A great book that reminds every would-be presenter to keep it simple (stupid). Lots of real-world examples. If you have to give a presentation this is required reading.

Having said that, it does not address handouts in detail (nor should it). Pages 66-67 are dedicated to basic dos and don'ts on handouts, but you'll need to look elsewhere for advice on that aspect.

I've just finished "Presentation Zen" by Garr Reynolds. This book is also available in Russian, but the cover of the Russian edition makes me sick: it destroys the main idea of the book before you even open it! I can speculate that translation is poor too, so please, if you choose to read this particular book - go get the original one.

At first glance this book is not a how-to guide. But on the other hand it really is a step-by-step instruction, which helps you do your best. In fact, to understand Mr. Reynold's advice, ideas and approach in making and presenting presentations you have to understand all this Zen stuff. It was all new for me, all this "less is better" and other ideas (by the way, you can find most of this Zen ideas in Steve Jobs presentations and in most of Apple's products). However, this book is more about philosophy of making better things, than about preparing presentations in PowerPoint, Keynote or whatever.

Anyway, as I said before, this is the step by step instruction. Instruction of how not to make presentations and instruction of how to make something memorable, bright, useful and nice. Even if you never use any slideware, you'll get some interesting ideas of presenting yourself to the audience, or techniques of introducing your ideas to public, or (OMG!) ideas of how to use slideware properly! :)
What's your favorite site with book reviews? ;)

Also, pay attention to Kindle format: Kindle DX is ok for this book - you'll see all the examples, but on the ordinary Kindle (2 gen) some of the pictures won't show.

When I started applying some of the principles in Presentation Zen, people would come up to me after the presentation and ask "Where did you get those pictures?"

In a way, the clean communication approach proposed by Garr Reynolds is shocking to environment who have been numbed to death by the incessant powerpoint bullets, bullets, bullets. They say bullets kill ... YEP ... they kill communication. The cure: this book.

Garr outlines a clean, fluid thought process to getting your message across.

If you give presentations, buy it and improve your results.

If you are in the audience, and someone is reading a series of bullets from a slide with 350 words on it ... have a copy of this book available for the presenter. It will be the single most constructive thing you could do towards making the next show bearable!!!

In my presentation in the past I always missed a guide, my presentation had a good value, full of info but some thing missing. The book explain a lot and guide me to the right direction. I wish I have a chance to show Garr my presentation before and after reading the book.
I'm working in an international company and the main problem always the communications and the presentation, I took a step ahead and show evryone in the company all levels HOW YOU PRESENT TO DELIVER A MESSAGE.
Thanks
Mohamed

Presentation Zen

I purchased this book looking for ways to improve my presentations, and I was not disappointed. Garr covered a lot of topics that have truly helped me out. I've used Powerpoint for a number of years and grew weary of creating the same old boring slides. Garr's book was a welcome addition to my library and has formed a new foundation for making my slides. The Zen approach seems odd at first, and I was very skeptical of his approach. It seemed like he was trying to teach me Japanese at first, and covered a lot of Zen philosophies. Then it clicked - I realized his goal was to show how slides can be even more effective by doing more with less. A lot of the tips given (thinking with the beginner's mind, rule of two thirds, full bleed images) are logical and make a lot of sense. I learned a great deal from this book and would recommend it to students and professionals.

Pros: Easy to read, simple and logical approach to each topic

Cons: None, I was skeptical at first but I did a 180 at the end of the book

Overall: 5/5 stars

If you dread death by Powerpoint this book is for you! Garr opened my eyes to the way we should tell stories via presentation media rather than the way we've all been taught by templates and predecessors. I recommend a copy in each office, if not on the bookshelf of every professional who has cause to stand up in front of an audience for five minutes or more with an LCD projector and a lap top.

This book is AMAZING. It changed the way I think about a presentantion. It should be a must have for teachers, and everyone who needs to perform a good presentation. Very good book from the beginning to the end.

Excellent basic pointers on making presentations with impact. Garr Reynolds really leverages his knowledge of human psyche to create memorable powerpoints.
A must read for presentation enthusiasts.

