slide Books

It's almost a cliche to complain about how most presentations are horrible. But fortunately there are a select few books out there that take you beyond the mechanics of creating a presentation. Nancy Duarte has one of those books that need to be read by every presenter... slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. It's my hope that this book gets a wide reading by all who stand up in front of groups and convey a message.

Contents:
Introduction; Create a New Slide Ideology; Creating Ideas, Not Slides; Creating Diagrams; Displaying Data; Thinking Like a Designer; Arranging Elements; Using Visual Elements - Background, Color, and Text; Using Visual Elements - Images; Creating Movement; Governing with Templates; Interacting with Slides; Manifesto - The Five Theses of the Power of a Presentation; Reference; Index

Duarte leads a design firm that is responsible for shaping the message and images that define a company's message. In slide:ology, she distills down the important information they use to design slides and presentations that make an impact, both visually and emotionally. She starts with defining how presentations are meant to convey ideas, not slides. All too often, presenters use slides as a crutch to hide behind. If all the information is there, then they don't have to worry about forgetting anything. Conversely, they also aren't needed as part of the presentation, either. These text-heavy, multi-bulleted slides are really documents in disguise. They're meant to be printed off and read, not presented to a group. After the theory and concepts are presented, she gets into the mechanics of how those impact slides are created, everything from color and font selection to image use and placement. In many ways, the book is also an example of her work. Rather than pages and pages of text with standard images, the layout is designed to enhance the message and cement the concepts in the reader's mind. Although it feels like you're reading a work of literary art, you're also absorbing the message almost without effort. It's nearly impossible to come away from reading slide:ology without looking at presentations in the same way again.

Up to the point of reading slide:ology, I was convinced that Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds was the only absolute "must read" for presenters. I would now contend that slide:ology should be purchased and read at the same time. I've started to incorporate many of these ideas in my presentations, and it's made a major difference (positively, that is). You owe it to yourself, and especially your audience, to read slide:ology. You'll be happier with your efforts to communicate, and your audience will be MUCH happier listening to you present.

A very interesting book for people who uses to make presentations and want to do it different.
Very good graphics, many examples, Ideas, etc

Where to start?

Overall, this is probably one of the best books I've purchased for my own skills growth. I give the occasional presentation and I'm just blown away now that I review my previous slideshows having this book's information in my head.

For me, just the information found in Chapter 7 (of 12) was worth the price of the book. Don't know what Triadic or Tetradic color sampling are? You will when you're done reading. And the suggestions on the use of lighting an text feel common-sense now, but of course that's after reading this book.

The author includes a good mixture of Case Studies, with very simple examples from key companies and organizations that just hammer in the fact that there's so much to learn about proper slide design.

Add to this the discussion on the actual purposes of slideshows and I'm convinced that I can improve my presentations and make certain they fill the requirements of the audience and not my own.

Some random thoughts:

* Chapter 9 on Movement - short but sweet; I'm already trying to figure out how to incorporate some of these ideas into my slideshows.

* Chapter 4 on Data Presentation - another chapter that very well may be worth the price of the book. If you use graphs in your slideshows, this chapter will open your eyes to what we do right and wrong.

* Chapter 10 on Templates - Finally, some good advice on creating my own in-house standards that provide some consistency for my audience.

Overall, a 6-star book. The layout is easy on the eyes, the writing style is simple and relevant, and the examples are plenty and to the point. I wish I'd had this book in college and highly recommend it to any up-and-coming entrepreneurs who want to get attention. Great job, Nancy Duarte.

I teach people how to win in high stakes presentation situations. I have always advocated the power of verbal visuals (metaphors and analogies) to drive home a point particularly "when your audience just doesn't get it." I love Slide:ology because it is a brilliant book for anyone who needs to make a point with actual visuals. Rich in examples and case studies, its messaging and lay-out model what it is selling with grace, elegance and sophistication. A must-have for all communicators.

I typically post reviews of books based on technology topics like .NET, LINQ, etc. but I thought this book would be a could fit for the site. This book is about creating effective PowerPoint slides which many technology professionals, like myself, do on a regular basis. On to the review...

The author breaks up the book into multiple chapters but not your typically kind of chapters. These chapters are about the different parts that make up a slide; graphics, displaying data, diagrams, use of movement, etc. Each chapter is typically closed with a Case Study which demonstrates the use of the technic or recommend. This is done by showing a before and after presentation. The author also reinforces her points effectively by using graphics, colors and illustrations.

The book is chock full of handy tips and suggestions that anyone can use to create dazzling and effective PowerPoint slides. If you present using PowerPoint, this is a must have.

