If you’re anything like me, you’ve experienced far too many presentations in the IT industry that fail to connect with the audience and never achieve what they set out to do. Presentations that reel off facts, yet don’t tell a story. Presentations that are overwhelmed with pages of text and bullet points. Presentations that show diagrams that no one understands. Presentations that go well under- or overtime, and are clearly not rehearsed. Presentations where demos routinely fail in front of packed crowds. All delivered by presenters who make numerous mistakes while they are on stage. File > New > Presentation was written to give you the tools and techniques to avoid these pitfalls, and dramatically increase your presentation skills. These skills go well beyond just creating a slide deck, and include understanding your audience, planning the structure of your talk, rehearsing, delivering demos, preparation, and improving what you do behind the podium. With recommendations targeted towards software developers and other technical professionals, you’ll gain the knowledge to take your next presentation – and maybe even your career – to the next level.

In The Art of Presentation, the second book of the new Jim Stovall and Dr. Ray Hull “Your Ultimate Guide” series for personal development and business success, the authors use their decades of combined experience, research, and natural abilities to powerfully illustrate the specifics of effective public speaking. Read this book to learn more about: Public speaking as a performance art World-changing speakers of the past Contemporary, influential public speakers Preparing a presentation The art of using a microphone Speaking tips and techniques Elements of a speech The art of stage presence Business speaking Concluding the speech to make an impact Stovall’s revealing stories mixed with Dr. Ray Hull’s straightforward, factual approach combine to make this a must-read for businesspeople, salespeople, entrepreneurs, teachers, pastors, academics, and anyone wanting to improve their public speaking abilities.

Whether you are a university professor, researcher at a think tank, graduate student, or analyst at a private firm, chances are that at some point you have presented your work in front of an audience. Most of us approach this task by converting a written document into slides, but the result is often a text-heavy presentation saddled with bullet points, stock images, and graphs too complex for an audience to decipher—much less understand. Presenting is fundamentally different from writing, and with only a little more time, a little more effort, and a little more planning, you can communicate your work with force and clarity. Designed for presenters of scholarly or data-intensive content, Better Presentations details essential strategies for developing clear, sophisticated, and visually captivating presentations. Following three core principles—visualize, unify, and focus—Better Presentations describes how to visualize data effectively, find and use images appropriately, choose sensible fonts and colors, edit text for powerful delivery, and restructure a written argument for maximum engagement and persuasion. With a range of clear examples for what to do (and what not to do), the practical package offered in Better Presentations shares the best techniques to display work and the best tactics for winning over audiences. It pushes presenters past the frustration and intimidation of the process to more effective, memorable, and persuasive presentations.