I was very disappointed by this book. I work as a consultant and was looking for a book with practical tips to improve the design of presentations. 60 pages in the book do this, although the advice given remains very general in nature. The other 160 pages are filled with advice on how to prepare a talk, organize your thoughts, countless anecdotes about Japan and other stuff I was not looking for. A big disappointment.

A positive note is that the slides provided in the book, and there are many, provide plenty of good ideas.

Early on Garr Reynolds states that Presentation Zen describes an approach not a method. He succeeds in pointing us in the right direction, but leaves us with a great deal of work to do on our own. In my mind, that's okay.

One strength of the book is an eclectic reading list scattered throughout the book. We're given a roadmap to go deeper, an interesting on at that. Another is slide examples. The strongest pages include side-by-sides of weak slides and their more powerful redesigns. Don't do that. Do this. In the past I've found examples such as these to be a great way to learn (for desktop publishing see The Makeover Book by Roger Parker). One develops intuition once many sets have been studied. Still, I would like to have seen more of these in PZ.

There are many important themes in the book. Comics and storytelling are the mediums to emulate. People want to hear "the story" of your facts. Clarity, simplicity and length are some of the other important themes. [...] Can you strip your presentation down to its essence?

A critical reader review mentioned pushing product. I didn't sense that. What I saw was documenting sources. Another suggested it was sparse. I think Presentation Zen is true to its title. We're given the framework and the resources, then the rest is up to us. Given our diverse needs, I think this a reasonable approach.

Reading The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and Presentation Zen will help anyone put distance between new presentations and the dense "slideuments" of the past.

--Jack H. Bender, author of Disregarded: Transforming the School and Workplace through Deep Respect and Courage

This book is part of the tool kit I recommend to our students in our Master of Communication, Digital Media program at the University of Washington. Successful persuasive presentations rest on emotional connection, not facts-and-data. Garr Reynolds helps speakers rethink the supporting visuals that appear as a backdrop when on-stage so that the visuals extend the speaker's core message. The book is also helpful for those who must prepare presentations for internal staff meetings.

Although I recommend the book -- and Garr's web site -- I also caution audiences to be aware of emotional appeals because those with questionable ethics can use these techniques in a less-than-above-board manner. This means that the book is valuable even if you don't plan to give a presentation, because it can help you be aware of emotional manipulation.

Finally, if you are interested in information graphics (contrasted with images as concepts), I recommend Edward Tufte's books and seminars.

I am a trainer and it has made me re-look at all my training materials in a whole new light. Each time I present a seminar, I am re-doing my materials. I even gave it as a Xmas present to the entire top management staff of one of my clients. My husband purchased Presentation Zen Design, which I am in the process of reading and is a great follow-on. The DVD is excellent for those people who do not like to read or do not have a whole lot of time. An excellent investment in your professional development. You will never look at presentations the same again.

Presentation Zen will finally make you understand why the typical PowerPoint presentation you often see is incredibly boring and ineffective at getting the audience to understand the message. How should we prepare, design, and deliver an effective presentation to get the message across?

Garr Reynolds begins the first half of the book on PREPARATION. How should we prepare our presentations? He tells us that working with restrictions and limitations are a great ally and are good for producing creative work. We should always focus on the core message and underlying theme. ("What's my Point? Why Does It Matter?")

The second half of the book is focuses on DESIGN. Here, he provides great design principles (with excellent examples) that anyone preparing a presentation should keep in mind. To create messages that stick, he refers to Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die on the six key principles: SUCCESs - Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions and Stories. He also refers to Zen concept of simplicity to clarity, subtlety, essentialness, and minimalism.

It is very rare to find a book that is written with such clear message that tells us what we have all been doing were wrong, and how to do it right. He shows us how we can see things from a different point of view. Instead of asking "How can I save more time?" Why didn't we ask it is not just about our time, but it was about the audience's time? ("Are you wasting your audience's time?")

If you want to know how to make a better presentation design and delivery, this is the book.

Subtitled, "Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery," the author of this exceptional book is a writer, designer and musician who lives and works in Japan. Drawing upon zen principles throughout the book, each of the three key chapters (Preparation, Design and Delivery) is full of practical insights and examples of the primary principles for enhancing the reader's ability to make their points powerfully and concisely. Multiple topics close with an "In Sum" page that repeats the key principles of that portion of the book. Beautifully illustrated with scores of examples of both good and bad presentation slides (the book is not really about PowerPoint or Keynote, but the entire presentation process), Reynolds and his contributors provide excellent, practical insights on the entire process.

