How to be a Presentation God

Unlike most presentation books that say the same things regarding presentation design and delivery (less is more, get rid of bullets and use images, emulate Steve Jobs, and so on), How to Be a Presentation God actually divulges step-by-step secrets for how to build, design, and deliver blockbuster presentations.

By providing entertaining and clever presentation insights, veteran presenter Scott Schwertly gives you the in's and out's for presenting yourself, your business, and your cause with an easy-to-implement approach.

• Focuses on content, design, and delivery
• Author is a regular speaker at national and regional industry conferences such as PowerPoint Live and Presentation Camps, and is the founder of the award-winning Ethos3 Communications
• Author is the creator of an app, Present, that landed in the top-20 iPhone apps in the Business category on iTunes

How to be a Presentation God will ensure that your presentations reach a new level of effectiveness.

Foreword by Penelope Trunk vii

Acknowledgments xi

Chapter 1: A Killer in Our Midst 3

THE NEW ERA OF PRESENTATIONS 13

Chapter 2: Won’t “Good Enough” Do? 15

Chapter 3: Omniscient View 31

Chapter 4: The Pantheon of Presentation Gods 43

CONTENT 61

Chapter 5: Don’t Ruin Their Day! 63

Chapter 6: You Matter 84

Chapter 7: They Matter Even More 102

DESIGN 129

Chapter 8: Styles and Approaches 131

Chapter 9: Real Simple 152

Chapter 10: Parting the Clouds 170

DELIVERY 183

Chapter 11: Buckets and Butterflies 185

Chapter 12: Chatterbox 200

Chapter 13: Spread the Love 224

ENGAGE 241

Chapter 14: 100 Percent All-Natural Passion 243

RESOURCES 255

Index 256

Scott Schwertly (Nashville, TN; www.ethos3.com) is founder of Ethos3 Communications, a presentation?firm providing professional presentation design and training. Ethos3 boasts a national and international client list ranging from Fortune 100 companies, like Google and Pepsi, to branded individuals like Guy Kawasaki and Tim Ferriss. Scott is a regular speaker at national and regional conferences such as PowerPoint Live & Presentation Camps, and has created an iPhone app, Present, that not only landed in the Top 20 iPhone apps in the Business Category on iTunes but was also downloaded over 43,000 times. Among other honors, Ethos3 placed 1st in the Business Category in Slideshare's World's Best Presentation contest. Additionally, the Ethos3 presentation design work has been featured in Presentation Zen and the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007Complete Makeover Kit.

Praise for How to Be a Presentation God

"Please take my word for it. As the book's title says, if you want to be a presentation god, you simply must buy this book."

—Richard Matsumoto, Head of Global Business Development, Global Managed Services Division, Fujitsu Ltd.

"At the heart of every presentation is a story begging to be told in an engaging way . . . Scott and his team get this and have a unique talent for transforming the boring into the meaningful."

—Carlos Roldan, Creative Media Manager, Trade Marketing and Sales Communications, Carnival Cruise Lines

"At a time when everyone is increasingly bombarded with messages, Scott's book provides wonderful perspectives and tools for each of us to stand out from the crowd—connect with our audience—and become more effective storytellers. The best communicators are almost always the best storytellers!"

—Mike DuBoise, Sr. Vice President, Customer Marketing and Category Management, Universal Studios Home Entertainment

"The brilliance of How to Be a Presentation God is that it inspires you to rethink the way you approach creating and giving presentations moving forward."

—Chuck Dietrich, CEO, SlideRocket

"In typical Ethos3 fashion, this book provides you loads of presentation wisdom, while maintaining a fun, whimsical, and irreverent tone."

—Michael Port, New York Times bestselling author of Book Yourself Solid and The Think Big Manifesto

"Scott is a presentation genius. I am constantly amazed by how he can take an idea and turn it into a compelling presentation."

—Rashmi Sinha, CEO, SlideShare