World-renowned presentation coach Jerry Weissman has spent 20 years helping top executives succeed in the most important business presentations of their lives, and he’s learned the best way to get his message across is to show his techniques in action. Weissman does just that in Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters. He teaches how to make spectacularly successful presentations by showing exactly how great presenters have done it. Weissman dives into his library of outstanding presentations, sharing examples from current events, politics, science, art, music, literature, cinema, media, sports, and even the military. His compelling examples don’t just demonstrate what’s universal about effective human communication: they also reveal powerful ways to solve the specific challenges presenters encounter most often.   This book’s five sections focus on each element of the outstanding contemporary presentation:  Content: Mastering the art of telling your story; Graphics: Designing PowerPoint slides that work brilliantly; Delivery skills: How to make actions speak louder than words; Q&A: How to handle tough questions; Integration: How to put it all together.   From clarifying “What’s in it for you?” to crafting better elevator pitches, improving flow to using anecdotes, Presentation in Action is packed with solutions–and packed with inspiration, too!

Table of Contents:
Introduction     1   SECTION I     Content: The Art of Telling Your Story 1          A Lesson from Professor Marvel aka The Wizard of Oz     5             How to Customize Your Presentation 2          Obama and You     8             The Most Persuasive Word 3          The “So What?” Syndrome     10             …and How to Avoid It 4          Beware of Jokes     12             Dispelling a Common False Belief 5          Presentation Advice from Abraham Lincoln     14             Clarity, Ownership, and Add Value 6          It Ain't What You Say, It’s How You Say It     16             Lessons in Structure from Jeffrey Toobin and Andrew Weil, M.D. 7          Presentation Advice from Mark Twain     18             Brevity Takes Time 8          Presentation Advice from Mike Nichols     20             How to Find Value in Your Story 9          Show versus Tell in Hollywood     22             The Wrong and Right Way to Tell a Story in Three Films 10        Slogan Power     24             Why the US Army's "Be All That You Can Be" Succeeded 11        How Long Is Too Long?     26             When in Doubt, Leave It out 12        The Elevator Pitch in One Sentence     28             How to Describe Your Business Succinctly 13        Do You Know the Way to Spanish Bay?     30             The Correct Way to Practice 14        Getting to “Aha!”     32             The Magic Moment 15        This Is Your Pilot Speaking     34             A Lesson in Flow from the Airlines 16        Presentation Advice from the iPhone     36             Substance and Style in Your Story 17        Presentation Advice from Steve Jobs     38             The Power of Positive Words 18        Presentation Advice from Novelists I     40             Begin with the End in Mind, Then Write, Rewrite, and Rewrite 19        Presentation Advice from Novelists II     42             Storyboard and Verbalize 20        Microsoft Slogans Score a Trifecta     44             Three Persuasive Techniques 21        Presentation Advice from a Physician     46             Audience Advocacy 22        Presentation Advice from a Politician     48             Audience Advocacy 23        Ronald Reagan Meets Lenny Skutnik     50             The Catalyst of Human Interest Stories 24        Human Interest Stories: A Double Advantage     51             Two Ways to Use Anecdotes   SECTION II    Graphics: The Correct Way to Design PowerPoint Slides 25        The Presentation-as-Document Syndrome     55             Never the Twain Shall Meet 26        Blame the Penmanship, Not the Pen     57             Operator versus User Error 27        You Can't Use a Sentence As a Prompt     59             Less Verbiage Is More Useful 28        Baiting the Salesperson     60             Selling Is about In-Person Communication 29        PowerPoint and Human Perception     62             Scientific Support for Graphics Design 30        PowerPoint Template: Combined Picture and Text     64             The Best Positions for Pictures and Text 31        Shady Characters     67             The Wrong Way and the Right Way to Build Text 32        “I Can Read It Myself!”     