Some key takeaways from the book include:
-Seek to realize the maximum effort with the minimum means.
-Never start your design on a computer. Presentation software is not designed for the brainstorming necessary. Consider using Post-its on a wall or a storyboard.
-There are three documents in a presentation - the slides you show, the notes you use and the handouts you provide after the presentation.
-Avoid "slideuments" - Documents that are masquerading as PowerPoint slides.
-Be sure your presentation answers the two main questions: 1. What is your point? 2. Why does it matter?
-Practice the six Main Principles in your presentation - Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions and Stories (the acronym is SUCCESs).
-Regarding design (there are scores of examples in the book), remember the Big Four: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity.

An incredibly useful (not to mention aesthetically striking) book for anyone who seeks to enhance their presentation skills.

To quote Seth Godin (one of the contributors and no slacker in this area himself!), "Please don't buy this book! Once people start making better presentations, mine won't look so good. (But if you really want to learn what works and how to do it right, Garr is the man to learn from.)"

This book is a must have for anyone wanting to communicate to an audience. The book is written in a logical sequence and like it's central premise uses images freely to make each major point in the book ... well visual. Anyone that has ever been to a good presentation innately can see why they enjoyed the presentation. And the corollary is equally true, just spoken words and bullet points do not stick and leave the audience bored and tuned out. The most lasting lesson in the book is that "creativity comes from constraints" - less is more. I would also recommend that you get the paperback version as opposed to the Kindle version as the latter does not show all the images and they are by definition black and white. If you are a presenter on a regular basis make sure your briefcase contains this presentation "bible".

This book is my current top recommendation with regards to how to improve your slideshow presentations.

The book is full of useful advice, and also full of many visual examples.

This should be required reading for anybody who uses Powerpoint or Keynote.

I have bougth that book with a lot of expectations and at the end was a bit disapointed. I had started studying the subject with a first cheaper purchase on the website powerpoint-presentation-[...]. That revealed to be actually enough. The book Presentation Zen did not bring me much more. I think that the book could have been shorter, and some ideas were sometimes too obvious.. (like keep the light on)

If you give presentations for work...
1. buy this book
2. learn & live it
3. make an difference in your company
4. ask your boss for a raise

Yes, it's that good.

Losts of good advices, great graphic examples, nice tips about sites to visit.
It will change your mental scheme about presentations just looking at the examples.

If you are a beginner in presenting this book will get you going in the right direction. If you think are an experinced presenter - this book will make you think again. Your life as a presenter wil never be the same again.

Excellant source of information that helped create an extraordinary Power Point Presentation and web site.

Presentation Zen owes more to American evangelical Christianity than to Zen Buddhism. Promoting oneself or one's cause, no matter how artfully, clashes with Zen Buddhism; it fits hand and glove with evangelical Christianity.

A self-concious member of a self-identified elite, the author embeds practical advice in a cloak of Zen metaphors. A reader who wants to learn how to make good, solid presentations can get most of this by googling Simon Peyton-Jones and following the advice in his presentation on how to give a good research presentation.

Of course, Reynolds goes far beyond Peyton-Jones artistically. Presentation Zen is for readers who want to craft a presentation to sell themselves or their cause. But readers who want to effectively share content with peers, Presentation Zen goes too far. Unless the peers also are more intent on selling themselves or their causes than they are in sharing content. In audiences of Presentation Zen speakers, you will hear comments about showmen or "drinking the Kool-Aid." These speakers risk losing their credibility and having their audiences disconnect. Reynolds hints at this when he recommends using quotes to enhance credibility: credibility that depends on quotes is rather thin to begin with. Reynolds recommends surprising the audience: surprise them with honesty.

I have to rain on the parade of Nancy's book and Garr Reynold's book (and other ones). This is based on the review I gave Duarte's "Slideology."

The message is "I'm one of the best slide designers in the world (which is true) and I'm going to show you WHY."

The message should be "I'm one of the best slide designers in the world and I'm going to show you HOW."

