A disappointment
I thought there would be much more content. I was already aware of the concept of forming a presentation using a story arc, so there wasn't much new that I can use.
Make sure you buy the 2007 edition!!!!
I bought the book, enjoyed it and then realized that I hasd purchased the 2005 edfition and not the new 2007 edition. be careful as the new one is much better. Amazon should have made this clear!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clear guide for creating effective presentations
Microsoft PowerPoint changed the world of presentations by simplifying the process of creating a computerized slide show. Alas, over time people started squeezing too much information into every slide and using the preinstalled generic titles. PowerPoint's simplicity let people forget the purpose of presentations: to persuade or to inform without being boring. Cliff Atkinson shows you a creative way to build a good presentation without falling into the PowerPoint template trap - tell a story instead. At present, he provides a free template, storyboard formatter and story guide at sociablemedia.com that adds value to the book, which refers to these resources repeatedly. We recommend this to anyone who gives presentations.
I've used this method and it works
I borrowed it from the library and I am going to purchase it for my personal business library. I think that this is a great resource book. I decided to try this method since I do a presentation about once a month to pharmacists. This book helped me to organize my thoughts and present the material in a logical manner. I am in the health care industry and the people I present to are used to seeing bullet points BUT they are bored with it. For those that think the information here won't work, I say give it a try before dismissing it. You may find that your audience doesn't want as many bullet points and facts as you think and that you are a breath of fresh air in doing something new and innovative with your presentations. And remember you can put all of that information from your bullet points in the notes pages and print that out for them.
Don't understand what others see in it
I was disappointed having bought this book based on good reviews, so here's my review:
1. The author provides just one tool for one particular type of presentation: "pitch an idea to your bosses". The tool is a 3-act presentation using few words and more graphics and presenter narration.
Although a good tool for some presenters and some presentations, I can only see myself using this in 10-20% of my presentations.
2. Because the author refuses to explore other methods, the book becomes very repetitive and too detailed going on about the same points all the time.
3. Because of this, this is certainly not a book to keep for reference.
4. ...unless you are a total PowerPoint novice and computer-illiterate and want to read a step-by-step instructions about how to resize and crop images in PowerPoint, etc.
5. This is the first book by Microsoft Press I read and I was shocked at the obvious attempts throughout the book to advertise other marginally-related Microsoft products.
The book description says: "Targeted for intermediate to advanced level users". I would never recommend this book to anyone but absolute beginners and even then there must be better books.
The intermediate user should really just browse the first couple of chapters to get the basic idea (1. set the scene 2. show the conflict 3. resolve the conflict) in a bookstore and then decide for himself if he really wants to waste money on something which can easily be summarized on one page.
(58 reviews)
