Section I
Content: The Art of Telling Your Story
1. Mark Twain's Fingernails
How to Remember What to Say
2. Kill Your Darlings
A Lesson from Professional Writers
3. How Long Should a Presentation Last?
Be Brief and Concise
4. Follow the Money
'So...?'
5. Fellini on Creativity
Consider All the Possibilities—Before You Present
6. How Woody Allen Creates
First Things First, Last Things Last
7. What's Your Point?
Leave Pointlessness to Woody Allen
8. Spoiler Alert
What's Your Point?
9. The Cyrano Parable
The Story You Tell Versus the Slides You Show
10. 'Does that make sense?'
...And Other Meaningless Words
11. Meaningful Words
Words That Inspire Confidence
12. Writer's Block
How to Break Through
13. Writer's Block II
Easier Said Than Done
14. Never Say 'Never'
Well, Almost Never
15. From Bogart to Gingrich
Who Did It?
16. Rupert Murdoch's 90% Apology
Who Did It?
17. Winning and Losing the World Cup
He's Just Not That into FIFA
18. John Doerr's 'Chalk' Talks
Three Best Practices from a Top Venture Capitalist
19. Vinod Khosla's Cardinal Rule
'Message Sent Is Not the Same as Message Received'
20. The Outline Trap
Britannica and Brainstorming
21. Having a 'versation
'I' Versus 'You'
22. 'It's all about you!'
'...But they're just not that into you.'
23. When Not to Tell 'em
'Get on with it!'
24. Bookends
Establish Your First and Last Sentences
25. The Sound of Ka-Ching!
Scale the 'You'
26. David Letterman's Top Ten
Pick a Number
27. Illusion of the First Time
Road (Show) Warriors
28. In Praise of Analogies and Examples
Add Value and Dimension
29. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama
Masters of the Game
30. Aristotle: The First Salesman
The Original Source
Section II
Graphics: How to Design PowerPoint
Slides Effectively
31. Vinod Khosla's Five-Second Rule
A Sanity Check for Every Presentation
32. Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the Water
Better Box Thinking
33. Jon Stewart's Right
Positioned on Purpose?
34. Misdirection
Magicians and Graphics
35. Obama Makes a PowerPoint Point
The State of the Union and Presentations
36. Go in the Right Direction
A Presentation Lesson from Akira Kurosawa
37. PowerPoint and Movie Stunts
Use Graphics to Create Continuity
38. The Anti-PowerPoint Party
Another Precinct Heard From
39. Signage Versus Documents
Drive Your PowerPoint Home
40. The Graphics Spectrum
Lives of Quiet Desperation
41. How Audiences See
Follow the Action
42. Why Use PowerPoint at All?
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
43. 'But, I'm not an artist!'
Rx: Infographics
44. The Kindness of Strangers
Stand and Deliver
45. No More Mind-Numbing Number Slides
Five Easy Steps to Bring Your Presentation to Life
Section III
Delivery Skills: Actions Speak Louder
Than Words
46. Eight Presentations a Day
Cause and Effect
47. Sounds of Silence
Presentation Advice from Composers and Musicians
48. Stage Fright
A Close Cousin of Writer's Block
49. Swimming Lessons and Presentations
Deconstruct and Reconstruct
50. Valley Girl Talk
Invisible Question Marks
51. 'What do I do with my hands?'
A Simple Approach to Gesturing
52. 'Look, Ma, no hands!'
Anchorperson or Weatherperson
53. Foreign Films
The Pause That Refreshes
54. Rx: CrackBerry Addiction
Control Yourself!
55. The Eyes Have It
Relax!
56. Why Sinatra Stood
The Voice of 'The Voice'
57. Presentation Counts
The Rise and Fall of Rick Perry
Section IV:
How to Handle Tough Questions
58. Listening and Laughing with Johnny Carson
Late Night Lessons for Presenters
59. Ready, Fire, Aim!
Old Habits Die Hard
60. How to Deal with a Direct Attack
'That was certainly a downer!'
61. No Such Thing as a Stupid Question
A Lesson in Q&A from Dilbert
62. The Patronizing Paraphrase
Trying to Channel Bill Clinton
63. Tricky Questions
Be Transparent or Be Trapped
64. Robert McNamara Was Wrong
You Must Respond to All Questions
65. Breaking into Jail
The Elephant IS in the Room
Section V
Special Presentations
66. Speak Crisply and Eliminate Mumbling
Be Your Own Henry Higgins
67. How to Develop a Richer Voice
Be Your Own Echo Chamber
68. How to Deliver a Scripted Speech
When the Words Count
69. Speaking to an Audience of a Thousand
The Big Tent
70. How to Beat the Demo Demons
Plan B and More
71. Bring Your Panel Discussion to Life
How to Herd Cats
72. Mark Your Accent
Eliza Doolittle Is a Myth
73. How to Interview Like a Television Anchorperson
Seven Easy Steps
74. Ten Best Practices for the IPO Road Show
75. Cicero: Peroration
Timeless and Borderless
Endnotes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
