5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic

M.S.C. · March 22, 2008

In this age of information overload and short attention spans, the ability to deliver clear and concise presentations is one of the most important skills.Instead, business presentations today are mostly long, unfocused and boring. In a typical PowerPoint presentation, the audience is forced to sit through slide after slide of charts, bullet points and text while the presenter reads from the screen.As a result, both presenter and audience feel stressed and disengaged, and everybody ends up wasting their time (this common situation is also referred to as Death by PowerPoint).Garr Reynolds' quest to end PowerPoint presentations as we know them started years ago when, riding on the express train from Tokyo to Osaka, he had his epiphany: after watching a Japanese businessman nervously flipping through a printout of poorly designed PowerPoint slides in an obvious state of confusion, he decided to launch his Presentation Zen blog, now the most popular presentation design site on the web.Presentation Zen (the book) is organized in three main sections:*Preparation*Design*DeliveryIn the way of the true classics, this book is more than a simple step by step tutorial. It outlines an approach, a strategy to solve the complex communication issues of today. It not only tells us how to do a presentation, but instead takes us on a journey to discover what is it that we need to communicate in the first place, and how to make it resonate with our audience.Here are some of the things I learned:*How to discover your core message (the one thing, and only one, that you want your audience to remember).*The importance of having quiet time to think. Busyness kills creativity. We all need some quiet time alone to come up with our best ideas.*Use two often forgotten PowerPoint tools: notes (so you don't have to read from the screen) and handouts (so you don't have to cram all the data on your slides)*Less is more: remove from slides every single element that is not necessary and doesn't add to our core message.*PowerPoint is not a document creation tool. It's job is to provide visual aid to our presentation. The slides themselves are not the presentation.*Images are more powerful than words.Drinking from his own Kool-Aid, Reynolds packs his book with visual examples of great (and not so great) presentations, so we can see the difference. Also, he summarizes the most important ideas at the end of each chapter, and links to great presentation resources on the web (my favorite is TED, where you can see the great presenters of our time in action).This book is not for everyone. Those readers who are looking for a few quick tips on how to do a PowerPoint presentation may get impatient with the author's frequent and lengthy references to the Zen philosophy and concepts.However, if you bear with him, you will learn more than just do a presentation. You will learn how to analyze and solve complex communications problems, how to see the big picture from your customers' perspective, and how to effectively position products and services in the marketplace.If you have to do presentations for a living (and who doesn't these days?) read this book and keep it handy for future reference. And, while you're at it, add Presentation Zen (the blog) to your blogroll or favorites.

5.0 out of 5 stars How-To, Self-Help, Philosophy, and Art Meet

K. · July 9, 2011

Remember that old commercial showing a guy eating chocolate and a guy eating peanut butter crashing into each other as they round a corner? It was a smart way to advertise Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which considered itself an ideal marriage of ingredients that most people would never have dreamed of.PRESENTATIONZEN is a lot like that commercial. You read it and feel as though four people, each intently oblivious in his own world, have crashed at a 4-way juncture, blending How-To with Self-Help, Philosophy, and Art. Let's start with Art. You can save five bucks and buy the Kindle version of this book if you wish, but I don't know why you would, so beautiful is the print version with its glossy photos of zen gardens and lovely slides showing many arresting images by way of example for those wishing to make Power Point presentations.The philosophical aspect comes from the "Zen" you see in the title. Author Garr Reynolds, an expat resident of Japan himself, constantly weaves Zen-like wisdom into his advice by discussing the beauty of simplicity, the need for a less-is-more approach, and other bits of wisdom designed to thwart "death by Power Point" (we've all been there). This ties in with the "How-To." In simple steps, the book shows how you can make a live presentation, whether you work in business, education, or the public sector. Finally there's a dose of self-help to the book. Reynolds counsels would-be presenters on the need to get in touch with the child within all of us, the need to take risks, the necessity of connecting with the audience by ignoring negative voices that whisper fears of failure.Each chapter ends with a section called "In Sum" which offers the highlights of what you read. Many visuals are provided as well. The only annoyance is that, sometimes, they are crowded together on a page with copy that you can barely read.Overall, a wonderfully simple book with complex considerations. It should be required reading for all businessmen especially. By the nature of their job and its expectations, they are the worst offenders when it comes to carnage through Power Point (Professor Plum did it in the board room with a slide show). If their boss's won't buy them a copy, maybe their beleaguered audiences will. It's all in the name of mercy and Zen.

se sei a corto di idee

C. · February 4, 2014

la mia esperenza è assai lontana ma capisco che poi se il problema è avere qualche cosa da raccontare ogni spunto è buono per tirare la carretta.