You'll see plenty to interest you, but unless you're a full-fledged graphic designer you'll never recreate these slides. Imagine putting this book (and Duarte's book) into a room with some of your worst slide creators, or even yourself. Would you see an improvement in their skills? I doubt it.

You might as well become a painter by reading books that have the world's greatest pictures in them. Even though there is explanatory text here it isn't enough to bridge the gap.

To see a book written for its audience, try the "Before and After" books by Jon McWade which deal with desktop publishing. Unfortunately John has not yet tackled slides, but you can see an page layout idea and make it yourself in minutes.

So, sorry about this, because both this and Duarte's book are "nice" books. The energy has gone into the book's design and production rather than the content. But that makes them coffee-table books, and unless you have a coffee table in your office I'd advise that you give both of them a miss.

Too often management consultants think the world is full of management consultants and forget that not everyone loves PowerPoints slides and wants to discuss the complex meaning of shape and colour of each shape.

This book helps is not just about presentations but extends to best practices and theories for communication in general.

Beyond the typical book about getting better at presenting or becoming a more effective speaker, Presentation Zen offers its own answers to a couple of key questions:

* Why design matters?
* What the hell is a good design?

As a technical guy I've always been focus on searching functional solutions for problem but I've overlooked the design aspects of those solutions nonetheless. Since I finished this book I've started to look at things from a different perspective, not just technical but visual.Presentation Zen's honestly one of the most remarkable books I've read in recent times. It's become my personal starting point to the Design world providing the necessary guidelines and resources I needed.

Plain, clear, brilliantly designed... I could write longer about Presentation Zen but it would go against the principles it teaches.

This is a great reference book for creating engaging presentations. I'll recommend it to everybody that deals with live presentations.

This is an excellent guideline for creating easy to follow, attractive and engaging presentations. The foreword is a piece of art. Illustrations are clear examples of the graphic component of this kind of presentations. As we read it, we acknowledge how many mistakes we've made in the past, and how boring we have been for our audiences. Also we can clearly see how we can make a U turn and provide effective visual support for our talks. Buy it now.

Presentation Zen does an excellent job of not only explaining why most conventional presentations are tedious, but how they actually contribute to your audience not getting your message at all. Fortunately, it does provide a plethora of remediation strategies in the messaging, design, attitude and physical presence aspects of presenting. This book can't guarantee that you won't have to sit through another painful and time-wasting presentation, but after reading it, you'll have no excuses for giving one.

Most self-help books are bloated, underedited and self-indulgent.

Most business books are bloated, underedited, and self-indulgent.

So it's no surprise that this self-help business book is underedited, bloated, and self-indulgent. We have, in Chapter 8, 2 pages of rambling on samurai swordsmanship as an analogy for...what exactly? This meandering style of writing is a disservice to the reader and undermines the thesis of the book. This is a magazine article grown obese.

Two stars for teh pretteee pictures.

If you're familiar with the elements of elegent design, simplicity, minimalism etc...you'll get the idea of this book very quickly. It bangs at that one main point, and the rest is fluff.

But it's a beautiful book with lots of examples and is a treat to read and skim through before you're next PowerPoint creation.

I like the design principles and process tools that are provided in Presentation Zen: those are definitely usable and useful, and if I were rating on the book only on the learnings I came away with, I'd give it higher marks.

But I felt I really had to dock marks because of my experience with the book: I found it quite ironic that, for me, the book really failed in the very goals the author says we should have for our presentations: content that is engaging and is clear.

I was quite surprised to find this book non-engaging: for me, it has been a slog to work through. Typically I can read only part of a chapter before I wanted to put it down. I don't normally read like that, and I can usually get through a book like this within a few days, but it has taken me weeks to endure just the first half!

At first, that left me puzzled: The book has visual appeal; the chapters aren't overly long and there are only ten of them; why can't just get through them? The probable reason came to me in reading the chapter "Simplicity: Why it matters": the author really fails at his own ideals of simplicity. Not in the visual design; the visual design of the book is good in this respect. Rather, he fails to keep the written content simple. That very chapter on simplicity made this apparent to me. Let me explain.

He starts with two pages introducing the topic: simplicity really means clarity: getting the essense of the message and presenting that in a way that's clear for the intended audience -- and a key to that is eliminating the non-essential (simplicity). So far, so good.

