Book review: The Compelling Communicator
This book is different from what I normally read, but I found it to be helpful and practical. Anyone who makes presentations, whether to one person or to a full room, should read it. Tim Pollard is the founder and CEO of Oratium, a leading messaging and design firm. He helps people make great sales presentations.
I recently gave a PowerPoint presentation in front of a group of businesspeople. Afterward, someone told me he loved my presentation but asked if I had heard about this book. I had never read a book or manual on making PowerPoint presentations, but I realized I should. Pollard leads seminars that I have heard are outstanding, but the book contains many of his most important ideas.
He purports that we tend to rate a presentation by how much we enjoyed it. Was everyone laughing? Did the audience cry? Did the speaker’s statements resonate with people? If so, we determine the presenter is a good speaker and gave a great presentation. Pollard disagrees. He suggests that a presentation is good only if it is memorable and leads people to take the desired action.
Throughout the book, Pollard offers lots of practical advice on giving presentations. He also lays out a systematic plan for assembling them. I won’t outline all of that here. Rather, I’ll highlight some points I found interesting.
He says a typical PowerPoint presentation contains between 40-60 slides, which he believes is too many (11). He also argues that two-thirds of presentations are mediocre or worse (16). His fundamental point is that each presentation should strive to “powerfully land a small number of ideas” (36). He argues that most presenters include far too much unnecessary information, a mistake he calls “Death by PowerPoint” (13).
Pollard states, “Don’t prove what doesn’t need proving. Time is the most precious resource in most presentations, yet presenters routinely burn that time hammering a point that the audience is already sold on” (7). He calls this phenomenon “too much club” (7).
He offers several practical presentation tips at the end of the book. He urges presenters to choose their words carefully, because some words pack more punch than others (254). He also encourages presenters to rehearse their presentations in order to eliminate many common problems.
This is a “how to” book. I don’t read those often, as I don’t like reading instructions! But I make roughly 250 presentations every year and often use PowerPoint. Pollard is correct that many presenters have embraced PowerPoint so fervently that they feel naked if their audience isn’t looking at a screen.
Yet, presenters have often never thought through why they are doing what they are doing. This book offers an easy and thoughtful way to assemble presentations that can save time and keep the presenter focused. Pollard does not present this book as openly “Christian,” but it seems apparent that he is a Christian. He also notes that his approach works well in developing sermons.
If you feel as though you have been buried in endless PowerPoint slides while enduring boring, unending presentations, or if you have inflicted such presentations on others, you should read this book! It will undoubtedly make your presentations much better.
 | Richard Blackaby is the president of Blackaby Ministries International and lives in Georgia. He travels internationally speaking on spiritual leadership in the home, church, and marketplace as well as on spiritual awakening, experiencing God, and the Christian life. Richard regularly ministers to Christian CEOs and business leaders. He has written or co-authored 33 books . This article was first published on RichardBlackaby.com. Used with permission from Blackaby Ministries International. Learn More » |
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