A good introduction to improving your presentations.

R.H. · May 14, 2008

For those that are unfamiliar with Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen blog, and even for those that do, but want to know what sets presenters like Steve Jobs, Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin apart from the rest, it serves as a great starting point. Presentation Zen is neither about possesing high technical or creative skills, but just about conveying ideas in a simple and easy to digest format. By moving away from information filled slides to ones that support your underlying message, you can lead your viewers to a higher state of understanding.I didn't give this book a full 5-stars as I personally felt a lot of the imagery used was a bit cliched and didn't really "stimulate" me in the way I thought was intended but there are a lot of example slides which are great and show you exactly in which direction you need to be going. It is very focused on the actual "slideshow" part of presenting and doesn't really go into the art of actually communicating your ideas regardless of your slides and visuals. For the actually communication of ideas and information I highly recommend Dan Roam's "Back of the Napkin" as a companion book to this.EDIT: I messed up and accidently gave it the full 5 star review. The editing process on Bolo does not seem to allow me to change this :(

Eine kleine Philosophie des Präsentierens

m. · January 27, 2011

Die oftmals propagierte Methode 1-7-7 (ein Thema pro Folie, max. 7 Bullet Points, max. 7 Wörter pro Bullet Point) bezeichnet Garr Reynolds zu Recht als Death by Powerpoint. Heute erst wieder zugehört, auf der dritten Folie habe ich 8 Bullet Points gezählt, während der Vortragende die Folie vorgelesen hat...Mit Presentation Zen arbeitet Garr gut 2/3 des Buches intensiv daran, die Einstellung des Redners zur Präsentation an sich zu ändern bevor er erst im letzten Teil des Buches ein paar Richtlinien zum Aufbau der Slides angibt. Abschließend finden sich dann noch Beispiel Slides von Top-Speakern.Garr präsentiert hier keine Methode(n), Regeln oder How-To's, und schon gar keine Anleitung zu den Möglichkeiten von Powerpoint - die empfiehlt er ohnehin zurückzuschrauben bis fast auf den 0-Punkt. Ein paar Tipps zum Aufbau der Slides finden sich als Empfehlungen, aber keinesfalls als fixe Regeln, die garantiert zum Erfolg führen.Die Kernpunkte für Garr Reynolds sind: Wie plane ich eine Präsentation und deren Aufbau, wie erzähle ich eine "Story", konzentrieren auf die Kernaussage, wie verpacke ich Aussage und Story ansprechend vom Anfang bis zum Ende. Das erzählt er hervorragend, Einflüsse aus seinen Erfahrungen mit japanischen Philosophien oder Lebensweisheiten ziehen sich durch alle Kapitel (das muss nicht jedermanns Sache sein, stört aber den Lesefluss auch nicht).Design-Techniken wie Schriftartenwahl, Formatierungen usw. fehlen hier, finden sich aber ausführlich im Nachfolgewerk Presentation Zen Design. Vor der Lektüre des zweiten Teils empfehle ich dennoch dieses Buch zu lesen, das die grundlegenden Ideen von Garr interessant, unterhaltsam und (vielleicht eine Spur zu) ausführlich dem Leser nahebringt. Mit diesen Grundlagen kommt man im zweiten Teil direkt an und kann auch wesentlich mehr davon profitieren.Allgegenwärtig ist die Empfehlung auf die Site iStockphoto.com, die wirklich hochklassige Bilder zu nahezu allen Themen bietet, und für die man beim Kauf eines Kontingents als Buchbesitzer einen Gutschein-Code einlösen kann. Angemerkt sei nur, dass die Qualtität von iStockphoto, die von vergleichbaren Seiten nicht erreicht wird, natürlich ihren Preis hat.Fazit: Das Buch kann man in einem Schwung lesen und man bekommt von Seite zu Seite mehr Lust das Gelesene selbst zu probieren. Ich werde zwar nie ein Garr Reynolds werden, aber die Erfahrung wie eine Zuhörerschaft sich auf den Powerpoint Schlaf einstellt, und dann nach der ersten Überraschung durchgehend aktiv dem Vortrag lauscht, durfte ich bereits machen.

... presentations that keep people interested and engaged instead of bored and with eyes glazed over

K.C. · April 5, 2015

If you want to create meaningful and memorable presentations that keep people interested and engaged instead of bored and with eyes glazed over, then this book is a must have!!

Imprescindible

M.F.T. · December 20, 2014

Un "must". Lo he releído decenas de veces. Lo he recomendado muchas más. Te ayudará si quieres aprender cómo hacer presentaciones en el siglo XXI.