Customer Reviews

Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I pre-ordered this book in October and was delighted to recieve the package from Amazon.com as a delayed Christmas gift to myself. Reynolds has followed-up his best-selling Presentation Zen with this new book covering the design aspects of slide presentations. I stumbled across the Presentation Zen blog a few years ago and have been a devotee of Garr Reynolds ever since. Along with Nancy Duarte from Duarte Design, Garr has been a seminal thought leader in the movement to replace boring and tedious slide decks with interesting and engaging presentations.

A long-time resident of Japan, Reynolds combines his knowledge of Zen with his design expertise to give us a beautiful book with a strong point of view advocating simplicity as a foundation for slide presentations. The book goes well beyond mere advocacy and is chock full of specific techniques and tips that will help you build a winning presentation. Even though I've followed his work for some time, I found several useful new ideas that I'll be able to implement immediately.

Presentationzen Design covers everything from typefaces and color, through negative space (read the book), and harmony. However, Garr doesn't just make a point and move on. I especially appreciated the great research and added content. He sprinkles in supporting articles from subject matter experts such as Nancy Duarte on sketching and planning in analog, David S. Rose "The Pitch Coach" on the importance of design and delivery in high stakes venture capital presentations, and John McWade on the use of photographs to tell your story. If you can only have one design book for building your presentation this is it.

Presentation Zen Design is an excellent book, geared for people who want to build impactful presentations but lack a deep design background.

Garr's first book, Presentation Zen, did an impressive job at giving an overview of what makes for a great presentation. He covered preparation, crafting the story, basic design principles and delivery strategies along with a nice selection of sample slides.

This book expands significantly on the first book's design section and this is a good thing. Once you've made the decision to move beyond typical PowerPoints it's great to have a book filled with so much practical information and lots of examples. With sections on type, color, images, video, layout and presenting data (an area where so many of the presentations I see fall apart), Presentation Zen Design provides a comprehensive toolkit for creating compelling presentations.

Garr Reynolds is a master of leading by example. His follow-up to PresentationZen, PresentationZen Design has more impact than the first book. It is a joy to look at and absorb the quintessential components of the aesthetics that guide the development of an effective slide deck. The book visually exudes the harmony, style, color and story that the text describes.

Mr. Reynolds' use of photographic images is a bold example for those of us who still think photos are an afterthought. The chapter on the power of the photograph will change your life, especially the tips from Scott Kelby on taking your own photographs to use in your presentations.

Garr Reynolds' presentation techniques did change my life in 2001 when I saw him speak at a computer user group event. Inspired by his refreshing and persuasive techniques, I took a new job in training course development and vowed that I would help as many people as I could escape from presentation prison. I look forward to using this powerful reference to continue to pursue that goal.

Presentation Zen Design

Garr's a great writer, and his first Presentation Zen book made a huge impact on how I create PPT slides. His new Zen Design book is unfortunately more of the same. He covers some art and design topics in detail, such as color selection, font kerning, recommended fonts, how to take your own digital photographs, symmetry vs asymmetry but otherwise it is more of the same.

I read through Zen Design and felt it did not add as much value as the first book. Sure, some of the topics are interesting but I've gotten the same lessons from other professionals in the area of photography and art. It felt like Garr ran out of new topics to discuss and fleshed out some of the earlier concepts - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, I felt that you could just buy and read the first book and be well on your way. The Zen Design book isn't mandatory. It's good to read, but not as important as the first book.

Pros: Covers more design topics in detail, excellent tips abound

Cons: More of the same, nothing revolutionary, not as good as the first book

Overall: 3/5 stars

Garr Reynolds' new book, PresentationZen Design, follows-up his first book, PresentationZen. His first book was in many ways a summary of Garr's presentation style, looking at presentation preparation, design and delivery. I suppose it is no surprise that his second book expands on one key area from his first book, slide design - I say it is no surprise because it is Garr's design style that most defines him. If you already have his first book, this new book is really chapters 5, 6 & 7 expanded, however don't take this as a negative, what Garr has done here is to write a whole book about slide design. So what should you expect from a book that's subtitled, 'Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations'?

The title of the first chapter gives you a good idea of the focus of the book - Design Matters. As most people who create slides for workshops and presentations are not trained designers, Garr takes us on a journey through his design thinking, drawing heavily on the Zen design traditions of his adopted home, Japan. Slide design is Garr's passion, and to be honest, thank heavens it is, because his approach to presentation slide design may just save us all from having to sit through another slideshow chock-a-block full of bullets, complicated charts, corny clipart and flying text!

The book is divided into three key sections:

Components
In this section the book covers the often ignored importance of Typefaces, particularly the choice of type and it's placement on the slide. Next Garr looks at Communicating with Colour. In addition to looking at some expected terms related to colour and it's use, for example hue, value, saturation, colour combinations, emotional connections and colour choices, Garr brings in aspects from the Zen aesthetic through a lesson in Sumi-e. In Using Images and Video to Tell Stories we enter the area that in many ways defines the PresentationZen style, the use of full screen images to complement and strengthen the spoken and written message - I particularly liked this area! Area covered here again include some technical aspects of image creation and editing as well as reviewing 10 things to avoid when using images. Finally in the component section Garr looks at how best to Simplify Data, how charts can communicate and indeed miscommunicate key messages, I know from experience that many presentations use charts that are barely readable, with far too much data, if all presentations followed the advice given here there would be less sleepy and bored learners and audience members!

