Winning Strategies for Power Presentations: Jerry Weissman Delivers Lessons from the World's Best Presenters

Craft and deliver outstanding presentations, speeches, demos, and more! Learn how, from the world's #1 presentation coach, Jerry Weissman -- and the experiences of dozens of the world's legendary persuaders! This book distills 75 best practices and techniques Weissman has developed through more than 20 years coaching executives on their highest-stakes presentations. In Winning Strategies for Power Presentations, Weissman identifies the elements of a great presentation, offering powerful new insights into contents, graphics, delivery, Q-and-A sessions, and much more. Weissman illuminates every technique with a compelling case study, drawing on the positive and negative experiences of communicators ranging from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, Jon Stewart to venture capitalist John Doerr, Stephen King to Mark Twain, Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. For the first time, he specifically and thoroughly addresses the unique challenges of making persuasive political presentations and speeches. This book also includes brand-new advice on a wide spectrum of "special presentation" issues, ranging from developing a richer public speaking voice to delivering scripted speeches, interviewing like a TV anchorperson to demonstrating products more successfully. For everyone who must speak and present more effectively in public: executives, managers, professional speakers, business leaders, project leaders, sales personnel, instructors, students, and many others.

Table of Contents:
<>Introduction xv Natural and Universal Section I Content: The Art of Telling Your Story 1 1. Mark Twain’s Fingernails 3 How to Remember What to Say 2. Kill Your Darlings 7 A Lesson from Professional Writers 3. How Long Should a Presentation Last? 11 Be Brief and Concise 4. Follow the Money 13 “So...?” 5. Fellini on Creativity 15 Consider All the Possibilities—Before You Present 6. How Woody Allen Creates 17 First Things First, Last Things Last 7. What’s Your Point? 19 Leave Pointlessness to Woody Allen 8. Spoiler Alert 21 What’s Your Point? 9. The Cyrano Parable 23 The Story You Tell Versus the Slides You Show 10. “Does that make sense?” 25 ...And Other Meaningless Words 11. Meaningful Words 27 Words That Inspire Confidence 12. Writer’s Block 29 How to Break Through 13. Writer’s Block II 31 Easier Said Than Done 14. Never Say “Never” 33 Well, Almost Never 15. From Bogart to Gingrich 35 Who Did It? 16. Rupert Murdoch’s 90% Apology 39 Who Did It? 17. Winning and Losing the World Cup 41 He’s Just Not That into FIFA 18. John Doerr’s “Chalk” Talks 43 Three Best Practices from a Top Venture Capitalist 19. Vinod Khosla’s Cardinal Rule 45 “Message Sent Is Not the Same as Message Received” 20. The Outline Trap 47 Britannica and Brainstorming 21. Having a ’versation 49 “I” Versus “You” 22. “It’s all about you!” 51 “...But they’re just not that into you.” 23. When Not to Tell ’em 55 “Get on with it!” 24. Bookends 59 Establish Your First and Last Sentences 25. The Sound of Ka-Ching! 61 Scale the “You” 26. David Letterman’s Top Ten 63 Pick a Number 27. Illusion of the First Time 65 Road (Show) Warriors 28. In Praise of Analogies and Examples 69 Add Value and Dimension 29. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama 71 Masters of the Game 30. Aristotle: The First Salesman 75 The Original Source Section II Graphics: How to Design PowerPoint Slides Effectively 77 31. Vinod Khosla’s Five-Second Rule 79 A Sanity Check for Every Presentation 32. Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the Water 81 Better Box Thinking 33. Jon Stewart’s Right 83 Positioned on Purpose? 34. Misdirection 85 Magicians and Graphics 35. Obama Makes a PowerPoint Point 87 The State of the Union and Presentations 36. Go in the Right Direction 89 A Presentation Lesson from Akira Kurosawa 37. PowerPoint and Movie Stunts 91 Use Graphics to Create Continuity 38. The Anti-PowerPoint Party 93 Another Precinct Heard From 39. Signage Versus Documents 95 Drive Your PowerPoint Home 40. The Graphics Spectrum 97 Lives of Quiet Desperation 41. How Audiences See 99 Follow the Action 42. Why Use PowerPoint at All? 103 A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words 43. “But, I’m not an artist!” 107 Rx: Infographics 44. The Kindness of Strangers 111 Stand and Deliver 45. No More Mind-Numbing Number Slides 113 Five Easy Steps to Bring Your Presentation to Life Section III Delivery Skills: Actions Speak Louder Than Words 117 46. Eight Presentations a Day 119 Cause and Effect 47. Sounds of Silence 121 Presentation Advice from Composers and Musicians 48. Stage Fright 123 A Close Cousin of Writer’s Block 49. Swimming Lessons and Presentations 127 Deconstruct and Reconstruct 50. Valley Girl Talk 131 Invisible Question Marks 51. “What do I do with my hands?” 133 A Simple Approach to Gesturing 52. “Look, Ma, no hands!” 137 Anchorperson or Weatherperson 53. Foreign Films 139 The Pause That Refreshes 54. Rx: CrackBerry Addiction 141 Control Yourself! 55. The Eyes Have It 143 Relax! 56. Why Sinatra Stood 145 The Voice of “The Voice” 57. Presentation Counts 147 The Rise and Fall of Rick Perry Section IV: How to Handle Tough Questions 151 58. Listening and Laughing with Johnny Carson 153 Late Night Lessons for Presenters 59. Ready, Fire, Aim! 155 Old Habits Die Hard 60. How to Deal with a Direct Attack 159 “That was certainly a downer!” 61. No Such Thing as a Stupid Question 163 A Lesson in Q&A from Dilbert 62. The Patronizing Paraphrase 165 Trying to Channel Bill Clinton 63. Tricky Questions 169 Be Transparent or Be Trapped 64. Robert McNamara Was Wrong 171 You Must Respond to All Questions 65. Breaking into Jail 175 The Elephant IS in the Room Section V Special Presentations 177 66. Speak Crisply and Eliminate Mumbling 179 Be Your Own Henry Higgins 67. How to Develop a Richer Voice 185 Be Your Own Echo Chamber 68. How to Deliver a Scripted Speech 193 When the Words Count 69. Speaking to an Audience of a Thousand 197 The Big Tent 70. How to Beat the Demo Demons 201 Plan B and More 71. Bring Your Panel Discussion to Life 203 How to Herd Cats 72. Mark Your Accent 207 Eliza Doolittle Is a Myth 73. How to Interview Like a Television Anchorperson 211 Seven Easy Steps 74. Ten Best Practices for the IPO Road Show 215 75. Cicero: Peroration 221 Timeless and Borderless Endnotes 223 Acknowledgments 237 Index 239 About the Author 249

About the Author :
JERRY WEISSMAN, the world’s #1 corporate presentations consultant, is known for his executive coaching sessions. Weissman’s private client list includes the top brass at Yahoo!, Intuit, Cisco, Microsoft, HP, Dolby Labs, and many others. His techniques have helped nearly 600 client firms create persuasive IPO road show presentations that have raised hundreds of billions of dollars in the stock market and hundreds of other public and pre-public firms to develop and deliver crucial business presentations. Weissman is the president of Power Presentations, Ltd., and the author of the bestsellers Presenting to Win, Presentations in Action, The Power Presenter, and In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions...When It Counts.