Book review. Presenting to win: the art of telling your story.

Presenting to win: the art of telling your story,
Jerry Weissman, ©2009, Pearson Education LTD

In a way this is going to be the shortest book review I’ve posted here, but I’m also going to follow-up with a couple more posts with some particularly good material extracted from the book.

Bottom line

This book has been around for over 2 years and has gotten hundreds of positive reviews–it doesn’t need another one. But just based my first sentence above, it should come as no surprise that I’m going to give it another one. However, the real purpose of the review is to call attention to a book that you might have missed, and I think you should fix that.  So, I don’t just recommend it–I believe this belongs on your “must read” list just above Garr Reynolds’ books. From me, that’s pretty significant.

Why?

This book is fundamental when it comes to presentations. Weissman’s influence can be seen in many of the other books and authors I’ve recommended. The heart of his message is the subtitle: “. . .the art of telling your story.” The book is, itself, a great example of that message. Weissman is a storyteller who has worked in television, movies and corporate board rooms. He’s helped build compelling presentations at every level, of every format and for every type of audience. Through this book, he wants to help each and every one of us, too. Your part in the partnership is to simply read and pay attention to the book.

Just as Scott Berkun’s Confessions of a Public Speaker is best book I’ve read on that topic, so Weissman’s book is at the top of my list for presentations as a whole. Do yourself a huge favor and put this book on your to-be-read list! Then read it and your audience will thank you.

In short, highest recommendation from me, too.