Very useful book, ideal if one has a presentation in the near future. Filled in with lots of great suggestions and tips to help the reader/future presenter to address an audience and present content clearly and consistently.

Guide you on how to deliver the material so the audience will be more educated about the topic and get into it & participating in your presentation.

Practical tips for bettering your presentations based on reviewing Practical Presentation Skills by Brendt Johnson.

Read this section, for concise, practical tips:

What and who?
Unique feature: brief, to-the-point, practical

It is for: anyone preparing for any presentation

It is not for: someone who is looking for revolutionary insights

Key takeouts
Do this to improve your presentation skills:

Be yourself (no, not a cliche, see the ‘Don’t do’ list)

Start your presentation with an anecdote, statement or question

Only then move on to your agenda

Be aware of body language (step-by-step guide in the book)

Calm nerves if need to (tips in the book)

Mind the practical steps (like handouts)

Bonus: use the Checklist before any presentation

Don’t do these if you want a killer presentation:

Fake it: people do notice if you are acting…Sorry.

Think you need to hold a pen in your hand to stop fideting

Eye with the back of the room to fake (again) much-needed eye contact

Ever start with a joke….

Forget the practicalities (checking files, handouts and the like)

Read this for an-depth review:

Is this ‘just’ another book on presentation skills? Yes and no. And yes-no.

Yes, because it takes you through design, content and body language.

No, because it includes a couple of myth-busters on what makes a presentation compelling.

Yes-no because it is one of those rare practical publications, which are concise.

The structure of the book makes it easy to read and memorise: The chapters and topics are numbered and the numerous topics are organised into three big buckets: authenticity, focus and strength.

First, you will read about keeping true to yourself and not changing your personality for the duration of the presentation. In other words, faking it does not “make you more professional”.

Next, you will read about the essential elements of good content, which does not start with reading out the agenda. Failing to engage the audience before getting into the content may set up you up for a subpar performance.

Instead, you will learn to start the presentation with an anecdote, a statement, or a question. You will also learn to avoid starting with a joke. Few people can pull this off at this stage of the presentation.

Moving on to body language, the author breaks down the winning formula for compelling body language: what to do with your legs, torso, hands, head and eyes. The myth busters in this chapter include eyeing with the back of the room and holding something in your hands to avoid fidgeting.

There are some practical suggestions for how to calm the nerves, again, outlined in a step-by-step format.

You will then find a little reminder of items that some of us tend to forget about during preparation: handling questions, distributing presentation materials and concluding the presentation.

Finally, you will find a checklist for each of the topics discussed, which you can quickly skim through before the presentation to ensure everything is in place. And if something is missing, you don’t need to worry: by reading the book, you will have learnt how to calm those nerves and be creative in moments of despair. Most importantly, you will have learnt how to deliver powerful presentations and avoid mistakes based on popular but, at times, wrong ideas.

A straight forward books that give good tips on presentation. From creating your presentation to body language. There were also tips on what to do and what to avoid. I liked the simplistic approach to the suggestions. It is the type of book that in the form written it is easy to go back to and find suggestions for you presentation. It will be a book that I will refer back too frequently.

This book us very short and to the point. It also isn't ground breaking news. Everything in the book is typical of information you would find in any presentation tutorial. It also didn't actually teach one how to do a presentation or prepare one. The information is mostly about having the correct mindset for the audience and working to make sure you are presenting the information in a manner they will be received well.

I can't argue with that those tips are useful. I was expecting more information on how to prepare a good presentation with examples because of the title. In that regard I was disappointed.

I think your expectations of the content will really drive how much you like it. If your looking fur ways to be better in tune with your audience and how to be relaxed and confident this book may prove useful to you.

If you want to learn how to prepare professional presentations with examples on how to do it I'd look elsewhere.

I recieved this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I found this book most informative. I have to give a talk very soon and I found some good ideas and suggestions in this book. Thank you.

Not worth buying

Mr. Johnson presents his ideas about how to make your presentation better. This slim book is based, he says, on his career as a communication coach. The book is short and simple and focuses almost entirely on the presenter's attitude toward the presentation. The book does not present any exciting or new insights into giving a presentation than one might find in a single workshop on presentation skills, and I don’t think it will be any more useful than the dozens of similar articles and videos you can find online.

It was impossible for me to read the book on kindle. The structure was all wrong, the majority of words were cut in half or hifenized without any sense, so I can not say a lot about the book, per se. I just give up on reading after a few chapters.

Very use full tool. I have implemented a few of the tips. I am more confident. Well written and easy to follow

At the title says.....this is a very practical book on giving presentations. I did find that I don’t care for the electronic version of this book. I think a hard copy would be better to have but otherwise, there are some good tips in here to have for the workplace professional.