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"Presentation Zen" by Garr Reynolds

There are certain book that change your views to the world forever. Lately I was very lucky to come across some of such books. One of them is Garr Reynold's "Presentation Zen" book.

Garr Reynolds is a former musician. Currently he is the founder of the "Design Matters" group, which holds yearly meetings in Japan. He is a well-known speaker too. You can find some of his speeches on YouTube.

Garr's "Presentation Zen" book talks about using PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote if you wish) to make better presentations.

We all know how typical presentation looks like. They typically consist from a background, bullets and lots of texts. They are so boring that you almost every time know how difficult it will be to resist a good sleep during such presentation.

http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html

Fortunately not every presentation is like that. If you ever watched presentations from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, you know he does it differently. His presentations are never boring. He never puts these texts to slides. He does not treat you like a small child who cannot read for himself (other presenters do - they actually read slides for you!). Instead Jobs uses his slides only to complement his story. His slides contains only things that must be drawn.

http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_zen_estheti.html

"Presentation Zen" book is about that. It tells you a lot about presentations. It tells you why most people actually do these boring slides with lots of texts in them.

Garr Reynolds lives in Japan. Japanese culture is very different from any other culture in the world. Anyone who lives in Japan becomes affected by the principles of this culture, its simplicity and beauty.

Garr makes parallels between presentation style and life style. This may sound unusual or even odd. But think about it: every your creation is the same as your life style. Having a good balanced life allows you to create better. Result of your work becomes beautiful.

The book is mainly focused on three stages: preparation, design and delivery.

While preparation and design may seem the same, actually they are not. Preparation means gathering material to present, planning presentation and drafting the story. Often this stage is overlooked. I so many people starting and finishing their presentation an hour before going to the presentation room. Of course, these presentations become those dull and boring. Preparing lets you think what you actually want to say, to whom and how.

Design is another important aspect. PowerPoint and KeyNote both come with several themes and styles. Using them is not bad but not good either because these styles were created with "bullet" approach in mind. Garr tells about basic prinicples of good slide design, using images and laying out text and media. After this chapter you probably will never use stock theme again.

Delivery is one of the most difficult things.

When I was 14, me and two other boys had to present something (I do not remember what) to a class two years younger us. Actuaaly one of us (not me) was to present, others were there to answer questions.

This was a disaster. The presenting boy quickly read two pages of text without taking his eyes from the text. The text was copied from a library book and was too advanced even for us. Bad homework I would say. The only way to save the situation was to give the class something else. I told what I knew on the subject and drew some quick pictures on the blackboard. That had much more success. And this was my own first presentation lesson for myself.

Why I am telling you this story? Because it is extremely important how you present. Sitting behind your PC, looking to the screen and buzzing something about your dull slides? No, no that! You know, this way you will never catch your listeners.

How to do it properly? Read Garr Reynold's book. You will know how.

Again I must say that this book is one of those rare books that change the world. I really like that I came across this book. It made me think a lot and changed my mind. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has to present, even if it not your main business.

The bonus

As the bonus, I'd like you to watch the video below. It is a very good companion to the whole topic of presentations. The man on the video is Don McMillan. It tells you how not to present.

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