Wired Presentations

Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk Crush It: Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk.

This book is awesome. It is a combination of great information on using the Web to realize your dreams and tough-love. The truth is that each of us have potential to excel. There is ability, talent, and — here is where the tough-love comes in — determination and HARD WORK.

In the book Gary dispels some myths:

1) Your passion has to be in something that lots of people care about. It doesn’t take a lot of people. The internet enables anyone to reach their tribe and just about everything has a tribe. Choose your passion and let’er rip. But be flexible. Don’t be so rigid that you won’t alter your plans. Be flexible.

2) You have to be an entrepreneur in order to “crush it.” There are plenty of people who have found their tribe and their passion in the corporate world. Using the tools and techniques detailed in the book it is possible to take your corporate work to a whole new level. I want to highlight this important aspect of the book: Gary is one of the few writers of this type of book who doesn’t belittle employees. You can “crush it” in the corporate world. I like that.

3) You must quit your day job. You can start applying the lessons learned here immediately. Work on you passion during your free time. Yep, sleep or work, it’s your choice. Laying the groundwork while you are employed will make parting ways with the corporate world a little easier.

4) It’s easy. Just get started. It isn’t easy. It takes hard work. But, you can do it if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

Gary also discusses some tried and true “rules” of the social web. You must participate in your community. You must develop great content. And, you must be yourself. This last one is huge. He talks about his DNA throughout the book. His DNA is high-energy and high-effort. It is who he is and he is faithful to that in all his endeavors. In order to make this work, you have discover who you are and be true to your DNA.

Just writing this makes me want to read Crush It again. You know what, I am going to.

There is a post on Gary’s presentations coming up in the very near future. For the time being, follow @garyvee on Twitter and watch him on Wine Library TV.

The Virtual Presentation Handbook by Roger Courville

The Virtual Presenter’s Handbook by Roger Courville is the 4th of 52 books that I will read this year.

How did I find Roger’s book, The Virtual Presenter’s Handbook? I found this book because I am a webinar nerd. I just love delivering them. I think that I enjoy delivering them because it may be the most challenging presentation environment there is. Well, that may be an overstatement. “Do you have any final words before we flip the switch?” would be worse. Oh back to the book…

A few years ago I was a Technical Trainer at SAS. Part of the job was delivering courses over the Web. I had never done this before and it scared the life out of me. I asked for advice and no one had any. I looked for help everywhere. There was very little to be found. I decided that I would have to learn how to do it — on my own. I started by watching hundreds of hours of recorded webinars (virtual presentations). I learned what made one webinar better than another and then I taught myself how to do it.

Periodically, I will search Amazon for books of presenting over the Web. During one of those searches I found Roger’s book.

Why did I read the book? Although I am no longer an instructor I still love learning about virtual presentations. I still deliver them, just not as often. Plus, the skills using in virtual presentations apply to using Camtasia. Finally, I want to see if others concur with some of the things I discovered on my own.

Lessons learned. The insight that Roger provides here is very good. Even though the book doesn’t address teaching, or technical presentations, the topics covered can be applied to those fields. I really enjoyed reading about using the Web for sales and marketing presentations. It is an environment that I don’t encounter very often.

There are no discussions of specific tools in the book. The vendors do a great job of documenting their offerings and how to use them. Their tutorial videos are a great learning tool. There is no reason to waste space in the book for that. One of the things that makes the book great is it’s size. Or lack of size. It is a small book and gets straight to the point.

Roger makes a point of emphasizing practice. This was born out in my learning adventure. You have to know the tool that you are using. There is no time to try to figure-out how to make something work during a real presentation. It is hard to make that case to people and Roger does a great job at it. Every once in a while I teach people how to get started with virtual presentations using WebEx. The only way I have found to hammer this home is to make a “mistake” with the tool. I always use polling. Yes, I have a scripted procedure to intentionally screw it up. It highlights the need to practice very effectively.

The book contains a discussion of PowerPoint as well. The tried and true advice extolling the joy of bullet free slides is covered as is a neat trick for building slides without using animations. You see, many of the tools have issues with animations. I won’t spoil it for you but I can vouch for the technique. I use it all the time and it works very well.

One of the joys of virtual presentations is the unmuted phone. During our training classes we heard lots of interesting things. Most of which were quite funny and just a little embarrassing. I can honestly say that I have never heard a story as good as the one from the book. It is a hoot. Plus, the presenter’s reaction is incredibly funny. Seriously, it is almost worth the price of the book just to read the story.

The book has a wonderful discussion on how to make your webinars interactive. Interactivity is required for a great webcast. The vendors all have a common set of features to support this. Polls, chat and annotation tools that allow you do draw or type on the screen are common to all of them. Roger covers them in the book. We differ in our opinion of the annotation tools but that is probably a function of the subject matter we present.

The book is chock-full of useful tips and tricks. I haven’t scratched the surface. I guess you will just have to read it for yourself;)

The final verdict: Experienced Web presenters and newbies will both benefit from reading this book. I wish it had been around when I started.

