Own the Room: Business Presentations that Persuade, Engage, and Get Results [Paperback]

David Booth (Author), Deborah Shames (Author), Peter Desberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2009

Don't Just Present. Persuade, Inspire, and Perform!
Powerhouse presentations that engage and move your audience

Imagine if every presentation received rapt attention and buy-in from the audience.

Start getting these results with Own the Room, featuring the renowned Eloqui Method-innovative techniques that leave boring behind.

Research shows a memorable presentation is a combination of stirring your audience's emotions while appealing to its intellect. This team of authors has developed techniques that tap into the persuasive, expressive aspects of presentations-employed over the past ten years by Fortune 500 companies such as TD Ameritrade, Mattel, Fisher-Price, Merrill Lynch, Siemens, and Pfizer.

This effective method brings you:

• An award-winning actor who applies performance techniques from the stage to engage and move an audience
  
• A television and film director who demonstrates how to craft and deliver your message with authority, credibility, and authenticity
  
• A psychologist who specializes in memory and stage fright and reveals how to overcome fear and activate an audience's attention and memory

Own the Room is written by a unique set of authors with the expertise perfect for creating vivid narratives. Own the Room shares how to excite your audience's emotions and intellect. And Own the Room will give you a communication toolkit to make any presentation lively, compelling, and memorable.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Booth is a professional theater director and actor. He taught acting at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.
Deborah Shames is an award-winning film producer and director. She has years of experience directing and producing several independent films and over sixty corporate training and educational videos.
Peter Desberg is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and University Professor. He has authored 18 books and is a nationally renowned presenter and keynote speaker at professional conferences.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071628592
• ISBN-13: 978-0071628594
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Performing Arts
  • #18 in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Technical
  • #49 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Running Meetings & Presentations

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Addition for Those Engaged in Public Speaking or Use Teams in Presentations December 29, 2009

By Thomas M. Loarie TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

As a Silicon Valley based CEO in the world of ventures, I have had to raise considerable sums of money privately and publicly to fund companies I was responsible for. Raising money is an art with a critical component being "the presentation." I have also been called upon to speak at national and regional meetings on medical technology and/or the experience of being in a venture-backed company. "Owning the Room," the making of an effective presentation, is a subject near and dear to my heart...much less, my livelihood.

Authors David Booth, Deborah Shames, and Peter Desberg in "Owning the Room" present the Eloqui communication method they developed and are now commercializing. Booth and Shames come from the entertainment world with experience in directing, acting, and producing. Desberg is a licensed clinical psychologist who has done extensive research in areas of public speaking, performance anxiety, and instructional humor. Together, this team has produced a book that combines "performance techniques and cognitive science with the best research in psychology."

The authors cover how to open, how to close, the power for narrative, stage fright, presenting in teams, physical grammar, PowerPoint revival, and being memorable. I did not find the book exceptional in the area of business presentations but I did find it exceptional for giving speeches and for when presentations involve more than one person. "Owning the Room" will make a valuable addition for those who depend on communication arts for their living, which is just about every executive, manager, professional, consultant, and salesperson.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Give This Book A Standing Ovation October 2, 2009

By Dr Cathy Goodwin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

As a seasoned reviewer, I get nervous when I see only 5-star reviews for an Amazon item. Often that means the authors enlisted their friends and relatives as reviewers.

To my surprise, Own the Room really deserves a 5-star rating. It's hard to imagine a book about presentations that's actually fun to read, but this one is. But what I like best is the way the authors encourage us to get away from those ho-hum openings. They offer all sorts of creative approaches to making presentations come alive. Many of their ideas will work for written presentations and copywriting also.

As an experienced speaker, I don't get concerned with stage fright. I love speaking and welcome all opportunities. My challenge is to avoid being too relaxed. So I particularly enjoyed the chapter on roles: deciding how you will present yourself to the audience. The discussion on examples and anecdotes was especially strong.

Too often we get advice to worry about "ums" and "uhs" and endless discussion on PowerPoint. The authors do share some helpful tips on Powerpoint but they make it clear that their focus is on structuring your presentation, not the small stuff. So this book will be especially helpful to readers who have gotten past the basics. As the back cover suggests, you'll get tips to go from "presenting" to "persuading, inspiring and performing."

I'm not crazy about the contemporary gimmick of putting takeaways in the text margins. That was probably a publisher's decision. Otherwise, the book seems well worth recommending to others.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Persuading Your Audience to Take Action October 17, 2009

By Larry Underwood

Format:Paperback

For any of us who've had to sit through a countless number of uninspiring & unfocused presentations (power point or otherwise), and wonder what went wrong, this book has the answers. Follow the well organized and comprehensive "game plan" laid out by the team of David Booth & Deborah Shames, and you too can "own the room" the next time you're called to action.

It's simply a great book; and following the very pragmatic strategies presented by this pair of public speaking gurus will ensure the most bang for the buck for any presentation. It's almost a foolproof plan; that's how strongly I recommend this book.

Aside from being witty and charismatic, the key to knocking 'em dead is to assertively establish a clearly defined intention for your presentation. Where so many people fail is by trying to accomplish too much in the endeavor; by bombarding the beleaguered audience with too much information, instead of focusing on one central theme. Of course, the end result is a disaster and nobody comes away a winner. Don't be fooled by the applause at the end of that droning monologue; they're just glad it's over.

However, if you read this book and properly prepare for your gig, you'll more than likely successfully engage the audience to take the desired action; and chances are your career will now be locked onto the fast track.

Preparation, confidence, charisma, a little dose of humor and a clearly defined purpose will make everybody happy, and you'll get what you want out of the experience.

It's practically guaranteed.