Real Leaders Don't Do PowerPoint: How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas

I recently attended a conference where the speaker promised a "speed version" of her presentation, "since I'm the only thing between you and lunch!" Suffice to say, nearly 90 minutes and 47 slides later, we were brain-dead and hungry. The good lady, bless her heart, reverted to an all-too-familiar form, "Death by PowerPoint," despite her stated intention not to. Christopher Witt (with Dale Fetherling) has written a bromide for those of us (and who among us would cast the first stone?) inflicting this punishment on our audiences. Witt, a veteran speech coach and consultant, seeks to rein-in the tendency to polish our PowerPoint skills at the expense of communicating our vision and message. Real Leaders Don't Do PowerPoint is intended to get leaders to return to making their thoughts, convictions, vision, and character manifest themselves in what they say, and stop trusting PowerPoint to make their points. Witt says leaders need to be different for the following reasons: 1) leaders speak when a lot is at stake, 2) leaders speak as representatives of their organizations, 3) leaders speak all the time, 4) leaders speak because it's their job, and 5) leaders speak to influence and inspire. Witt gives a modern-day endorsement of Demosthenes, the father of Greek oratory, for his timeless four elements of a great speech: 1) a great person, 2) a noteworthy event, 3) a compelling message, and 4) a masterful delivery. Therefore, he divides his book into four main parts. Part One charges the leader with realizing that he or she is the message and to tailor his or her remarks to identify to the audience who they can become, to influence the way they think and feel, or to inspire them to action. Part Two helps the leader define what her objectives for the speech are - the 5 W's - but also to focus on what he or she wants the audience to take away from the presentation - the WIIFM (what's in it for me?). Part Three shows the leader how to compose a compelling message: a big idea, a clear structure, and telling words. Citing JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country," Witt coaches us to try a similar setup for our key message: "If you take only one idea from my speech, it's this [pause]." He also endorses the K.I.S.S. principle, citing Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" speech as 6 minutes, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as 2 minutes, and MLK's "I have a dream" speech as 16 minutes. Leave the audience wanting more of you, not less. Part Four focuses on congruency of delivery - getting your body and your voice to communicate your message. Witt then provides lots of mechanical and presentation tips like using humor and getting effective Q & A from your audience. I found Real Leaders Don't Do PowerPoint to be an easy-to-understand and quick-reading "how-to" for becoming a more effective and compelling communicator. I intend to use this book when preparing my speeches and presen

Whether you are looking for a book to help you polish your personal speaking skills or you are a seasoned professional (as I am) who helps others raise their communications game, there's gold in this book. I loved it. It's a book that will stay in my personal library and that I will refer to, regularly. It's a well-written, fast-paced, and refreshing, new look at ways anyone can become a more effective and memorable speaker. Even Tiger Woods has a coach!

Chris Witt is the real deal. He offers the reader a dare -- do you have the courage to get out from behind techie tools like PowerPoint and present your message -- your own ideas, crafted in the most powerful way possible? That can be a terrifying task -- but the alternative is mediocrity, blandness, and one-way ticket to Dilbert-land. Luckily, Chris himself takes his own advice. The book is brisk, provocative and full of great stories and great challenges. It's the kind of book you can read on an airplane flight, and that you'll read again and again every time you fly. It's a big dare. To be successful, you don't need to fancy, or high-tech, or clever. You just need to find your key point and present it clearly and forcefully (preferably in the form of a story). But don't worry -- Chris shows you how, step by step.

I was lucky to come across Christopher Witts book on presentation skills for leaders. For me it has proven to contain lots of ideas, tips and sound advice. Even though I rarely have to speak to large audiences,on a regular basis I work as a trainer. There's sound advice for us traines here too. "Be clear about your message, make it interesting, dare to do the unexpected" - none of this is new but what I found really helpful was the way the information and tips are presented. Once I had started to read, I just became engrossed. Maybe its the wealth of stories and anecdotes which Mr. Witts uses that kept my attention. I love the section on Powerpoint it confirms what was my tentative opinion. Powerpoint can be useful for presenting information, to explain, clarify or substantiate a point. However, it cannot replace the personal approach, the warmth and enthuasism of the speaker. Actually, this is the strength of this book...the writer comes across as someone who is totally enthuastic about his work.....and he knows what he is talking about. If you want to enliven your presentations, this is the book for you. John Lawless (Ireland)

This book contains groundbreaking material for most of us. Mr. Witt clearly establishes Leadership as the commanding role of a speaker and purpose of a presenter at any level -- and properly places PowerPoint into its support role, as a tool, to be used only if and when absolutely necessary. I am consistently appalled watching the majority of so-called industry experts and management speakers deliberately choose their role to be the "voice-over" narrator, being prompted and led along like a kitten with flickering images on a wall or screen. Kudos to Chris Witt for challenging us to be leaders - to inspire, to motivate, and to influence the audience in some tangible way - when we speak and present our ideas. I humbly admit that I forgot how to be an effective speaker and leader by relying on PowerPoint to speak for me. Thanks also for admonishing us to stop bowing subserviently to a projection wall - losing eye contact and personal rapport with our audiences - while seemingly awaiting magical enlightenment from the pretty charts, bullet points and spreadsheets spewed forth by the PowerPoint entity. This is a masterful book and a timely topic, exceptionally well written by a leader, for neglectful and aspiring leaders.