Stellar Presentations: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Giving Great Talks [Kindle Edition]

Shel Israel (Author)

Book Description

Tech StartUps are built on dreams, teams and technology. But to turn vision into reality you really need to be skilled at presenting to investors, the media and increasingly at conferences. Stellar Presentations explains the strategy of the public presentation. More than that it is filled with handy tips at how to be memorable and persuasive when talking from the front of the room.

Author Shel Israel [Naked Conversations, Twitterville] is an accomplished speaker who has been coaching startup executives on how to present at conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt, LAUNCH and DEMO for many years. He has also been a conference reviewer, reporting on hundreds of presentations.

Above all, he is a story-teller. Israel has filled this short book with anecdotes of successes and mistakes made in recent years by companies he has known. He is also funny, making this short book a most enjoyable read.

Product Details

• File Size: 78 KB
• Print Length: 76 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073ZP01E
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,670 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Create Stellar Presentations with Coach Shel Israel February 10, 2012

By Christopher Abraham

Format:Kindle Edition

Shel popped me an email to see if I would kindly read and review his newest book, Stellar Presentations: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Giving Great Talks, and I happily obliged. Shel Israel explains the impetus behind this book himself: Create Stellar Presentations with Coach Shel Israel

"Stellar CVR 199x3002 Create Stellar Presentations with Coach Shel IsraelI decided to write Stellar Presentations, a small book for a niche market that I know and love. This is a book for tech entrepreneurs who need to present at conferences. I hope you find it useful."

To me, however, it is so much more. This book is conversation and personal, allowing the rest of us to have a taste of Shel as our personal business coach.

While the book gets into the nitty gritty of presenting your new tech start-up to venture capitalists, it's much more generally accessible than that. It offers tips that can be mapped to any sort of presentation you'll need to make on any subject because it addresses issues interesting to anyone who needs to do any sort of public speaking. For example, I believe I will stop winging it when I am up on stage. Shel has finally convinced me that practice does make perfect and even though I may well be a subject matter expert, I am not a public speaking expert, which is something needs to prepare for:

"I don't wish to overstate my point. You probably don't have time to practice 10,000 hours for your talk. Nor is the challenge before you quite as difficult as composing a Mozart masterpiece. But public speaking does require a lot of practice."

But this sort of practice demands brevity and prioritization because time is the enemy of the presenter's presentation:

"As a speaker, your constraint is not space, but time.... The inverted pyramid structure will also work for you. It disciplines you to get your best points out at the top. If you find that you are running short of time, then you can comfortably chop out the lesser details before reaching your deadline."

Also, remember, that these are Internet times and everything you say, assert, promise, and state are not only recorded for posterity but laid bare to immediate public scrutiny and Fisking, so beware:

"You may be the last speaker in a long day at a third tier event, but when you speak from a stage these days, you have to assume that anyone in the world could be listening in and somewhere someone will check out your assertions. Even the smallest fib is like a loose thread in the fabric of your talk. It may get pulled and everything will unravel."

Finally, Shel reminded me that at the end of the day, your presentation will probably suck and you probably won't be able to connect with your audience if you're stiff and can't quite loosen up enough to enjoy yourself:

"Making a public presentation is damn hard. But if you really want to succeed, if you really wish to be stellar, then have as much fun as you possibly can while standing in front of the room."

Oh, and one final delicious piece of advice that you can take away from this review on the way to your Kindle to buy Stellar Presentations:

"The best remedy for a crackling throat is a few slices of cantaloupe before speaking. Other melons will help, but nothing works quite like cantaloupe."

Now that's advice I can get on board with! Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read February 8, 2012

By R "Ray" Wang

Format:Kindle Edition

there have been a lot of books that attempt at helping entrepreneurs tell the story, but none provide the detail and examples needed to bring a presentation to life. Shel's masterfully shared his experiences working with some of the top entrepreneurs. Read the book once for enjoyment. Read the book again as a reference guide.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pitching a new product? You must have this book. February 10, 2012

By M. Markman

Format:Kindle Edition

What's this? A book on presenting that contains not a single slide? What an unexpected and brilliant idea. Your presentation is never your slides. It's the story you tell. If you are an entrepreneur or developer pitching a new technology company or product, this book is a good investment. If you plan to present at one of the major tech conferences, it's a necessary investment. The advice and coaching are solid and specific. While the insights of this book can be applied to all presentations and speeches in any endeavor, there's a special merit to its tight focus. Pitching new products and companies is a specialty and Shel Israel is an experienced and savvy specialist.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A book on Steroids!!! February 5, 2012

By Sunish

Format:Kindle Edition

A brilliant, short book but with depth in content. Shel has nailed the presentation and story-telling aspect of great talks. The anecdotes he has shared are worth reading, I finished it at one go and found it a bit short. hope Shel comes out with another revised version soon. The price @ $9.99 seems a bit high, it could have been $5.99 or less.

To all presenters, there is something in this short book for each one of you, do not miss it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Actionable one-stop guide! May 2, 2012

By A_Squared

Format:Paperback

There are a lot of guides, books, blogs etc. dedicated to this topic.
So in that sense, Shel is not talking about anything new.

However what is very well done, is Shel's ability to distil all the knowledge espoused (by everyone who talks about this topic, including himself) online and offline into a short, no B.S guide on how to think about, construct and deliver your presentations.

It doesnt matter how much experience you have with public speaking, there's a good chance that you will learn something(s) new from this book - which is saying a lot given how short the book is.

I also consider the length of this book to be one of its greatest assets. To me it demonstrates Shel's respect for the readers time and allows you to get on with the business of putting into practice everything you've just learned as quickly as possible.

It's a no-brainer to read this book if you are going to deliver presentations, irrespective of whether you are an entrepreneur or not.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, Sweet, Spot On April 16, 2012

By Nictos

Format:Kindle Edition

I'm a PR consultant working in Japan who has been looking for a guide that will teach Japanese entrepreneurs how to tell their stories simply with passion and clarity. More and more Japanese start-ups are looking overseas for funding, and a key destination is Silicon Valley. The creative forces behind many of these companies can speak passionately about their dreams in their native Japanese, but when it comes to doing it in a second language they hit the proverbial wall; add to this the tendency to focus too intently on the details and you have a recipe for disaster. (Sorry, Shel - I just violated your rule against falling back on cliches - twice, actually) Stellar Presentations keeps it simple, offers easy to understand guidelines and illustrates key points with anecdotes drawn from Shel's professional experience. This is a well-organized, enlightening and - very important - quick read that I will continue to reference in the future.

More About the Author

When Shel Israel was in second grade, his teacher made him stay after school as punishment for telling stories. This did not cure him, but it did persuade him to stick to non-fiction. He's been telling stories ever since as a writer, speaker and consultant.

His main focus is on the social web--not from the tech perspective but through people and their work. He tells the stories of how people use new technology so that others will understand and embrace it.


He has been a contributing writer to many business publications including BusinessWeek, Fast Company, American Express Open Forum and currently, Forbes, where he writes The Social Beat Column.

He's author of four books: Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. Written with Robert Scoble, Twitterville, How Business Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhood, The Conversational Corporation and Stellar Presentations.

Currently, he is collaborating with Robert Scoble on a new book, whose working title is: The Age of Context: How It Will Change Your Life and Your Work

Israel is also a popular speaker and consults companies on how they can better tell their stories.