Then he spends two pages using a comparison of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as illustration. Now, I'm not convinced that the stereotypes of these two are fully valid, and maybe that was a factor, but overall these two pages really added nothing to my understanding of the author's message. In other words, for me that was two pages of non-essential content that only distracted and detracted from the author's message.

The next sub-section is six pages long. The last page is well done and simply has a quotation that is relevant to the author's message: "By stripping an image to essential meaning, the artist can amplify that meaning..." (Scott McCloud). But that was preceded by five redundant and somewhat-tedious pages:

The sub-section starts with a discussion of three Japanese concepts: kanso (simplicity), shizen (naturalness) and shibumi (elegance). But the discussion of shizen really just re-iterates the need for simplicity: the recurring theme in that portion is restraint; naturalness is never mentioned after the opening sentence. (Along the way, he introduces another Japanese term "miegakure" without explaining it -- more distracting content that added nothing meaningful for me.) After that is a full-page discussion of elegance, and that was just more elaboration on simplicity (good taste can be attained in restraint). Then there are two more pages ("Wabi-Sabi Simplicity") in which the author further reiterates the less-is-more idea.

That's followed by a page with a side-bar anecdote that I found pretty silly: it leads to a nonsensical conclusion that a fish shop doesn't need any sign to advertise and identify itself. (More useful would have been a discussion of pros and cons for different signs.)

So, six pages on "kanso", "shizen" and "shibumi" that I found highly redundant with many paragraphs of text that added nothing new to the message. I think that has been typical of my experience in the book so far, and the reason I've found it a slog: there's been a lot of content that adds nothing to the message.

Like the bullets of text on slides that the author wants to steer us away from.

How ironic!

In part, I think the author's obvious interest in Zen and in Japanese culture may be contributing to this problem in the book. He wants to include elements of Zen and Japanese throughout the book because they interest his and because they relate to _his_ understanding of simplicity, clarity and elegance. But it seems to me that he failed to apply his own recommendations of going through a process to understand the audience and to tailor the presentation in a way that will get across his core message to them -- including elminating non-essentials. His core message is not about Zen or about Japanese culture (and if those are topics you want to read about, you can find much better books than this). His core message is about something else, and excessive incorporation of these other themes is, at least for me, a distraction.

In summary, then, I found the book to have some really useful ideas on creating presentations, but that they are presented in a way that really misses the mark in the very goals it strives for. I can readily imagine that Reynolds does live presentations on the same topic that are excellent and highly effective, but for me this written presentation is neither of those things. I'd give a buy rating for the usefulness of the ideas but with this strong caveat for the written presentation. (It's the first book on the topic I've read, so I don't have better alternate suggestions.)

I would like to have had this book when we were preparing presentations in the Pentagon. Reynolds provides practical methods for organizing thoughts and presenting ideas in ways to strike and keep an audience's attention. Good insights for marketing presentations, academic oral defenses, or classrooms. If you would like to make attractive, relevant, and memorable visual presentations then you should read this book.

Presentation Zen shifts your thinking about presentations. It is a well designed, quick to read book, but the effect is transformative. And it stays with you - I read it months ago and still remember many of the points and visuals.

As someone said on the back cover: please don't read this book, otherwise my presentations won't be standing out any more ;)

On a more serious note: a fantastic book with a fresh, somewhat unusual approach to presentation preparation, design and delivery.

I do a alot of public speaking and teaching. I use PowerPoint and Keynote quite a bit. I feel I have a pretty good hanlde on design. It is also fair to say, that after reading "Presentation Zen", i realized I was doing many things right. However, the most important reason to buy the book, is for all of the things I learned I was doing wrong! Garr, says many of the same things others have said in their books, but I believe his is the one I'd suggest for a person who doesnt have a lot of time, and wants to create a memorable presentation. Its an easy ready, quick and informative. Buy it, you wont be dissappointed!

This book is a quick read that is easily consumed and provides a valuable alternative perspective on incorporating visuals in presentations. The language is clear, the insights are thoughtful, and the visuals are illuminating.

In addition to addressing the final product, the book offers valuable suggestions for the entire process of crafting a presentation (beginning with conceptualization).

