The Non-Obvious Guide to Better Presentations

We are all public speakers.

Today, connecting online or in person is an essential skill for anyone driven to make an impact. Whether you’re presenting to a group of 17 or 70,000, live or virtually, this book’s practical and proven insights will build confidence and mastery, elevate your presentation, and provoke positive change.

Read this book to learn:

- Strategic presence—what it is and why it’s your most potent influence tool

- The surprising connection between curiosity and confidence

- Why science says connecting and engaging online is harder—and exactly what to do about it

- How to create congruency in gesture, voice, and expressions to build trust

- How to make any talk more inclusive

- Why rehearsal sets you free and makes every delivery look fresh

- What happens to our voices in virtual realms—and how to effectively compensate

- And much more

This Non-Obvious Guide is a compulsively readable and actionable collection of principles for performing at your best online or off. It assumes readers are intelligent, busy professionals who understand the necessity of communication skills in effecting change. Written by a globally recognized presentation skills coach, her methods reach beyond the podium to help you build trust, create rapport, and have more influence in any situation.

Based on the science of how our brains encode speaking experiences, this pithy, entertaining guide details how to create your most authentic and strategic presence. You’ll also learn to make the most of your voice, body, and language; incorporate stories for emotional impact; build connection and rapport; work with visuals; deal with questions; present with others; and cope with the unexpected.

The Non-Obvious Guide to Better Presentations is the only book you’ll need to present like a confident change-maker, without fear or imposter syndrome, no matter your experience level.

About the Author

Jacqueline Farrington has over 20 years’ experience as a change maker, empowering leaders and their teams to spark transformation and innovation through communications. Known for her refreshingly direct yet supportive and science-backed approach, Jacqueline works with senior and board-level leaders as the founder and president of Farrington Partners. She blends her experience in the performing arts, vocal pedagogy, communications, psychology, and organizational and executive coaching to help her clients find unique communication solutions around challenges such as digital transformations, organizational cultural change, the “Great Resignation,” or engaging in conversations on social justice. 

Her clients include multinationals such as Amazon and Microsoft, as well as startups and nonprofits. She proudly served for many years as TEDxSeattle’s Senior Speaker Coach, where she sourced, vetted, and prepared speakers for yearly sold-out audiences of 3,000. She was thrilled to see several speakers from that event move on to the global TED stage. In addition to teaching at Yale, she has lectured and taught at the London Business School, Rutgers University, Imperial College, and other institutions.