Say It with Presentations: How to Design and Deliver Successful Business Presentations

by Gene Zelazny

For over 45 years, McKinsey & Company's Gene Zelazny has been showing McKinsey consultants and professionals around the world how to plan, design, and deliver effective business presentations_and how to improve and expand their repertoire of presentation skills.

Now in this revised and expanded edition of Say It With Presentations, Mr. Zelazny brings together his years of valuable communication experience to show managers_even those with little or no presentation experience_how to prepare winning presentations using his proven methodology and the full range of PowerPoint techniques.

Written in a clear, highly engaging style, this essential business tool covers everything from defining the situation...to developing the right mix of visual aids to interest your audience without overpowering them. Say It With Presentations features a wealth of practical information on:

Selecting the best medium_traditional standup presentation, discussion meeting, video conference, or virtual presentation Designing your presentation_knowing what to put in and what to leave out Determining your message_how to make it clear, direct, and appropriate for the intended audience Writing the presentation_crafting the most effective story line, introduction, and ending Making the most of visuals_including computer-driven onscreen presentations with animation, scanned images, sound, video, and links Creating charts, text visuals, and storyboards_to produce the most attractive and convincing presentation Projecting confidence, conviction, and enthusiasm_to hold audience attention and generate interest in your ideas Rehearsing the presentation_to search out imperfections and make the event as compelling as possible Setting up facilities and equipment_to ensure that everything is working smoothly and geared for a first-rate presentation Applying your delivery skills_putting together all the oral, video, and audio effects and delivering them at the right pace Getting used to answering questions_by preparing for and anticipating post-presentation queries from the audience Filled with scores of helpful illustrations, this wide-ranging sourcebook also explains how to take humor seriously and incorporate it into a presentation...and how to use the "Audience Bill of Rights" to focus clearly on the needs of the audience.

Comprehensive and completely up to date, the new edition of Say It With Presentations contains all the skills-building information, methods, tips, and pointers that business professionals need to win over clients and reap greater financial rewards.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Communication, Management, Productivity

176 pages, Hardcover

Published May 30, 2006

Reviews

[Gloria He · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for business presenters!

Recommended by a partner at the firm, I started reading this book. The biggest takeaway is to treat the audience not as judgmental enemies, but people who want to follow through your logic and eventually agree with you. To make it happen, define the situation(incl. the goal, the content, and the decision makers etc) and then design the presentation accordingly are the key. With that being said, the presentation is no longer a tedious task to power through, but an opportunity to communicate, learn about the audience, and help them address the pressing business issues they are facing.

To do that, rehearsing thoroughly, providing proper transition between points and using pause to let points sink in are essential to a successful presentation!

[Jan Spörer · Rating 2 out of 5]

My key take-aways:
-Endings should consist of: Summary, recommendation, action program/implementation proposal, ask for commitment, next steps/agreements that were made during the presentation. (pp. 56-57)
-Introductions should have four parts: Purpose, importance, preview, transition (last is mostly verbal). (p 104)
-Checklist: (pp. 156-160)
--1: Define the situation: Specify objective, analyze the audience, define scope, select medium
--2: Design the presentation: Determine message, craft storyline, build the storyboard, produce visuals and handouts
--3: Deliver the presentation:

[Ani]

put this and say it with charts on your shelf, and you can pretend to be a management consultant.

[Ahmad Badghaish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips & information about the presentations. Although, in some points you can see that the writer is just being funny, or providing unnecessary comments or details.

[Julie Barbosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have to do PowerPoint presentations, this simple guidance makes all the difference!

[Rongkai Sha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful powerful book that opens a gate for what it meant to give a presentation.
A lot of useful instructions. The principles are not outdated at all in 2020.
Very useful for cultivating a good mental representation about what a good presentation is. It also provides many exercises for practice.

[Maya Dellor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly really obvious stuff but sometimes I forget it and it's helpful to reference this book. Some of the tips seem outlandish but I guess if you want to make a statement you can use the more extreme suggestions in this book.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book about general presentation techniques. But it is outdated, because it was a little bit confusing to read the author's recomendations to use a light projector. But the rest of the book has plenty of good advices.

[Nathan Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little dated at this point, but the actual meat of the book still applies. If you need to give a presentation, this is a good book to use. I'm using it as a teaching device for corporate presentations.

[Jason Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid starter book on the basics of how to craft and easy to understand presentation. I recommend this book to anyone starting out with presentations or who are making very complex presentations. Gene has years of experience critiquing presentations and presents a solid set of best practices.+

[Asya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine. I think it had a really good structure on how to plan, prepare, and deliver a good presentation. Some of the references are a bit dated, which gave a few chuckles as I was reading. This book is a great place to start if you are new to presentations.

[Maggie Che · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very instrumental!

[Theut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da 5* per i contenuti, una pietra miliare.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful but doesn't go too much beneath some good common sense advice

[Brandon Mullan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid information about presenting.

[Vlad Kharitonov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated. Lots of water and irrelevant content.

[Timen Zandbergen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it contains a lot of good advice, you'll have heard most of it already when giving presentations in school.

[Jill Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy & fun to read, with good advice on developing presentations.