One of the things I found particularly valuable was the space devoted to analyzing presentation styles in the context of culture. Reynolds doesn't presume that his style is for everyone, however he provides guidance for adhering to the constraints demanded by certain cultures (whether they be ethnic or more tied to work type) and still infusing them with a clean and attractive aesthetic.

The title is accurate, these are simple ideas on presentations but that takes nothing away from their power. That's especially true because so many of us do the wrong thing so often in building our Powerpoints. Simple graphics, simple messages on each slide are not only easier to comprehend, they also free the speaker from the straightjacket of a speech. All that is good and I think the concepts apply equally well to video production. Nonetheless, the book drags a bit in the first half and you almost begin to worry that the author doesn't have a point. But much of this feeling is probably a left brained Western reaction to a set up that is Eastern and very right brained. Worth reading if you care about being a good presenter.

So, simple ideas on presentation design and delivery. Yes there are those in this book. But too few and really simple. The rest is empty space, sample slides, quotes and references to other authors.

The book tells you this:

---
Most of today's presentations are done wrong. But doing it right is simple. You just have to know how to. Just like Tom, Dick and Harry who do awesome presentations.
...
It's all about creativity. You need to unleash yours. Here is a few hints about organizing your work.
...
The slides. Here is a few hints about graphical design. Have a look at a few samples. And a few more samples. And a few more. See ?
...
The audience. Work with it. Here is a few hints on the topic.
...
Now get out there and practice !
---

Bottom line: inspiring but sometimes obvious.

While Power Point used to have a focus on primary colors and cartoon clipart, the new Power Point is powerful without being overpowering. The author provides guidelines for awakening the senses, and providing opportunities for clients to experience presentations that are not "in the face".

I highly recommend this book, as well as the information contained on the author's website.

Presentation Zen is a short, powerful, and (appropriately enough) beautifully designed book offering all the information and insights you need to become a great presenter. Drawing on his own extensive experience presenting to Fortune 500 companies, his years in Japan, and the teachings of various other presentation masters like Seth Godin, Steve Jobs, and Guy Kawasaki, Reynolds guides you through everything you need to know about the preparation, design, and delivery of awesome presentations.

Join the forces of good against the evil of Death By PowerPoint! Read this book, benefit from it, and spread the world.

This is a thoroughly absorbing work. Interspersed with references to his life in Japan the author has written with a fresh richness of thought and clarity. I particularly enjoyed the link to Daniel Pink's book 'A whole New Mind.

I think is a practical guide to communicate an idea or a concept always in a different manner depending in our audience

Anyone looking for a new way to avoid death by powerpoint will need this book. The philosophy behind this is clearly explained, pictures for comparison are excellent. You will be motivated!

This book is so good that, to date, I've purchased over 30 copies as gifts for people with whom I work.
It's simple and its concepts and suggestions are easy to enact.
My copy has many tabbed pages and notes written in the margins.

Unexpectedly, it's also full of good tips for speaking and presenting. Reading (and rereading) it will make you want to give a presentation.

Have you ever read a book where the content is so appealing, applicable, and soothing that you wish it would never end?

"Presentation Zen" is one of those books. This book is filled from cover to cover with amazing examples, techniques, and images that inspire and encourage excellence in presentation. The layout adheres to the principles of simplicity and elegance taught in the book. The author, Garr Reynolds, is generous and knowledgeable in his narrative.

The book consists of five sections:

Introduction - This section starts with one of my favorite quotes: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" (Leonardo Da Vinci). This sets the tone for the rest of the book.

Preparation - Get away from the computer and think about the central point. My favorite suggestion from this section is: "As you prepare a presentation, exercise restraint and keep these three words in mind always: simplicity, clarity, brevity."

Design - Here the author reminds us of the design principles often associated with Zen: Simplicity, Naturalness, and Elegance. You can't really go wrong if you keep these in mind.

Delivery - Having an awesome deck of slides is all well and good, but the delivery of the presentation is just as important. The key here is being completely present and in tune with your audience.

Next Steps - Practice makes perfect!

