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Giving a Presentation In A Day For Dummies
by Marty Brounstein and Malcolm Kushner
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Giving a Presentation In A Day For Dummies
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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ISBN 978-1-118-49108-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49107-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49110-2 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Introduction
Whether youre dealing with one person or a thousand, the ability to transmit ideas in a coherent and compelling fashion is one of the most important skills you can ever develop. Its a basic survival skill, and it always has been. From the earliest caveman who yelled Fire! to the latest blogger who flamed someone on the Internet, people have given presentations to motivate, persuade, and influence each other.
Want to get a good job? Want to get promoted? Want to command the respect of your peers? The key to success is what you say. To get what you want in life, you have to present yourself assertively, credibly, and convincingly. Sure, you can speak softly and carry a big stick, but the real winner is the person who talks you out of the stick.
In the information age, presentation skills are more important than ever before. We live in a society of sound bites. Communication is the currency of the realm. In survey after survey, presentation skills are cited as a key factor in hiring and promotion decisions. The days when you could rise to the top just by being good at your job are over. Boards of directors, executive committees, and customers want more. You have to know how to get your message across.
What You Can Do In A Day
If you want to improve the full range of your presentation skills in about a days time, then reading this entire book will give you all the tools you need in order to prepare for and practice a great presentation. Too busy to read a whole book in one sitting? Dont worry. Giving a Presentation In A Day For Dummies is designed with your time constraints in mind. The book is divided into easy-to-read segments that cover very specific topics, so you can dip in and out whenever you have a spare moment. Choose an area of interest, such as overcoming stage fright, using body language, handling the audience, or fielding questions, and turn directly to it.
Foolish Assumptions
We assume that at least one of these descriptions applies to you and your knowledge of giving a presentation:
Youre fretting about your next presentation because you dont understand how to engage the audience.
You know nothing about presentations but would like to be prepared in case youre ever asked to give one.
You know quite a bit about presentations and have a lot of experience, but you want to polish your presentation development and delivery.
You know that you shouldnt fear giving a presentation, but you fear it anyway and you want to know how to overcome your anxiety.
Icons Used in This Book
Key information in this book is marked with little pictures (or icons) in the margins. Heres what the icons tell you:
This icon signals important advice about how to maximize the effectiveness of your presentation.
This icon indicates potential problems.
An elephant never forgets, but people do. This icon alerts you to information you want to remember.
This icon highlights a basic presentation skill that you can practice a couple of times in a few minutes. Of course, youll ultimately want to spend more than five minutes on all of the exercises in this book.