Principles
So many slides used in presentations and workshops are full of text, bullet points, charts, and data. The first part of this section looks at Seeing and Using Space, beginning with a lesson in the Japanese art of flower design, Ikebana. Garr looks at the importance of white space, symmetrical/asymmetrical balance, Gestalt theory and the importance of 'less is more'. The use of focal points in slide design is illustrated through the Japanese room design feature known as a Tokonoma, in essence this part of the book, Creating Purpose and Focus, is about how to ensure the audience's eyes see what you want them to see. The section, Achieving Harmony looks at the 'rule of thirds' and grids in general when aligning aspects of your slides and working to connect the various elements to create balance and harmony. Garr must adore his food, especially a Bento Box, I've seen photos of his lunches uploaded via Twitter on more than one occasion! There is a point however, Garr sees harmony in a Bento Box, a balance of flavours, colours, sizes!

The Journey
Finally Garr provides pages of examples of great Slide Samples that illustrate the principles outlined throughout the book. It is always good to see examples, as just as the book reminds us, visual messages trump the written word. The book concludes with a chapter on Continuous Improvement, a good way to end, reminding readers that improving your slide design is a journey not a destination, that through continually learning from the lessons that are all around you - Billboards, Advertising, TV, brochures, package design - your slide design will continue to improve.

Finally I really liked how the book was scattered with 'guest appearances' from Nancy Duarte, David Rose, Maureen C. Stone, John McWade and Scott Kelby. They add another layer again to the book.

So, do I recommend this book, well clearly, yes! PresentationZen Design provides many valuable lessons that can help you to design slides that will engage your audience, it should be on your book shelf!.

Presentation Zen Design, unlike its predecessor, Presentation Zen gives practical and actionable tips on how to make a better presentation. While Zen and Japanese philosophy are still used as a method of teaching concepts, readers will find it much less distracting and much more integrated than its predecessor.

This book looks at the anatomy of your slides and how to make them supplement what you are saying as the presenter rather than being the focus of your presentation. Of course professional designers take years to learn these skills, but after reading this book I have much more confidence I can make a quality presentation without having Al Gore's design team at my disposal.

Unlike typical tech books, practical examples and checklists are missing from this book. General ideas and viewpoints are presented instead, in short digestable sections, just like the Bento box the author describes - a wide variety of concepts put together in a neat package that gives you energy and nourishment for the day.

After reading this book and looking at my previous presentations, I now understand why I and others fell asleep during them. I saw where I made my mistakes and what to change for the future. I'll be doing much much less on individual slides and will make the concepts I present "pop" off the screen and have a clear focus.

For those people looking for tips and tricks of PowerPoint and Keynote, move along. This book is about practical advice and overall concepts of using "slideware" to engage your audience and help them understand what you are presenting.

Pros: Excellent overall concepts of how to make better presentations with a holistic focus rather than practical teachings of software functions
Cons: None!

Five out of Five Dogcows.

I read and enjoyed the original Presentation Zen but felt that something was missing. While the book did a great job at explaining the planning and delivery stages of effective presentations, it didn't offer much about the actual design phase.

While some praised the fact that Presentation Zen was not "a book about making slides" I actually did want a book that could teach me how to make attractive, clear and effective slides. Presentation Zen Design is that book.

In it, you will find actionable how-to advice on important topics like: choosing the the right font, working with color, creating attractive visual compositions, using images and video, and other tips and techniques to improve your slides and create powerful presentations.

The book is also vintage Garr, with plenty of references to Japanese culture, and interesting parallels between Zen principles and aesthetics and presentation design. Garr's personal brand also shines through his choice of images and sample slides, which make Presentation Zen Design part how-to manual, part coffee table book.

For best results I would highly recommend reading both the original Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design, as both books complement and support each other.

Bear with me on this one.

I notice that after I reviewed Nancy Duarte's Slideology I managed to have the largest number of "most helpful reviews." I wasn't enthusiastic about that book, and I copied most of the review into the review of Garr Reynold's previous book, Presentation Zen. It seems that there are plenty of people who agree with me, and some who don't (and said so in the comments), so I feel I must say where I stand.

1. The quality of everyday presentations is dire. If we take Microsoft's figure of thirty million presentations given every day, then I would guess that there are less than a thousand that are good. Obviously presentations given many times over a period will get better, but all the rest suffer from one or more obvious errors.

2. Almost all presenters have little or no idea on how to improve. Not only that, but they have no idea how the presentation dynamic (what does and what should happen) works.

3. Most presentation books give ideas that are above the head of presenters. When you consider the amount of information given against that which is actually used, books are a waste of time.

