Rating: 
Summary: Hits the Mark
Review: About 99% of presentations I have been given violate all of the principles espoused in this book. Most people are thinking that more is better and that creativity is unbusiness-like.This book offers compelling perspective from a person whose background was in television entertainment, and who developed his perspectives through IPO roadshow presentations. If there is one message from this book, it is that your presentations should be Presenter Focused. This requires one to think through the organization, purpose and crafting of the presentation. In This book outlines the means by which you use the presentation to create the stage upon which you will act.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass on this one
Review: I got this book based on the other reviews I read here. There is some good information, but it could be condenced to 5 pages. It's geared towards his business, which is helping CEOs develop their pitch to venture capitalists. In this sense, and in many others, he doesn't pratice what he preaches, namely WIIFY--what's in it for you. He writes to a narrow audience though it's pitched to a general business market. Would you beleive this guy has never had a job where he had to do formal presentations himself? He was in the movie/TV business and a friend in high places, Compaq CEO, introduced him to an awesome contact in Silicon Valley. He made a business as a consultant from that contact, which led to this book. I think this hole is evident in the material.
Rating:
Summary: Real information you can use!
Review: I purchased this book after the executives of my company raved about Jerry Weissman's work in helping them prepare for our IPO. Unlike many other books on this topic, I found it to be very useful because it provided a framework that was simple yet creative. The real-world examples he uses are great and they make it a more interesting read for those of us who enjoy learning more about the techniques used by successful people. Jerry is starting to conduct public seminars in the Bay Area but if you can't make it to a seminar, the book is a great alternative.
Rating: 
Summary: The real story in presenting
Review: I teach courses in business writing, including lessons on presentations. When students ask for good books to continue learning, this is the book I recommend for presentations. I also suggest that it will help them with all of their communications at work. The ideas in the book are simple yet powerful. For example, the most important communications we do at work is convincing others, and a powerful way to do that is to tell them a story. It is fundamental human nature that storytelling awakens, relaxes, and engages those who are listening. Unfortunately, the editing and packaging of the book are not as well done as is the presentation of the main ideas. The author has had one audience for years: entrepreneurs who are trying to convince bankers to back their IPOs. The publisher tried to take his ideas and make them applicable and accessible to all business people everywhere. They did not quite succeed, for a variety of reasons. The text uses vocabulary and figures of speech that exclude those who are not older, male, American, entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. It uses basic words (graphics, verbal) in ways I found confusing. It has errors in grammar and punctuation, as well as inconsistent ways of presenting material. The book includes an unnecessary color insert. The end of the book received much less editorial attention than did the beginning of the book. As I read the first parts of the book, I was usually smiling and saying, "Ah hah!" As I read the latter parts of the book I found myself occasionally frowning and asking, "Huh?" And the whole book is replete with intrusive "sideboxes" that repeat parts of the text. I find this distracting and insulting. I know publishers love them, but I think their reasons for using them have more to do with "doing what everyone else is doing" than with proven efficacy for the intended audience. Overall I would say it's an adequate first draft of an excellent book. The usefulness of the ideas in this book almost justifies giving it a rating of 5 stars. The price is good, too. But an adjustment is necessary due to the audience bias, lackluster editing, and obtuse publishing. Despite all this, it is a very useful book on real-world business communication.
Rating:
Summary: More than just tips
Review: In the last couple years I must have read more than ten books on this subject. Jerry' is hands down the best. While most other authors give tips, he goes in-depth and focus on the importance of having solid content in our presentations, a good "story" as he says. Worth the extra cost.
Rating:
Summary: Certain to Become a "Classic"
Review: It would be a mistake to assume that the benefits of this book will be of greatest value only to those who make formal presentations. On the contrary, as Weissman explains so thoroughly and eloquently, each one of us every day is almost constantly telling a "story" in one form or another to achieve one or more of these objectives: to explain with information (exposition)...or to make vidid with compelling details (description)...or to explain a process or sequence with information (narration)...or to convince with logic and/or evidence (argumentation). The most effective formal presentations are those which make maximum use of all four levels of discourse. It is also worth mentioning that, although percentages vary from one research study to another, the impact of a face-to-face encounter is estimated to be as follows: body language 60-70%, tone of voice 15-20%, and content (i.e. what is actually said) about 10-15%. Skilled recruiters claim that more often than not, they have already made a decision about a candidate before the interview formally begins. In fact, it begins at the initial point of physical contact. So, I think this book can be of greatest value to literally anyone whose communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal) need to be improved. The strategies and tactics which Weissman shares have almost unlimited applications: when making formal presentations and during job interviews, as noted, but also when preparing reports, contributing to group discussions (e.g. strategic planning and especially budget reviews), resolving problems with customer service, implementing crisis management initiatives, and conducting performance reviews. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Stephen Denning's The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations and Kevin Hogan's The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Tell 'em how to WIN!!
Review: Jerry Weissman's book, "Presenting to Win," is a gem! Anyone who is interested in telling his/her story should read this book. It is exceptionally well written, is clear, concise, and completely holds one's attention. There are so many creative, as well, as inspiring ideas throughout. It's a tour de force!! Thank you for writing it, Jerry, it will be the next bible for the business community!
Rating:
Summary: Packed with Knowledge!
Review: The lessons in this excellent book should be studied and applied by everyone who has to give presentations. In terms of audience connection and persuasive technique, Abe Lincoln must have known everything here (except, perhaps, the details of PowerPoint). And that's good, because you don't need anything new or fancy to give a great presentation, you just need a message and clear instructions on how to deliver it - so, here they are. The book is cleanly written with pop-out boxes, sample graphics and corporate examples. Anyone who ignores its powerful basic rules will fail at presenting. Failure means boring the audience and leaving them unconvinced and unwilling to hear more. This is your cure for those blues. The book's flaw is the author's tedious self-promotion, but he's a former TV guy, so what the heck do you expect? The bottom line, we attest, is that what he says, you need to know.
Rating: 
Summary: It seems having no typos isn't one of the deadly sins
Review: With a solid four pages or so of favourable reviews within the book itself, it's fair to say that this book has been well received.
The difference between presenting a message and getting your message across is powerfully demonstrated within this book. Plenty of examples of presentations getting a workover and numerous lessons on how to achieve a higer level of communication with your presentations is well covered bu Weissman.
If only this was given away with every copy of MS Powerpoint the world would be a much better (and less boring) place.
Rating:
Summary: It's really presenting to win
Review: You may be a skilled presentator, but your so called "support material" may be working against you. I give presentations almost every day since I work as a consultant and the audience response is better since I started following the book's advise. The book's writting is easy to understand and can be read very fast. The advice the author gives is easy to follow and it translates into achievements in real life. This book should be required reading for everybody in college, I'm giving it to the personnel under me as required reading. It's a great book. It has some typos and as verything it could be improved, but it's a great book.
|
