Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
ISBN:9780321525659 read summary

The author provides good, applicable information. He quotes other authors in the field liberally. I highly recommend this book.

On the downside, the design of the book seemed strange. Some slides were shown quite small and in a zig-zag order that I found tough to follow. He might have been better to leave some out and enlarge the rest.

When I first read Seth Godin's review all I saw was "Please don't buy this book!" and was about to turn away before I read the rest "Once people start making better presentations, mine won't look so good. (But if you truly want to learn what works and how to do it right, Garr is the man to learn from.)" After reading the book I gave my competitors the same advice, while handing my friends a copy. This is an excellent book; that anyone who wants to get ahead in their career should read.

This book is worth reading and I think it's also worth having, as it's own design is very good.
It provides useful knowledge on how to do presentations today, some years ago the rule of no more than seven words per point and no more than seven points was the way to go (still, if most of the presentations would stick to this it would be an improvement) but today that is no longer valid and I agree with that point.
Several ideas:
-Make a story board, do not start with the software that is guiding you in specific ways and all the slides are the same at the end.
-Don't put everything on the slides, perhaps you need to give handouts, made with Word or something similar.
-If you want to make an impact you should spend time in the presentation.
-Use good quality photos
-If you repeat what is written in a slide the comprehension of the audience is worse than if they just read or you just talk.
-How many time have you heard during a presentation "... probably you can not see this...". Then why do you put that thing in it? If you follow the rules of this book that will not happen again.
-Etc.

In general is not rocket science, nothing that you can not think by yourself, but I found the book easy to read, with nice examples, good advice and good design.
I have clearly improved my presentations just following some of the most basic ideas of the book.

I've been a college professor for a long time. Which means I didn't start to use computers or slideware until my fifties. When it became clear that our school preferred that its professors use PowerPoint in their classrooms and in professional development presentations, I dutifully learned the mechanics of this platform, and made some terrible mistakes along the way. On the one hand, students like PPT, because it's visual and "concrete"; they can print it out and have it in hand. But my presentatuions lost a lot in the process. They lost emotion, they became boring, and I became less of a teacher. I still use PPT, but now I use it correctly.
This book really spoke to me. Strangely, although this is not a typical "how to" book, I immediately could see how to use what the author discusses! My tecahing has shifted already; I am getting better student reviews, and I feel good about the changes I've made...

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. - Charles Mingus

Garr Reynolds combines his communications expertise (narrative and design), his experience as a jazz musician, and the tenets of Zen simplicity to undertake a noble endeavor: improve the quality and effectiveness of slide ware presentations.

His book, Presentation Zen, summarizes key points at the end of each chapter, and uses visual examples throughout to illustrate these key points. But his goal is much more than simply providing a handbook with tips for making better presentations. The real ambition of the book is revealed in the text where he attempts to change the way you think about presentations.

I suspect this will be the most difficult part for most readers, especially those who may be looking for a quick fix or checklist. Putting yourself "in the audience" to develop your presentation and using slides to illustrate and punctuate your "spoken" narrative (the real presentation) will be a challenge to most business and technology presenters. But the greatest challenge may be the time it takes to achieve a "less is more" presentation. It is so much easier and quicker to stuff everything into a slide deck than to take the time required to achieve the simplicity, clarity and restraint the author advocates. As he states, "Simplicity is not easy, in fact, it is hard."

Editing all of the information into its simplest form, illustrating it well, and practicing the presentation until you can deliver it as naturally as a coffee shop conversation takes time and commitment. However, if you are willing to think differently and invest the time required to develop, design and deliver more effective presentations, this book can most certainly help you achieve that end.

PS - The author also has a very popular blog on presentation design and delivery at [...].