Every once and a while there is a book I read that just clicks. It simply knocks the ball out of the park. Presentation Zen is one of them!





A very easy and quick read, Presentation Zen offers page after page of excellent advice about how to build winning presentations. Before reading it, I thought I was an excellent speaker. Afterwards, I realized that I was implementing only about 30-40% of the ideas in the book. I cannot wait to prepare my next Powerpoint presentation. How often does someone say that!?!

Garr Reynolds is currently an associate professor at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and spent many years working there. Consequently, the book has a Japanese flavor to it, which obviously also appeals to me. Some of the lessons are simply profound in their simplicity. For example, the key to a good presentation is two questions: "What is your point? Why does it matter?". I do not know how many presentations that I have attended in my life where the presenter was clueless on these points and just presented what he or she felt comfortable to present regardless of the relevance to the audience.

Another profound point is that the powerpoint slides are there to complement the speaker, not replace him or her. Therefore, every single point should not be on the slides. That is what should come out of your mouth. When the audience is trying to unravel the meaning in a complex slide, they are not listening to the speaker. Keep the slides simple to support the speaker...not replace the speaker.

I also liked the sidebar sections that provide interesting tidbits of knowledge. One cool one is about the Pecha-kucha method. Basically, Pecha-kucha was developed by a couple of expats in Tokyo and consists of presentations, where the presenters are limited to 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds as the presenter tells the story in sync to the transitioning slides. Within only 6 minutes and 40 seconds, you need to tell your story. How's that for getting your pitch down?

What about all these restrictions? Reynolds postulates that the restrictions are actually liberators of your creativity. I agree wholeheartedly, but it is definitely work to get things to be simple. As Mark Twain said, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." However, the investment that you make on the preparation makes the investment your audience makes worthwhile.

As for investments, go buy Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. It is definitely worth it. Also check out his blog.