Andrew Abela - Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action

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Presentations

by Design

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ANDRKW ABBLA, Ph.D.

More Praise for Advanced Presentations by Design

Whether as a manager or university lecturer, we are only as effective as the buy-in we get. This marvelous book should be required reading for all managers and educators. I was embarrassed to see my own failings written up in cold print.

Tim Ambler, senior fellow, London Business School, and author of Marketing and the Bottom Line

If you could turn your typical thirty-page PowerPoint presentation into one effective page that comprehensively states your case, engages your audience, and generates the results you want, would you do it? This book shows you how.

Hedy Lukas, vice president, integrated marketing communication, Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Dr. Abelas ten-step process leads you through a logical approach to presentation development so that your audiences hear your message with absolute clarity. It will change the way you practice!

Nancy L. Losben, R.Ph., CCP, FASCP, chief quality officer, Omnicare, Inc.

If even half the strategy and market intelligence functions among the Fortune 500 took Dr. Abelas advice, corporate productivity would take a huge step forward. He brings together tried and true disciplines in such a unique way that anyone who wants to stay on top of their game will welcome this playbook.

Craig Albright, vice president, finance, Xerox Global Services, Xerox Corporation

Dr. Abelas book will give you the skills and a comprehensive and methodical approach that will be instrumental to going beyond being a mere purveyor of data to a trusted advisor.

J. David Phillips, group manager, market intelligence and planning, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Microsoft Corporation

Dr. Abela expertly weaves all elements togetherthe audience, the story, the presentation of the storyand backs it up with reams of research from all disciplines.

Karen L. Fuller, former director, global brand research, Dell Inc.

Dr. Abelas book will give you a structured approachwhich our whole company now usesto more easily prepare impressive presentations whether for important client meetings or small internal meetings. Having the Extreme Presentation method in our arsenal enables us to provide higher value to our clients.

Denis McFarlane, CEO and founder, Infinitive Corporation

What makes this book different from other books on presentation design is that it weaves the importance of telling a powerful story throughout the ten-step process of presentation development. I guarantee you will achieve success if you follow the approach outlined in this book.

Lori Silverman, author and editor of Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Achieve Results, and co-author of Stories Trainers Tell

About This Book

Why is this topic important?

All your hard workyour ideas, your research, your plans, your effortcomes to nothing if you cannot convince others to act on it. The way we get people to act in organizations today is to make a presentation. And yet the qualityand the effectivenessof the average presentation today is abysmal. We are all afflicted by a plague of "Death by PowerPoint" and, seemingly, we do not know what to do about it. There is plenty of advice on how to create presentations, but it is this very advice that caused the plague in the first place, and so following it will not provide the cure.

What can you achieve with this book?

This book overturns much of the conventional wisdom and practice of creating presentations to provide a comprehensive and yet easy-to-use ten-step method for designing presentations that propel your audience to action. This method is focused exclusively on designing your presentations, not on delivering them, for the simple reason that if your content is not interesting and persuasive in itself, then most likely you have lost the game before you even begin presenting. The ten-step method shows you how to take your ideas and information and turn them into a compelling set of slides. The method is grounded in hundreds of empirical studies on different aspects relevant to presentation, and it has been field-tested among leading corporations, including Dell, Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola, and eBay.

How is this book organized?

The book is divided into five parts, covering the five essential dimensions of an effective presentation: politics (audience analysis and persuasion), metrics (objectives and success measurement), logic (argument and evidence), rhetoric (storytelling), and graphics (visuals). Each of the parts contains an introduction to explain why that dimension is important. The individual chapters then contain material that explains how to implement each of the ten steps in the method. The first page of each chapter gives an overview of the step, so if you are in a hurry you can just read the first page of each chapter and obtain a quick overview of the method.

About Pfeiffer

Pfeiffer serves the professional development and hands-on resource needs of training and human resource practitioners and gives them products to do their jobs better. We deliver proven ideas and solutions from experts in HR development and HR management, and we offer effective and customizable tools to improve workplace performance. From novice to seasoned professional, Pfeiffer is the source you can trust to make yourself and your organization more successful.

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Rp Essential Tools Pfeiffer's Essential Tools resources save time and expense by offering proven, ready-to-use materialsincluding exercises, activities, games, instruments, and assessments-for use during a training or team-learning event. These resources are frequently offered in looseleaf or CD-ROM format to facilitate copying and customization of the material.

Pfeiffer also recognizes the remarkable power of new technologies in expanding the reach and effectiveness of training. While e-hype has often created whizbang solutions in search of a problem, we are dedicated to bringing convenience and enhancements to proven training solutions. All our e-tools comply with rigorous functionality standards. The most appropriate technology wrapped around essential content yields the perfect solution for today's on-the-go trainers and human resource professionals.

Essential resources for training and HR professionals

I dedicate this book to the loves of my life: my wife Kathleen and our children, Theresa, Dominic, Monica, John Paul, Lucy, and our new baby who is arriving shortly.

ADVANCED PRESENTATIONS BY DESIGN

Creating Communication That Drives Action Andrew V. Abela, Ph.D.

'Pfeiffer

A Wiley Imprint www.pfeiffer.com

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