Product Description

In Presenting to Win: Persuading Your Audience Every Time, the world's #1 presentation consultant shows how to connect with even the toughest, most high-level audiences--and move them to action. Jerry Weissman shows presenters of all kinds how to dump those PowerPoint templates once and for all--and learn to tell compelling stories that focus on what's in it for their listeners. Drawing on dozens of practical examples and real case studies, Weissman shows presenters how to identify their real goals and messages before they even open PowerPoint; how to stay focused on what their listeners really care about; and how to capture their audiences in the first crucial 90 seconds. From bullets and graphics to the effective, sparing use of special effects, Weissman covers all the practical mechanics of effective presentation--and walks readers through every step of building a Power Presentation, from brainstorming through delivery. Unlike the techniques in other presentation books, this book's easy, step-by-step approach has been proven with billions of dollars on the line, in hundreds of IPO road shows before the world's most jaded investors.

Foreword to the Paperback Edition  xxiii

Preface: What’s Past Is Prologue  xxvii

Introduction: The Wizard of Aaaahs  xxix

Chapter One: You and Your Audience  3

Chapter Two: The Power of the WIIFY  15

Chapter Three: Getting Creative: The Expansive Art of Brainstorming  27

Chapter Four: Finding Your Flow  51

Chapter Five: Capturing Your AudienceImmediately  83

Chapter Six: Communicating Visually  109

Chapter Seven: Making the Text Talk  123

Chapter Eight: Making the Numbers Sing  143

Chapter Nine: Using Graphics to Help Your Story Flow  157

Chapter Ten: Bringing Your Story to Life  189

Chapter Eleven: Customizing Your Presentation  215

Chapter Twelve: Pitching in the Majors  231

Chapter Thirteen: Animating Your Graphics  237

Chapter Fourteen: The Virtual Presentation  257

Appendix A: Tools of the Trade  273

Appendix B: Presentation Checklists  277

Acknowledgments  283

Index  287

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39915 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
In Presenting to Win: Persuading Your Audience Every Time, the world's #1 presentation consultant shows how to connect with even the toughest, most high-level audiences--and move them to action. Jerry Weissman shows presenters of all kinds how to dump those PowerPoint templates once and for all--and learn to tell compelling stories that focus on what's in it for their listeners. Drawing on dozens of practical examples and real case studies, Weissman shows presenters how to identify their real goals and messages before they even open PowerPoint; how to stay focused on what their listeners really care about; and how to capture their audiences in the first crucial 90 seconds. From bullets and graphics to the effective, sparing use of special effects, Weissman covers all the practical mechanics of effective presentation--and walks readers through every step of building a Power Presentation, from brainstorming through delivery. Unlike the techniques in other presentation books, this book's easy, step-by-step approach has been proven with billions of dollars on the line, in hundreds of IPO road shows before the world's most jaded investors.Foreword to the Paperback Edition xxiii Preface: What's Past Is Prologue xxvii Introduction: The Wizard of Aaaahs xxix Chapter One: You and Your Audience 3 Chapter Two: The Power of the WIIFY 15 Chapter Three: Getting Creative: The Expansive Art of Brainstorming 27 Chapter Four: Finding Your Flow 51 Chapter Five: Capturing Your AudienceImmediately 83 Chapter Six: Communicating Visually 109 Chapter Seven: Making the Text Talk 123 Chapter Eight: Making the Numbers Sing 143 Chapter Nine: Using Graphics to Help Your Story Flow 157 Chapter Ten: Bringing Your Story to Life 189 Chapter Eleven: Customizing Your Presentation 215 Chapter Twelve: Pitching in the Majors 231 Chapter Thirteen: Animating Your Graphics 237 Chapter Fourteen: The Virtual Presentation 257 Appendix A: Tools of the Trade 273 Appendix B: Presentation Checklists 277 Acknowledgments 283 Index 287

From the Back Cover

In Presenting to Win: Persuading Your Audience Every Time, the world's #1 presentation consultant shows how to connect with even the toughest, most high-level audiences--and move them to action. Jerry Weissman shows presenters of all kinds how to dump those PowerPoint templates once and for all--and learn to tell compelling stories that focus on what's in it for their listeners. Drawing on dozens of practical examples and real case studies, Weissman shows presenters how to identify their real goals and messages before they even open PowerPoint; how to stay focused on what their listeners really care about; and how to capture their audiences in the first crucial 90 seconds. From bullets and graphics to the effective, sparing use of special effects, Weissman covers all the practical mechanics of effective presentation--and walks readers through every step of building a Power Presentation, from brainstorming through delivery. Unlike the techniques in other presentation books, this book's easy, step-by-step approach has been proven with billions of dollars on the line, in hundreds of IPO road shows before the world's most jaded investors.

