        Presentation Advice from Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa     103

            The Importance of Breathing

48        The One-Eyed Man     105

            Necessity Is the Mother of Invention

49        Bill Clinton's Talking to Me!     106

            The Power of Group Dynamics

50        Liddy Dole and Person-to-Person    108

            From Law School to the Republican National Convention

51        Fast Talking     109

            Fun or Maddening

52        Presentation Advice from Titian     111

            Position, Position, Position

53        Presentation Advice from Musicians and Athletes     113

            The Value of Effortlessness

54        Presentation Advice from Vin Scully     115

            From Reagan to Barber to Scully

55        “Ya’ Either Got It, or Ya’ Ain’t!”     116

            The Fear of Public Speaking Is Universal

56        How to Eliminate the Fig Leaf     118

            A Presentation Lesson from the Military

57        Unwords     120

            Even Barack Obama Says Them

58        To Slip or Not to Slip     122

            Been There, Done That

59        The Free Throw     124

            A Presentation Lesson from Basketball

60        10 Tips for 30 Seconds     126

            Help for Job Seekers

61        You Are What You Eat     127

            10 Tips about Food and Drink in Presentations

SECTION IV   Q&A: Handling Tough Questions

62        Speed Kills in Q&A     131

            The Vanishing Art of Listening

63        A Lesson in Listening from Barack Obama     133

            How to Handle Multiple Questions

64        If I Could Tell Jon Stewart...     135

            Talk Shows Include Listening

65        What Keeps You Up at Night?     136

            How to Handle the Most Frequently Asked Questions

66        Spin versus Topspin     138

            The Political World versus the Business World

67        When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife?     140

            How to Handle False Assumption Questions

68        Madoff and Cramer Plead Guilty     142

            How to Respond When Guilty as Charged

69        Tell Me the Time, Not How to Build a Clock     144

            Keep Your Answers Short

70        Presentation Advice from Jerry Rice     146

            Grasp the Question before You Answer

71        Politicians and Spin     147

            Putting Lipstick on a Pig

72        Murder Boards     149

            How Elena Kagan Prepared for Tough Questions

73        Ms. Kagan Regrets     151

            Non-Answers to Tough Questions

SECTION V    Integration: Putting it All Together

74        The Elephant     155

            The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts

75        Presentation Graphics Meet Linguistics     156

            Symmetry in Graphics Design

76        One Presentation, Multiple Audiences     158

            12 Presenters, 12 Stories, 1 Set of Slides

77        The Art and Science of Oprah Winfrey     160

            The Secrets of Oprah Winfrey’s Appeal

78        Right or Left     164

            The Deep Roots of Human Preferences

79        Graphics Synchronization     168

            The Missing Link

80        The House that Jack Built     170

            Make All the Parts Fit

Footnotes     173

Acknowledgments     177

About the Author     178

Index     179

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