52 Books (#2) Confessions of a Public Speaker
Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
Confessions of a Public Speaker is the 2nd of 52 books I will read this year.
How did I find Scott Berkun’s new book, Confessions of a Public Speaker? Oddly enough, it started on Twitter. I believe it was Kathy Sierra (@KathySierra) that tweeted about Scott’s promo video and the weighty cognitive load it placed on the viewer. The comment stream is pure gold and well worth reading.
Why did I read the book? I didn’t like the promo video, but Kathy seemed positive about the book. So I decided that I should read it. Besides, I do a lot of presentations and writing at work and figured that I would learn something.
“… the “Confessions…” book is amazing (I was one of the lucky ones that got an advance look and it “grabbed me by the throat, pinned me to the wall, and did not let up ’till I’d finished.” — Kathy Sierra
Lessons learned. Great presentations don’t just happen, they must be pondered. When it comes to presentation design, thinking is one of the most important ways you can spend your time. Scott’s book is the only book I have read on presentations what talks about it. I am obsessive about this portion of design and now I find that I am not alone.
Plus, Scott preaches … practice … practice … practice. This is a hard sell for most, but it is THE most important that you can do to ensure that your presentation is successful. Sure, you can immediately fire-up PowerPoint if you want to, but know this: The most beautiful set of slides in the world is useless if you suck. And if you don’t practice there is a good chance that your presentation will do just that, suck!
The book does not follow the usual recipe for a presentation book. There are no recipes for content development, no talk of gestures, etc. In short, this book is like sitting at a bar with your friends discussing presentations. It is highly engaging and dare I say, hard to put down. It’s a great book.
I really enjoyed the chapter, “You can’t do worse than this.” It contains presentation horror stories and shines a light on the fact that even expert presenters have things that go worse than expected. It’s hard not to like “train wreck stories.”
If you are new to presentations this should be the first book that you read on the topic. It gives a lot of great advice that many people take for granted. Plus, Scott points out that no one is perfect and no presentation is perfect. Although we strive for perfection, it is unobtainable. In short, do your best and give your presentation — it will be OK.
The final verdict: Presenters of all skill levels should read this book! I highly recommend it.
While you wait for your book to arrive be sure to check-out Scott’s blog. It’s full of very good stuff.
[...] Jeff Bailey, Wired Presentations: If you are new to presentations this should be the first book that you read on the topic. It gives a lot of great advice that many people take for granted. [...]