Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery

by Garr Reynolds

Overview

FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI

Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the net - presentationzen.com - shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today's world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780321811981
Publisher:	New Riders
Publication date:	12/22/2011
Series:	Voices That Matter Series
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	7.52(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

Garr Reynolds is a leading authority on presentation design and delivery. A soughtafter speaker and consultant, his clients include many in the Fortune 500. A writer, designer, and musician, he currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Management at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. Garr is a former corporate trainer for Sumitomo Electric, and once worked in Cupertino, California as the Manager for Worldwide User Group Relations at Apple, Inc. A longtime student of the Zen arts and resident of Japan, he currently lives in Osaka where he is Director of Design Matters Japan.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments, ix Foreword by Guy Kawasaki, x

INTRODUCTION:
Presenting in Today's World, 5

PREPARATION:
Creativity, Limitations, and Constraints, 31
Planning Analog, 45
Crafting the Story, 77

DESIGN:
Simplicity: Why It Matters, 115
Presentation Design: Principles and Techniques, 131
Sample Visuals: Images and Text, 187

DELIVERY The Art of Being Completely Present, 215
Connecting with an Audience, 231
The Need for Engagement, 253

NEXT STEP:
The Journey Begins, 285

Photo Credits, 292
Index, 294

What People are Saying About This

Nancy Duarte

"Garr is a beacon of hope for frustrated audiences everywhere. His design philosophy and fundamental principles bring life to messages and can invigorate careers. His principles of simplicity are as much a journey of the soul as they are restraint of the mouse."--(Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte Design)

Merlin Mann

"Presentation Zen is just fantastic. Best of all it's not another recipe book about "how to make slides" - this is about re-imagining how your entire presentation will work together as a persuasive and integrated show, from conception through delivery. Awesome."--(Merlin Mann, 43folders.com )

Editorial Reviews

Why couldn't business and technical presentations benefit from the ethos of Zen: its mindfulness, elegance, beauty, simplicity, restraint, naturalness, and balance? They could. Mightily. Presentation Zen is about making that happen -- and, in so doing, communicating with unprecedented clarity, passion, and effectiveness.

What is Presentation Zen? Not a step-by-step cookbook but an approach that starts with rediscovering your creativity and learning how to apply it, even in the most prosaic environment. Reynolds helps you ask the right questions, rough out your ideas by hand, and craft a story with authenticity that can't help but compel your audience. Then: storyboarding, design, delivery. Every image, every word needs to matter: nothing wasted, nothing there merely for "decoration" or to fill out a set of dreaded bullet points. Reynolds shows how to do all that and offers some very inspiring examples. You'll never present the same way again -- thank goodness. Bill Camarda, from the January 2008 Read Only