As this book is comparing the subtle differences in scanned images the paper and print qualities are paramount to the books success in conveying the desired message. The physical quality of this book is EXCELLENT.
The primary objective of the author is to take the film photographer who has accumulated an archive of analog negatives & slides & bring them into the world of digital conversion. The author explains in detail how to achieve the best possible digital image from your scanner & how to build a work flow to make the process efficient, repeatable & reliable. He has accomplished this in a way both the novice & expert will benefit from.
As a result of this book I have gained a higher level of confidence going into converting my 20 years of underwater slides to digital images.

The authors do a very thorough job of discussing the topic of scanning slides. There is a lot of good information for someone who will or already has purchased a dedicated film scanner with the intent of making high-quality scans.

I purchased the Plustek Optic Film 7200 + this tutorial book. The book was informative at first and convinced me to use the SilverFast SE software in lieu of the Quik-Scan. Unfortunately, the book scans over the SilverFast SE program and wants to tell you all about the Silverfast Ai programs and beyond. The author likes the NIKON scanners and really dwells on them. FYI - Silverfast out of Sarasota FL has a great Tech Support guy named Boris @ 941-921-4815 -- call between 3PM & 5:30 PM and he will talk you through your problems.

This is a great book for those who have some experience with scanning film or slides but want to learn more. It has helped me to get more out of my scanner and software and do a better job of restoring old slides.

This is a great book for the novice scanner looking to improve. I bought it because I was considering buying the Nikon Coolscan V ED scanner. This book has a lot of before and after pictures that show you what the features or settings do. Yes, I bought the scanner and yes it performs just as described in the book.

For my senior year of college we had a new university president. He liked to take a lot of the chapel time to talk about all the ways they were planning to spend our money on improvements to the school that we would never get to see. He also liked to use PowerPoint - a lot! After a few chapels, we were sick of PowerPoint.

Over the years I have been presented to with PowerPoint in a lot of different settings. Most of the time it was the same story of "blah blah blah." Too many people lean on the tool to enhance their presentation when all it does is illuminate the boredom. PowerPoint doesn't make presentations. People make presentations.

That's why I liked the premise of Paul Kelly's book The Seven Slide SolutionTM. I really found the first two sections interesting and helpful when it comes to developing a presentation using PowerPoint. Based on the way people's brains work, Kelly suggests that a presentation doesn't need to be any longer than seven slides. Anything beyond that is wasting your time and the audiences - they won't remember it. He walks you through the process of developing a story, from creating a premise to establishing conflict, adding tension, and ultimately providing a resolution to your presentation. The final section seemed to me a more hands on or reference to have handy when you are actually putting together the presentation.

Again, it wasn't exactly exciting or motivating, but I learned some good things. If you use PowerPoint very often, it might be a good book to take a look at. It's also a good refresher for putting together the basic elements of a story.

This book does for presentations what flow charts do for good programming.

The author begins by depicting the all-too-familiar scene played out daily in most corporate presentations. He moves to an analysis of a better way to present material and provides an easy to replicate template to use when building presentations.

This template is very useful in helping the reader organize his/her thoughts and, in turn, make a better presentation in less time. I used this for the first time a couple of weeks ago to much success in presenting information to the managment of a joint venture. To my surprise, several people on both sides complimented my presentation and thanked me for making the information so clear, etc.

This book will help keep your presentation focused, clear, and clean. You still have to know what you are presenting and do your "due diligence" on facts. But it is definitely a good source to have at your fingertips.

What makes a presentation compelling? According to the author here, it's the ability to tell a solid story and that, asserts the author, can be done in just seven slides.

I liked this book and yet, for me, I felt that the information had been presented before and done better in a couple of other titles: Beyond Bullet Points and Presenting to Win. Both of these provided clearer presentations of their own material (that is remarkably similar in some ways) than this particular book. One reason for that might have been nothing more than the text-heavy nature of this publication: it feels more weighty than the other publications and detracts from its simple message. While the publisher might have wished to estbalish this as a more serious handling of the topic, it lacks 'white space' in its own presentation.

The material here is fine: the 'story' is a natural format for presentations since we all, at heart, love conflict & resolution. If you've not read material like this before then this book will provide a good introduction. But there are other options that convey the same detail in a less textually heavy manner.

What is the best way to start a presentation? How to end it? How to solicit feedback? A methodical approach to these and many other related questions both saves preparation time and improves delivery. The only remaining problem is: what if the new methodology makes sense to you? Would you go through the pain to change your entire presentation style?

Kelly presents a simple three-stage methodology for building an exciting presentation in a minimal set of slides:

1. Build a story board
2. Select supporting facts
3. Elaborate in a set of seven slides

Internet has changed the way we process information and the way we communicate it. My audience is not interested in more statistics. It is looking for new interpretations and new business ideas. What is the right way to present them? If you do it right, you can help your listeners to come to the right conclusions, if not - you just wasted everybody's time.

So the reader has a choice: keep the old presentation habits or adopt the new methodology. Habit versus success. Comfort versus benefit.

This book teaches how to resolve this dilemma and adopt a winning methodology without suffering through change pains. You just need to follow five simple steps for the first stage (premise, conflict, tension, turning point, and resolution) and four steps for each slide (ask a question, evoke a sentiment, answer the question, and move the presentation forward).

Complete with detailed examples and clear illustrations, this is an excellent road map for business presentations.

Yuval Lirov, Practicing Profitability - Billing Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinics and Chiropractic Offices: Collections, Audit Risk, SOAP Notes, Scheduling, Care Plans, and Coding

This long overdue ProShow guide was a big disapointment. The author has a bad habit of interupting the lessons by putting the glossary in the middle of the lesson(ex pg 20-23). Being used to the Adobe Elements books and the intuitive way the lessons are written, this book is very difficult to follow as there is no coherant lesson plan. There is also a problem in opening some of the lesson materials from the supplied CD. Lastly, the book lumps ProShow Gold $69.95) with the more expensive ProShow Producer ($249.95) and really pushes Producer. I would not recommend this book as a guide to ProShow Gold. The author should take a lesson from the Adobe Photoshop Elements books.

I have been using Proshow Producer for sometime, and was prodding Photodex to write a book, I have to say that I think what happened with this book is in the quality control dept. Its like there was none, and it is very evident with spelling errors, poor illustrations, unfinished illustrations, and words that only an experienced user in ProShow Producer would recognize. I do applaud James Karney for writing it, maybe on the next edition all of the errors will be straightened out. The Program ProShow Gold, and Producer remain an outstanding tool for video slide shows

We are always looking for new tricks and techniques for our amature photo presentations. This book is very helpful.

While being a good guide through a terrific program, it caters to the top of the line Producer version. It's very useful for the Gold version but in many instances the distinctions and capabilities of Gold are lost in the Producer edition.
Excellent!

The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow has a lot of information. A lot of it I didn't know, so I learned a lot from it.

The book has some errors and omissions that are detailed on the authors website and there is a promise that these errors will be corrected in the second printing.

THE WORLD OF THE MICROSCOPE had good information to help my daughter with her science project. The book arrived in less than 4 days.

I bought this and gave it as a gift with a microscope and prepared slides to a 9 year old boy. He loved the microscope and slides, and the book was a nice accompaniment that he could use for reference. The book wasn't used for very long though once he got to using the microscope.

The item arrived in condition as described and it got to me fast

While looking to educate my adopted Chinese son ... only in this country for two years, I noticed his interest in life sciences and chemestry. So, we bought him his first Microscope for this Christmas and were trying to figure out how we can teach him the many things/uses we had forgotten in 42 years since my school days. Well ..... this book is the perfect answer. Not only does it explain the microscope, but it gives great experiments and things to build from household items as tools to carry my son further than I could. The writting will be a little dense per page for his understanding, but any good parent that will use this to help their child will be able to take that child to high knowledge and functionality in the microscope realm.

Wonderful for my 10-yr-old niece's first experience with a microscope. Good pictures, colorful, understandable instructions, useful information. Probably good for any beginner, any age.

I definitely recommend this board book... it is simple and to the point with one shape per page. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the pull out tabs are annoying for my 19 month old since it takes a little tugging for the tabs to come out... she gets frustrated at times and ends up crying. Had I realized that this would be the case, I would have never introduced her to the tabs. In any case, I still recommend this book.

We keep this one in the car. My grandson loves sliding the different shapes & he's only a one year old. Small enough for little hands, but very sturdy cardboard.

My first experience with this book occurred 6 years ago. It is not only great for babies, but for toddlers, and more durable than other similar "lift-the-flap" books. It is concept and word appropriate text for very small children. Since then, I have purchased it for numerous friends for baby showers. My own children have loved this book so much we had to go buy a 2nd copy. It is a great book to use for children between 6 - 24 months, especially great to tuck into the "church" bag or other places and activities where children need to sit quietly when they need something to capture their attention. We also have the other books in the series (which are also very well put together - Shapes, Opposites, Numbers), but this is my personal favorite.

My son likes it for the pull out tabs that reveal a drawing of an object that illustrates the shape drawn on the page. The shapes included are: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, heart and diamond. While the illustrations are as simple and straightforward as the limited vocabulary used in this book, they are still beautifully drawn. Rather that use solid colors for the shapes, each one has a subtle gradient to give it more pop. The real world objects are drawn in greater detail than the shapes so that they stand out. The illustrations included are: a tricycle, a quilt, a watermelon, a triangle instrument, a valentine and a kite.

I like that the book throws in some words that my son doesn't know straight away to give him something new to work on. He has learned "quilt" and "valentine" while reading this book to me.

My 15 month old son loves to pull the shapes and enjoys this colorful book. It is very interactive and sturdy for a busy boy. Some of the slide books we have didn't last long but this one is certainly well made. Highly recommend.

I make my own greeting cards. I purchased this book from Amazon, couldn't wait to get it. Glad I did. Many different types of popups are presented. Some very easy, some I didn't find so useful, like sliders. However the illustrations and instructions are very clear and I have made several different designs. This is a no brainer for those that enjoy doing something different.

This is not what I expected. You can pass this one by and choose a book/pamplet with better designs and ideas. If you don't already know how to make pop-ups, you will need a book with better instructions. This book is really only useful for those that have NEVER even thought of adding pop-ups to cardmaking; very basic ideas, and not a good How-to.

This is a great book. I have been using it to create my own greeting cards. My friends and family love it. Easy to understand.

This book is a must for the card maker in your life. No longer will you have a flat, boring card to send to family and friends. This book teaches you to make action-packed three-dimensional cards...fun to make and fun to share. Great addition to your craft library.

The book give a lot of great ideas for action cards... And those ideas can be manipulated for variations so easily.

I bought this for my son, who had just joined the Army this summer. He told me he was reading the bible everyday, and so I got him this one. He really likes it because of the size (very easy to transport) and the features.

My husband looked for this book before he went to Iraq and couldn't find one. So I of course went to Amazon and here it was!
He loved it,and it's with him now...

My oldest son is in the Army. I bought him this Bible to take with him to his unit. He loves it, it is compact, and has a lot of extra inspirations and devotions in it. For anyone looking for a good gift for a Soldier, this has to rank on top.

I was a little disappointed when I got them. I was looking for the King James version of the Bible and one of the reviews said this was the King James version, so when they arrived, like I said I was a little disappointed. There are some really great things about this version. I love the size, 7" x 5". I love the Soldier's Additional Material: The Pledge of Allegiance, The Star Spangled Banner (although it only has the first and fourth verses), Washington's Prayer, the Where to Turn section, George W. Bush Inaugural Address, President Bush Prayer Breakfast, George S. Patton's Prayer, and more, but those are my favorites. I am not in the military, but thought it would be nice to get a smaller version for 72 hour kits in case of an emergency. I would sure love to have a Bible with me if I had to leave my home. I bought one for everyone in my family.

Inside it has all the creeds and prayers, along with easy to read Bible stories.

As I was preparing to write this review, I noticed, in small print on the front flap of my copy's dustjacket, that this book is intended for children aged 7 - 9. This was a surprising revelation, as I've been reading this and the other books in the "Words are CATegorical" series to my daughter since before she turned four. She loves them, clamors for them, hangs on to every word as I read them . . . so I would encourage parents of pre-K and Kindergarten aged children not to hesitate in introducing these grammatical concepts at an early age. These books are too fun to have to wait another three years for them!

That said, "Slide and Slurp, Scratch and Burp: More About Verbs" is a worthy addition to any child's library. Mr. Cleary kicks verbs up a notch by introducing the concepts of linking versus action verbs and how verbs relate to subjects in sentence structure. And, if this sounds like way too much for a young child to grasp, then I must tell you that everything in this book is written in verse that is sly and witty and accompanied by amusing illustrations (courtesy of Brian Gable). I do not know how Brian P. Cleary does it, but I am so grateful that he does!

I have every book currently in this series, and I will purchase every book to come. I can hardly wait to see what Mr. Cleary and Mr. Gable have up their sleeves for gerunds, participles, and the subjunctive mood.

Very creative and educational. My daughter and I enjoy this interactive and cost effective way of learning for inquisitive toddlers. This is also a great book to start children's interest in reading.

I ordered all three of the books in this series - opposites, colors, and shapes. I have the usual collections ofDdisney, Dr. Seuss and the classics. While my little angel (12 months)liked listening to me read these books, she was not really involved in the process. But with the chuck murphy books she wanted to turn the pages, slide the inserts in and out, point at the animals she saw on the inserts(Colors)and has even started to copy the words I speak! Now she gets the book and ask me to read it to her. I only wish he had more books with vegetables and fruits!

My child loves this book - especially since he loves the sun and moon. The slide outs are really a fun way for them to learn their opposites.

All of his seek n slide books are amazing and I highly recommend them. My daughter knew all her colors, shapes, numbers and opposites before the age of 2 because of these books. Opposites, just like the others, are made specifically for a younger child. I would say 9mo -3 yrs old. My daughter LOVES to pull the slide tabs out and they are very sturdy and have held up to constant pulling. These books teach by reinforcing what is learned in the pull tab. It is a great memory game as well. Chuck Murphy knows how to make books that younger kids will not only appreciate but actually learn fast!

My son loved this book so much he destroyed it. It is a very sturdy book, but he read it so many times it finally fell to pieces. I just bought him a new copy--what more can I say.