69             Three Simple Steps to Avoid Reading Slides Verbatim 33        A Case for Case I: Initial Caps or All Caps     71             Text Design in Presentations 34        A Case for Case II: Serif or Sans     73             Font Design in Presentations 35        What Color Is Your PowerPoint?     75             Contrast Counts 36        Presentation Advice from Corona Beer     78             Peripheral Vision Counts 37        The Cable Crawlers     80             How Television Animates Text 38        Computer Animation     82             Three Simple Rules 39        PowerPoint and the Military     84             Sometimes More Is More   SECTION III   Delivery Skills: Actions Speak Louder Than Words 40        The Art of Conversation     89             Eye Contact and Interaction Start at Infancy 41        Presentation Advice from Edward R Murrow     91             The "Person-to-Person" Role Model 42        Nonverbal Communication     93             Look Them in the Eye 43        Presentation Advice from Pianist Murray Perahia     95             Concentration Creates Control 44        Presentation Advice from Actress Tova Feldshuh     97             Concentration Creates Communication 45        Presentation Advice from Michael Phelps and Dara Torres     99             How to Control Stress under Pressure 46        Presentation Advice from Frank Sinatra     101             The Art of Phrasing 47        Presentation Advice from Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa     103             The Importance of Breathing 48        The One-Eyed Man     105             Necessity Is the Mother of Invention 49        Bill Clinton's Talking to Me!     106             The Power of Group Dynamics 50        Liddy Dole and Person-to-Person    108             From Law School to the Republican National Convention 51        Fast Talking     109             Fun or Maddening 52        Presentation Advice from Titian     111             Position, Position, Position 53        Presentation Advice from Musicians and Athletes     113             The Value of Effortlessness 54        Presentation Advice from Vin Scully     115             From Reagan to Barber to Scully 55        “Ya’ Either Got It, or Ya’ Ain’t!”     116             The Fear of Public Speaking Is Universal 56        How to Eliminate the Fig Leaf     118             A Presentation Lesson from the Military 57        Unwords     120             Even Barack Obama Says Them 58        To Slip or Not to Slip     122             Been There, Done That 59        The Free Throw     124             A Presentation Lesson from Basketball 60        10 Tips for 30 Seconds     126             Help for Job Seekers 61        You Are What You Eat     127             10 Tips about Food and Drink in Presentations   SECTION IV   Q&A: Handling Tough Questions 62        Speed Kills in Q&A     131             The Vanishing Art of Listening 63        A Lesson in Listening from Barack Obama     133             How to Handle Multiple Questions 64        If I Could Tell Jon Stewart...     135             Talk Shows Include Listening 65        What Keeps You Up at Night?     136             How to Handle the Most Frequently Asked Questions 66        Spin versus Topspin     138             The Political World versus the Business World 67        When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife?     140             How to Handle False Assumption Questions 68        Madoff and Cramer Plead Guilty     142             How to Respond When Guilty as Charged 69        Tell Me the Time, Not How to Build a Clock     144             Keep Your Answers Short 70        Presentation Advice from Jerry Rice     146             Grasp the Question before You Answer 71        Politicians and Spin     147             Putting Lipstick on a Pig 72        Murder Boards     149             How Elena Kagan Prepared for Tough Questions 73        Ms. Kagan Regrets     151             Non-Answers to Tough Questions   SECTION V    Integration: Putting it All Together 74        The Elephant     155             The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts 75        Presentation Graphics Meet Linguistics     156             Symmetry in Graphics Design 76        One Presentation, Multiple Audiences     158             12 Presenters, 12 Stories, 1 Set of Slides 77        The Art and Science of Oprah Winfrey     160             The Secrets of Oprah Winfrey’s Appeal 78        Right or Left     164             The Deep Roots of Human Preferences 79        Graphics Synchronization     168             The Missing Link 80        The House that Jack Built     170             Make All the Parts Fit   Footnotes     173 Acknowledgments     177 About the Author     178 Index     179