Foreword to the Paperback Edition  xxiii

Preface: What’s Past Is Prologue  xxvii

Introduction: The Wizard of Aaaahs  xxix

Chapter One: You and Your Audience  3

Chapter Two: The Power of the WIIFY  15

Chapter Three: Getting Creative: The Expansive Art of Brainstorming  27

Chapter Four: Finding Your Flow  51

Chapter Five: Capturing Your AudienceImmediately  83

Chapter Six: Communicating Visually  109

Chapter Seven: Making the Text Talk  123

Chapter Eight: Making the Numbers Sing  143

Chapter Nine: Using Graphics to Help Your Story Flow  157

Chapter Ten: Bringing Your Story to Life  189

Chapter Eleven: Customizing Your Presentation  215

Chapter Twelve: Pitching in the Majors  231

Chapter Thirteen: Animating Your Graphics  237

Chapter Fourteen: The Virtual Presentation  257

Appendix A: Tools of the Trade  273

Appendix B: Presentation Checklists  277

Acknowledgments  283

Index  287

About the Author

Jerry Weissman, the world’s #1 corporate presentations coach, founded and leads Power Presentations, Ltd. in Foster City, CA. His private clients include executives at hundreds of the world’s top companies, including Yahoo!, Intel, Cisco Systems, Intuit, Dolby Laboratories, and Microsoft.

Weissman coached Cisco executives before their immensely successful IPO road show; afterward, the firm’s chairman attributed at least two to three dollars of Cisco’s offering price to Weissman’s work. Since then, he has prepared executives for nearly 500 IPO road shows, helping them raise hundreds of billions of dollars. His techniques have helped another 500 firms develop and deliver their mission-critical business presentations.

Weissman is author of the global bestseller Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story (Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003) and In the Line of Fire (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005) along with its companion DVD, In the Line of Fire: An Interactive Guide to Handling Tough Questions (www.powerltd.com).

Customer Reviews

It's A Winner!
Great book that teaches you how to structure a presentation based on a few simple but fundamental rules. Following Weissman's method, you are much more likely to put together a presentation that tells your story with a structured flow and is more likely to convince your audience. Additionally, these rules could be just as easily be applied to other forms of communications, especially where there is an element of persuasion required.

Please note that the author concentrates on the presentation rather than the presenter i.e. structure and flow rather than delivery techniques. I agree with this approach as effective delivery is down what he calls Verbalisation or simply practise, practise, practise.

In summary, highly recommended and I know I'll be reaching over to get it every time I have to prepare a presentation.

Invaluable advice for speakers
As a professional speaker, I know that the best way to get your message across in a speech is to tell a story.

This book is by a master of the art. Jerry Weissman's advice has been heeded by CEOs and politicians across the world (sadly by not enough of them).

If you ever make a presentation, particularly if you use graphics, you must read this book. You'll win more business, delight more audiences, and worry less about standing up and speaking.

Certain to Become a Business "Classic"
It would be a mistake to assume that the benefits of this book will be of greatest value only to those who make formal presentations. On the contrary, as Weissman explains so thoroughly and eloquently, each one of us every day is almost constantly telling a "story" in one form or another to achieve one or more of these objectives: to explain with information (exposition)...or to make vidid with compelling details (description)...or to explain a process or sequence with information (narration)...or to convince with logic and/or evidence (argumentation). The most effective formal presentations are those which make maximum use of all four levels of discourse. It is also worth mentioning that, although percentages vary from one research study to another, the impact of a face-to-face encounter is estimated to be as follows: body language 60-70%, tone of voice 15-20%, and content (i.e. what is actually said) about 10-15%. Skilled recruiters claim that more often than not, they have already made a decision about a candidate before the interview formally begins. In fact, it begins at the initial point of physical contact.

So, I think this book can be of greatest value to literally anyone whose communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal) need to be improved. The strategies and tactics which Weissman shares have almost unlimited applications: when making formal presentations and during job interviews, as noted, but also when preparing reports, contributing to group discussions (e.g. strategic planning and especially budget reviews), resolving problems with customer service, implementing crisis management initiatives, and conducting performance reviews.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Stephen Denning's The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations and Kevin Hogan's The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking.