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When I started reading the book I was struck very quickly by the fact that the book was simple, perhaps too simple? It combines rhetoric and presentation skills, but I do not think the content in any way stand out of the way I had hoped for from a book that will be comprehensive on the subject of presentation skills. Anyway, it’s a very personal view. The book is readable, easy to follow and have proved useful for those who want to learn about presentation skills and today stands at square one. If you’ve read anything in the past by Björn Lunden you will recognize the pedagogy of the book.

The language is pleasant and not stilted, making it easy to read. It also has some modern touches which I appreciate.

The book is for you who want a simple literature that you can quickly read through and get the key building blocks in the subject from.

Pretty soon after I picked up the book I started to appreciate the way it was written. Torbjörn certainly has a rich expertise and much experience in Presentation Skills. He demonstrates many practical examples and ideas from his own time as a presenter. I also like the wholeness of the book because it ideal for those who want to become a good presenter but don’t know where to start. Unfortunately, the book is quite outdated don’t include much information about new research in the field of communication and neurology. It also lacks a very important aspect, namely, PowerPoint and how to work as a presenter with PowerPoint.

The book is ideal for someone who has 1-3 of knowledge in a scale of 5 in the subject of presentation skills. But keep in mind that the content is not the latest.

I picked the book up at 17:30 and put it down 20:00. Read from cover to cover. The book or perhaps I should call it a “quick reference card” is a perfect complement to other literature on the subject. It was a smart move to release it. It fits many presenters, given that most presenters do not stand there every day but do it every now and then; and it is precisely the delay between the presentations that makes you forget.

The illustrations, bullet points, objects and simple language makes it very appealing and at the end of the book you will find some useful checklists that can actually play their role for once.

I recommend the book to those who do not give presentations often and want a quick and easy tutorial to know you you’re on the right track when you prepare and implement your presentation.

The book is clearly focused on rhetoric, which is also revealed by the book’s title. We get to come along on deep dives amongst the classical Greeks and are treated to many interesting and accurate exemplifications. The language of the book is not too complex and convoluted, which otherwise may be common in books on rhetoric, I think rather that the language is nicely composed and that the reading of the book runs like a running water.

The book has a good mix of graphics and text, making it easygoing to browse. Even the drawings in the book are well illustrated and give emphasis to what is written.

Although I and Peter may not have quite the same opinions on everything in the book, I would still recommend it warmly to those who want to lift your presentation skills to the next technical level.

Nancy Duarte’s first book was really good reading. A complete guide to most in presentation skills, a bit too heavy and thick, like many American books can be, but still good. She has now released hersecond book “Present Visual stories that transform the audiences” and it truly a visual hit. What I thought was most interesting about it was that the design perspective was so broad, with inspiration from all sorts of unexpected directions.
There is no doubt that images speak to us more than text, and to also add a narrative context to the images it makes the power of the visual message so excelled that PowerPoint presentations with classic bullet-lists end up far, far down on the 100th place. But you, as I have probably marveled at the thought how on earth will I have time to work so much with images when bullet-lists are so much faster? That is correct, but then does that so you decide which slides in your presentation that are really important and spend some time on them to find good pictures.