Garr Reynolds' new book!

After his breakthrough book, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, Garr Reynolds brings us another offering to the presentation design altar, Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations. If you enjoyed his first book, you should like his second book. I agree with other reviewers that it isn’t the same breakthrough as his first Presentation Zen book was, but it is a worthy follow-up book for fans of his blog and anyone who does presentation design on a regular basis. Overall, I give this book four out of five stars. More…

Don't judge a book by its cover -- even though it is a "design" book.

The Non-Designer’s Design Book (Third edition) by Robin Williams - not to be confused with the famous comedian by the same name - provides “design and typographic principles for the visual novice.” Although this book does not focus on PowerPoint presentations at all (mainly desktop publishing examples - business cards, brochures, newsletters, etc.), many of her design principles are transferable to the PowerPoint world. I became interested in reading this book when Garr Reynolds referenced her in his Presentation Zen book. More…

Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte

Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, written by Nancy Duarte, is a comprehensive guide to presentation design. Similar to Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen, Nancy advocates a more visual approach to slide creation - a “new slide ideology” as she calls it. Nancy shares several design tips from her extensive design experience working with large high tech companies and high-profile projects such as the “Inconvenient Truth” presentation she designed for Al Gore. More…

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, written by Chip and Dan Heath, breaks down how ideas can be made more powerful and long-lasting by following a simple set of rules. This book focuses on what should be the essence of any business presentation - how to create a core message that resonates with an audience and causes them to act in a desired way. I highly recommend Made to Stick (five of five stars) as it is well-written and provides a pragmatic approach to forming sticky ideas - a crucial foundation for any great presentation. More…

The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, written by Dan Roam, is a bold effort at introducing business people to using visual thinking principles to solve problems and communicate more effectively. Visual thinking is something that I feel I excel at; however, I know it has been a challenge for many of my co-workers, managers, and clients. Even if you don’t struggle with visual thinking, I recommend The Back of the Napkin (four of five stars) as it provides a valuable set of processes and frameworks that can even benefit experienced visual thinkers, who probably operate more by intuition than methodology. More…