Presenting to Win

Reading Jerry Weissman's Presenting to Win, it struck me how much the landscape of modern presentations has changed over so short a time.

Weissman is, of course, one of the world's most influential presentation coaches, and it shows in this book. From the very beginning, where readers are succinctly reminded that presentations are different from documents, it's plain to see his influence on the works of Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, and most anyone who makes a distinction between a presentation and a "slideument". At the same time, Weissman is able to abstract the essentials of effective presentation -- framing it in terms of "audience advocacy" and simplifying one's core messages, among other noteworthy ideas -- such that even those who take for granted the amount of preparation required for captivating presentations will find the book helpful. Hence, anyone who balks at the prospect of reading this pioneering addition to the presentation literature would be doing herself a disservice: Presenting to Win isn't dated; rather, it's a classic.

However, there is at least one area where the book does show its age: its visual aesthetic.

There are several slides in the book used as examples of poor slide design, thereafter made over to be much more effective tools of communication. Certainly, the resulting redesigns represent an improvement, if marginally. In this respect, Presenting to Win is a child of its time, written for an audience still making sense of how best to use PowerPoint and born well before the heyday of TED talks and more sophisticated presentation platforms like Keynote, Prezi or Sliderocket. And yet, really, the difference between the book's publication and these more recent developments is no more than just a few years.

Which brings me back to my original point. Indeed, with rapid changes afoot in the field of presentation it is fitting that we can rely on a classic contribution to the literature to help keep what is essential in perspective.