Be sure to follow Roger on Twitter. You can also learn more at The Virtual Presenter Web site.

The Element by Sir Ken Robinson

The Element is the 3rd of 52 books that I will read this year.

How did I find Sir Ken Robinson’s new book, The Element? I had watched videos of Dr. Robinson’s presentations for years. He is a dynamic presenter and a great presentation role model. Plus, he has some unique and controversial opinions on education. Not knowing which book to start  with, I fired-up Twitter and asked him (@SirKenRobinson) for a recommendation. He suggested The Element. Within seconds I had the book on my Kindle.

Lessons learned. The Element is that region where your talents, passion and opportunity intersect. The book discusses this in great detail. There are many stories in the book. That describe how people find the Element.

But all is not well. Sir Ken goes on to describe the world of modern education where many kids have problems fitting into modern schools. Schools which, according to the book, were designed during the industrial revolution. Schools which closely resemble factories.

The Element makes the assertion that schools crush creativity. This struck a cord with me. I hated school when I was growing up. To this day there are only a couple of teachers who I remember fondly. The Element was a soul searching trip through memory lane. When I was a child I loved to draw. During the fourth grade a teacher made fun of the blue tree I drew. That was it. I quit drawing. She ruined it for me. Now I know the blue tree was a result of colorblindness. This is exactly the situation that Sir Ken is talking about.

The Element had the surprising effect of making me appreciate my job more. I figured-out that I have lots of control over what I do and, more importantly, how I do it. This was, for me, the best part of the book. It challenged me and made me think, a lot. You can’t ask more from a book.

The final verdict: This is a book that everyone should read. The storytelling is outstanding and you get to learn some interesting facts about some famous people.

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.

“What’s a manager’s job?” I was somewhat taken aback by the question for two reasons. One, I am not a manager. And, two, Alan and I weren’t talking about management or managers or leadership. Still, it’s a great question. Without much thought I replied, “To make his (or her) people better.”

A lot of people will pay lip-service to the development of employees, but when push comes to shove it often goes by the wayside. There are many reasons for this — strangled budgets or perceived lack of time. There are lots more, I am sure.

Just between you and me I don’t rely on my manager, and I have an outstanding manager, to plan my training or personal development. Heck, I have even taken a job just to learn a specific skill (i.e. course development and training). As Alan and I discussed this further I asked this question.

Why don’t we individual contributors have group meetings and don’t invite the managers?

Think about it. You can learn from and teach others in your group all sorts of things. When management is present at a meeting most of us peons are rather reserved. We tend not to be forthright and open. This is bad. Openness between the members of a group leads to trust and reliance. You know that others will help you when you need it. Keith Ferrazzi’s book, “Who’s Got Your Back” doesn’t specifically address this concept but it is close enough. With a little work it can be applied to the Managerless Group Meeting.

I discussed this idea with one of my younger coworkers this morning. She liked it. She even mentioned that this would be a great environment for learning presentation skills. Hummmmmm… I think that I like where this is going.

2009 was a great year reading-wise. Here are some of my favorite 2009 reads. The links below don’t make me any cash; North Carolina doesn’t feel that it would be good for me to participate in an affiliate program.

My Favorite Books of 2009 (in no particular order)

Collapse of distinction by Scott McKain – The theme of this book is that you can’t compete on price. There has to be something compelling about your offerings in order to survive. In short, you can’t out McDonalds McDonalds. Scott is also a great person to follow on Twitter.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod – Hugh’s main message is simple, and compelling, “Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.” I like this book so much that I have given a copy to a friend. I happen to see a copy sitting on a co-worker’s desk and it made me smile. This is a great book, you owe it to yourself to read it. You can follow Hugh on Twitter.

The Backchannel: How Audiences are Using Twitter and Social Media and Changing Presentations Forever by Cliff Atkinson – Cliff is just a super nice guy who happens to know a great deal about presentations using technology. If you deliver presentations you must read this book. If you have never heard of the backchannel you must read this book. If you don’t know what the backchannel is you must read this book. You don’t want to find out about the backchannel after it has given you a healthy smack-down. Follow Cliff on Twitter.

Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success–and Won’t Let You Fail by Keith Ferrazzi - The message here is simple — good, honest, feedback is vital if you plan to reach your potential. You need to build trusting relationships in order to thrive. Keith explains how you can do this by creating accountability groups. You owe it to yourself to read this book and put the ideas into practice. Follow Keith on Twitter.

Trust Agents Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. If you are reading this blog, you need to read Trust Agents. The book can change your life. It’s that simple. Follow Chris on Twitter. Follow Julien on Twitter.

And finally…

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. This book is excellent. Even if you don’t run you will enjoy this book. Find out how the modern running shoe industry has effected the health of runners. You will also meet characters who you will swear were made up. They weren’t. Find out how people can run a 100 mile, or more, race and be smiling as they cross the finish line. Amazing. Just writing this makes me want to read it again, and again.