So You Want to Up Your Presentation Game?

As I mentioned in the webinar I co-hosted with the CPSA (Canadian Professional Sales Association - in case you missed it, you can check out the replay here), I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to do a ton of research on how to create great presentations.

Here are some great resources I found that can really help you up your presentation game:

Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds is an excellent read. Garr talks about the key things you want to think about when you are working through the Preparation, Design, and Delivery stages of your presentation. He spent a fair bit of time in Japan, hence his "Zen" approach to presentations. On the whole, if you're interested in finding ways to infuse your presentations with elegant simplicity, this book will help! [Note: You can get more details and view the inside of this book for free on Amazon by clicking on the image]

Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte is a great book for those of us who are interested in getting our slides to "pop". She goes into details of style and design including how to use background, colour and text to create strikingly graphic slides. The last chapter, chapter 12, is also really interesting and it's called: Manifesto: The Five Theses of The Power of a Presentation. [Note: You can get more details and view the inside of this book for free on Amazon by clicking on the image]

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte is another great resource. In this book, Nancy focuses on how to build compelling stories that take your audience through journeys that are both enlightening and entertaining at the same time so you can lead them to take purposeful action. ​[Note: You can get more details and view the inside of this book for free on Amazon by clicking on the image]

Say it With Charts by Gene Zelazny is a fantastic book for ideas on presenting data in charts that convey meaning and insight. This is particularly helpful if you are presenting to executives who appreciate crisp data-driven visuals or people who love looking at numerical data.

Show Me the Numbers by Stephen Few is a great resource for those looking to get into great detail about specific chart types and all the different options for how to display data to bring out the most important elements of the messages you are trying to convey with each chart.

At the end of the day, no matter how amazing your slide/presentation deck is, you still need to get up in front of people to present it. Botch the delivery and you've essentially lost an opportunity to do whatever it is you're trying to to with your presentation, whether it's to sell an idea or product, or inspire others to take some kind of action. Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun is an excellent read if you want some practical tips and insights from someone who's considered a master at speaking in front of groups.

These are really great resources if you're looking to up your game. If you've come across any you'd like to include, feel free to share. 

Humza Adam is the Managing Director of HFactor Solutions. At HFactor Solutions we strive to drive your top-line growth. We also help organizations and individuals create amazing and compelling presentations so they can generate great results! 

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