Knockout Presentations

The other reviewers here are right: this is an excellent book, well-written and concise, with coverage of just about every topic relevant to giving presentations. The book has three main topics: establishing a stage presence; structuring a presentation; and staging the presentation. Each is filled with useful tips. For example, the author includes a checklist for the different types of delivery skills one needs ("extend eye contact," "vary your intonation," etc.). The three chapters on structuring and organizing a talk are first-rate. The author discusses how to prepare for different kinds of audiences, the process of putting together a presentation, and the principles of listener-centered communication. Throughout the writing is clear and to-the-point. And it's written almost as a reference guide so that it's easy to refer back to when you want to review a topic. One thing I especially liked about the book is that, unlike so many other self-help books, it doesn't have a lot of stories. It doesn't tell you tales of what others have done right or wrong; it just gives you the how-to advice you're looking for. A highly recommended book for anyone who wants help with presentations.

When I saw the hyped-up title, "Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch and Pizzaz," I winced. But I needed to find a book to teach from that really covered a lot of ground, and DiResta carries through on the promise. If you hate hype, you'll love the book. It delivers what the title promises. If you want to buy just one book to give you real help from preparing the presentation, through conquering fear, breathing techniques, using your hands, creating useful and easy-to-manage props and checking the room before you present, this is the one book that will give you all that help and more. To make it even more useful, it's jammed with tips and hints to help you succeed. It is never preachy or pedantic. After each major section, there are checklists to go over to make sure you focus on the most important parts of the previous material. Still more good news: The table of contents and the index are clear and to the point--you can find what you need and concentrate on just what you need help with. Like a website, there are icons for exercises and case studies. Like the best of print books, there are fill-in boxes for those who prefer a workbook to just reading, and margins big enough to take notes in. I use this book to teach, but it's an ideal book for self-study, too. Need to lose your fear of public speaking? Need to give better presentations? Buy, read, re-read, follow this book and you will be on your way to success. --Q

If you've spent way too much time and effort putting together a presentation, felt uncomfortable presenting, and came away disappointed, buy this book now. It'll make you and you presentations better almost immediately. It gives great advice, from projecting your voice to developing a truly persuasive presentation to making the most of your visual aids. It gives actionable tips and techniques to help with each of these items, so you can improve immediately.Best of all, the book is a great reference tool. It's very easy to go back and find the section on Developing a Persuasive Presentation or Knowing Your Audience (or whatever), in just a minute. From there, you can follow the simple steps and make a big difference in the presentation.Just got done developing 2 presentations to our CEO, and this book saved me a TON of planning time, and helped me to really get the point across. He was sold!So, don't hesitate. If you spend way to much time and anxiety worrying about your presentations , this is worth every penny!

Knockout Presentations is a ?how-to? book that gives the reader practical advice on becoming an effective public speaker. As the author explains, most people ? students and top executives ? are absolutely terrified of giving presentations. However, being a good presenter is now considered a necessity rather than an option. Public speaking skills are especially important since good communication is key to job promotions, raises, more sales and better relationships (to list but a few of the reasons for developing presentation skills).This book is quite interesting as it identifies and dispels strongly held myths about public speaking. One of the biggest myths shattered is the unfounded belief that good speakers are born rather than developed. In addition to providing well written, easy to read content, the author also encourages the reader to make practical use of the learned skills by participating in various exercises presented throughout the book. The interactive setup of the book encourages the reader to take a break from passively reading the contents and to actively participate in the exercises and the surveys. Checklists summarizing what an effective speaker should or should not do are also prove to be a great resource.AudienceA major strength of Knockout Presentations is that it appeals to anyone who will ever speak in public. The audience encompasses the broad range from students to top executives. The clearly written style and exercises will appeal to the less experienced speaker while the conciseness of the book will serve as a great resource for a busy executive. An instructor or a teacher may also want to consider this book as a teaching tool. Content and Format of Knockout Presentations 1. Secrets of Platform Effectiveness 2. Stage Presence: Sizzle or Steak? 3. Fear Fixes: Conquering Nervousness 4. Listening: The Other Side of Speaking 5. Research and Analyze your Audience 6. Building Your Presentation 7. Listener-Centered Communication: Principles of Communication 8. Seeing is Believing: Visual Aids 9. Setting the Stage 10. Q & A, Difficult People, and Deadly Disasters 11. Special Speaking Situations In each section, you can expect to find a number of relevant exercise drills. For example, in the Listener-Centered Communication section, an exercise requires you to list the features of your shoes, the benefit of each feature and then ask the question ?so what??. If you can learn to persuade someone about the benefits of your shoe, then you can probably be persuasive about any topic. Although, the exercises can be somewhat time consuming, doing some of them can prove to be quiet beneficial in learning the concepts that may be difficult to understand by simply reading about them. Each section is also broken up with entertaining case studies, insightful surveys and helpful checklists. The visual learner will be happy to find the use of informative charts and graphics.Level of DifficultyKnockout Presentations is organized in a clear and e

Anyone who makes presentations, from novice speakers to seasoned professionals, stands to benefit from DiResta's Knockout Presentations. Her clear and concise writing style, coupled with years of experience as a speaker and coach, make this book stand well above others in the same category.Her strategies and tactics have added even more "power, punch, and pizzazz" to my already high-energy presentations. As a professional speaker and a trainer, that translates to increased business success for me.Thanks, Diane!