4. It can be argued that presentations are the biggest waste of time and money in business today.

Given this, you'd think that publishers everywhere would be trying to sell books that appeal to unskilled people. But publishers ultimately are in the business of selling books. They want to have a reason for people who can just about master the program to buy books, not "Presentations for Idiots Like Me."

Publishers want their books to be the ones you decide to carry from the shelf to the checkout of the bookstore, or click on "Add to Cart" at the online store. The trouble is, people want "feel-good" books that promise them something difficult for little effort. While people fool themselves when they buy the book, when it doesn't work they blame themselves.

I don't blame Garr or Nancy. Their editors will encourage them to write books like this because they sell, and Reynolds and Duarte make money from royalties, and the books get well-promoted. So everyone's happy, apart from some of the readers.

To show an example of how this method is used, in the book there are many full-page illustrations of Japanese gardens, along with other stuff that's supposed to inspire you - like a two-page guide to making Japanese parasols. But are you making parasols or giving presentations? Does the sight of Japanese crafts make you want to rush to the podium?

So why two stars? Because the book does incorporate some of the ways to make better presentations, although they're spread around so it's difficult to notice them. I would rather see how Garr believes a beginning presenter should design from the often-nebulous instructions handed out, complete with examples of how not to do it.

I asked in my review of Reynolds' "Presentation Zen" for Garr to look at John McWade's work. In this book he's done more than that - John (correct spelling this time, sorry) contributes several pages to the book. Just as I was waiting for John's step-by-step approach, he contributes a conceptual passage that doesn't really help. That's true for all the star contributors here - Garr could have written their pieces just as well.

So, if you liked Reynolds' original book, you'll like this one. And if you didn't like the first book, you won't like this one either. And if you disagree or agree with me, say so in the comments.

EDIT, 3/7: Found something in John McWade's section. On page 110, he tells us to "make one point per slide," and, starting with a slide on "Traffic Management Systems," he replaces a boring table with four individual slides, each giving details of one row of the table. Each slide also has a nice picture of the means of transportation, but at no time is the data available on a single slide for comparison.

But wasn't that the point of the table? To compare the numbers? Now you can't do that, but the presentation "looks nicer." So it's apparently better to wow the audience with your graphic design rather that to put the facts in front of them?

I'd head the table "More come by air," or have a colored band across the top of each individual slide, where the width is proportional to the number. You'll probably still have to make a chart, probably a bar chart, to show the information clearly.

But the subtle seduction of graphic design over information transfer wins again. And another book is sold.

Forgive me for my lack of professional experience, as I'm still an undergraduate in business school. However, I must say, after reading Mr. Reynolds first book, I went on to give some amazing presentations. So much so, that everyone else in my classes, students and professors alike, including my communications professor often approach me afterwards to compliment me on my presentation style and particularly my slide design. Students often ask me how I created slides like that, and I have been happy to teach them what I know.

I think it is important to realize that there is, more than just creating slides that look pretty, a fundamental disconnect here. Many people cannot think within the realm of a presentation. They feel that the information NEEDS to be on the slide instead of having the slide as a backdrop. So the idea of breaking a four-rowed table out into four slides is ludicrous because "the information is not shown together so it cannot be prepared." I would argue that it is the job of the presenter to show the relationship between the information. Otherwise, if the table speaks for itself, why on earth are you presenting it?

This is exactly the point. A deck of slides should enhance your talk, not outline all of your main points. If it outlines all of your points, you the presenter, are useless. Hand out a copy of your slide deck and sit back down. Instead, it should be off in the background, it should convey simple messages that enhance your speech and provide visuals for the messages you are providing. That's exactly what Garr teaches.

Garr's book, while delving into philosophy and design in general, shows many incredible techniques I have incorporated into my own slides. Bleeding photos, using one or two colors for emphasis, text size and font selection, and even positioning on slides have all been incorporated into my slide design. Additionally, there are a few good specific examples of things I never thought to do, but that make the visuals interesting and exciting.

Some people still do not think this way, and those people will say this style of presentation is useless or laughable, or that it focuses on being flashy and not on substance. They have been the ones to give negative reviews to this book and the first book. They are fundamentally wrong. This style of presenting is incredibly engaging. What is not understood and often overlooked is that the most important element of any slide is the person presenting it.

If you don't buy into this idea, or can't being yourself to think this way, then you will not enjoy this book. But if you are open to it and embrace it, you will give some of the most astounding and engaging presentations of your life.

This book covers basic design principals such as proper choice of color, fonts, spacing, and the importance of keeping slides simple. You won't find a lot of theoretical explanations in this book, but all points are all illustrated with several "before and after" examples.

The author's slides look nice, but often resemble billboard ads. This may be appropriate for marketing presentations, but is less than ideal for more technical presentations. One of the chapters near the end of the book reprints several presentations, including some with scientific content, but there is no discussion of these presentations.

There is frequent mention of various Japanese "aesthetic principals". I found this interesting, but too abstract to be useful, and would rather have had some references to research on perception and other relevant topics.