The best part of this book is that the author does not hold back on sharing the wealth. After reading some books, I feel like "yeah, that sounds good in theory, but it didn't give me the tools I need to make it happen." "Presentation Zen" provides all the tools you need, including confidence. In fact, it even includes a promotional offer for iStockPhoto to get you started with getting high quality images for your next presentation. After reading this book, I totally get Seth Godin's tongue-in-cheek comment in his endorsement:

"Please don't buy this book! Once people start making better presentations, mine won't look so good."

I am actually excited about starting on my next presentation for an upcoming product roadshow. I can't wait to deliver an amazing presentation!

This is an extraordinarily practical yet engaging and thought-provoking book. Beyond it's obvious uses by perpetrators of "Death by Powerpoint" (including me, alas), it's insights are relevant to how any person presents themselves.

The book is concise and easy to read yet is full of useful references and examples. I've already made good use of the ideas in the book - from specific slide designs and stock photo sites to more abstract ideas about engaging the audience and Ben Zander's philosophy.

* A total waste of time and money.
* If only the author used just one of the techniques of good writing in building this book it would have made it a better read
* Too many paragraphs to explain simple concepts
* 10 or 11 sized font used with hundreads of word per page. I had to speed read

I've been doing several presentations and talks in the last couple of months (such as the last few Mini Web Design Conference), and I realized I needed to sharpen my presentation skills. That's why when I got a hold of Prezentation Zen by Garr Reynolds, I was quite pleased.

But I was more pleased after reading it, because the contents are really, really helpful and inspiring- to the point that I look forward to making presentations the same way there are Los Angeles Lakers games on TV.

The book is divided in to three major parts: the preparation for the presentation, the design of your presentation materials (powerpoint & keynote slides, etc.), and the delivery of the presentation. All three major parts are tied together with the Zen philosophy and approach. This approach is all about simplicity and absense of noise. The book is very good in imparting these points in all the three parts.

The book was also able to give me a new mindset when it comes to designing my presentations, like the importance of integrating the appropriate images into the presentation and the use of space and the simplification of points for the audience's easier understanding. There are also sample presentations slides for additional reference.

Presentation Zen is definitely one of those books that won't gather dust on my bookshelf because I'll always refer to it whenever I'll make presentations.

This book seems to present a bit of a paradox. It is a book about slides. Reynolds admires Tufte. Tufte has written scathing words about Power Point. The Cognitive Style of Power Point & The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition How can this be? In short, they agree on a critical point. Don't let your slides try to be documents, and if you have to write a document, do so, and don't make slides. The two authors differ in style and emphasis, and their topics are entirely different, but essentially they agree. Tufte suggests that short "pitches" are trivial in content, and therefore not worth his commentary or time. He thinks that a presentation rich in details, rich in content, should be accompanied with technical reports. Reynolds would agree. So if you that is your goal, seek out Tufte. Reynolds would argue you should be doing a report, not slides. If, on the other hand, you need to make a "pitch", or need to do a high level overview, or need to present at a corporate meeting, you need this book. It is a tough competition between this book and Duarte's. slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations I prefer this one. It is highly visual and reads like a extended series of magazine articles, while keep you thinking. In a couple of sections, it feels like a bunch of blogs posts, strung together. This is not endemic, so it never became too distracting. Another reviewer's critique that it is "light" is fair, but in my case it made it more effective. It is not as detailed as Duarte's, but if you are looking for inspiration more than instruction, an interlocutor of sorts, this delivers. Compared to this, Duarte's feel like a text book, albeit a very good one. The two authors know each other, and have presented together. Presentation Zen will convince you to be a little brave, and try a few new things. I experimented with stock photos as a result of reading this book. It will also talk you out of doing what you know will fail, but find yourself doing anyway, in an attempt to be like everyone else. Finally, upon completing this book, I became utterly persuaded on one key point: never, ever print a slide deck. It never works. Instead, produce a document that is designed to be read (not projected on a screen) to accompany the slides, and to be given after the talk.

Read Presentation Zen. If it gives you just one stellar idea, it is worth the modest investment of time and money.

Great book to keep you focused on the creation of effective and engaging presentations. The majority of the book covers creating Power Point slides with a clean, dynamic approach.

Great for the beginner to get a good understanding of the flow of effective presentations and great for seasoned pros or creative groups as a reminder on formatting.