Preface

More than $6 billion dollars is spent on training and presentations in North America every year—and this figure does not include the indirect costs of paying employees while they attend training and presentations. This is an enormous investment of time and resources. Sadly, many of these presentations are poorly designed, poorly delivered, and poorly received. However, when a presentation is exquisitely designed and masterfully delivered, the audience members are moved to see the world differently than they ever saw it before and is inspired to achieve more than they ever thought possible.

If we spend this much time either giving or attending presentations, why is the return on investment (ROI) so low? The answer is that most of us have had very little formal training in how to improve our presentation skills. The good news is that there are dozens of excellent courses available to improve presentation skills. At the same time, there are many excellent books to help us learn to develop and enhance our presentation skills. However, there is an area that has not been fully addressed by any of these books. None of them address the skills and strategies necessary to be a Master Presenter. That is the focus of this book: how to develop the strategies used so effectively by Master Presenters.

The emphasis of this book is on development and practical application of presentation skills and strategies. These skills and strategies can help you become a more effective presenter, regardless of whether you are giving a one-on-one presentation, a presentation to a small group, or a presentation to an audience of a thousand or more. This book is designed to be highly interactive. It contains many exercises, each one carefully constructed to help you develop and enhance your content, delivery, and presentation style. You will learn how to make your presentations more memorable, actionable, and transferable to the workplace so that they have both an immediate and a lasting impact. You will also learn how to obtain salient feedback so you absolutely know what is working and what needs to be improved. By actively involving yourself in these exercises, you can watch yourself improve and grow as a presenter.

—Dr. Brad McRae and David Brooks