Presenting to Win – Jerry Weissman
Jerry Weissman’s Book Presenting To Win is an excellent reference for creating presentations, and killing what Jerry calls MEGO: Mine Eyes Glaze Over.
This book was recommended to me some time ago by Jim Long of Gabriel Ventures during an SVASE Event. I finally got around to reading it, and can see that it will be an excellent reference. I’ll probably have to by the Kindle version as well, so that I have it with me to show others.
The book has three basic sections, although it’s organized into 14 chapters. The first section is an intro, covering both Weissman’s background as well as why you need to create better presentations, and, most importantly, WIIFY. No, that’s not a Nintendo reference; it’s an acronym for What’s In It For You, which is the motivation factor that makes people pay attention to the presentation.
The second section discusses brainstorming and organizing your presentation into a story with one of the 16 possible flows:
- Modular
- Chronological
- Physical
- Spatial
- Problem/Solution
- Issues/Actions
- Opportunity/Leveratge
- Form/Function
- Features/Benefits
- case Study
- Argument/Fallacy
- Compare/Contrast
- Matrix
- Parallel Tracks
- Rhetorical
- Numerical
The discussion on the flows and their uses is very helpful. Weissman’s layout of brainstorming and how to turn it into a story is very intriguing but lacking in some details. I wish he expounded more on this, as it is the hardest part of creating a presentation (and probably the hardest to explain in words, so I do give him a little leeway…)
The third section is the technical nuts and bolts. Rather than discussion typography, Weissman refers to the latin phrase de gustibus non est disputandum - there’s no arguing taste. Instead, he gives a small discourse on perception psychology. Because we read from left to right, things coming in from the left are natural and things coming from the right are unnatural.
I can see where this will be one of those books that needs to be revisited from time to time for a refresher course.
Tags: book review