The Top 35 Books on Presentations

compiled by

Bruce Gabrielle and Gonzalo Alvarez

We wondered: What do the top presentation experts in the world read?

Your Judges
Nancy Duarte
Author, slide:ology, Resonate

They told us
We asked 7 of the top presentation experts in the world to tell us what books most inspired them to be better presenters. Seven judges, including four published authors, provided feedback to a list of books. We present, for your consideration, their ranked list of the

Bruce R. Gabrielle
Author, Speaking PowerPoint

Dr. Michael Alley

Author, The Craft of Scientific Presentations

top 35 presentation books

METHODOLOGY Books were evaluated on a scale of 0 (low) to 5 (high) on 3 areas: CONTENT Planning: research the audience and venue, set objectives, establish your main message Structure: organize, sequence and structure your presentation Storytelling: use storytelling techniques and principles to develop and deliver your presentation DESIGN Design: use color, alignment, whitespace, graphic design rules to enhance the look of presentation visuals Data visualization: use charts, tables, infographics and other techniques to display quantitative information visually DELIVERY Delivery: deliver your presentation, including how to stand, vocal control, pace, fidgeting Fear: managing the fear of speaking in public

Gonzalo Alvarez
Author, El Arte de Presentar

Andrew Dlugan
Editor/Founder, Six Minutes

Nolan Haimes
VP, Presentation Director, Edelman

Al Bonner,
Notes:
Authors could not review their own books Books with only one review were not included on this list In some cases, scores for books with only two reviewers were adjusted down, to avoid bias that comes with small sample sizes

Founder, Presentation Transformations

Visualization

Storytelling

Structure

Planning

1 2 3
4 5

Moving Mountains Henry M. Boettinger Give Your Speech, Change the World Dr. Nick Morgan Presenting to Win Jerry Weissman
Real Leaders Dont Do PowerPoint Christopher Witt

Beyond Bullet Points Cliff Atkinson

Resonate Nancy Duarte

7-Slide Solution Paul J. Kelly

Speaking PowerPoint Bruce R. Gabrielle

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs Carmine Gallo

10

Advanced Presentations by Design Dr. Andrew Abela

Fear

Top books on planning PowerPoint presentations

Delivery

Design

Content

Visualization

Storytelling

Structure

Planning

1 2 3
4 5

Slide:ology Nancy Duarte Presentation Zen Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen Design Garr Reynolds
Speaking PowerPoint Bruce R. Gabrielle

Clear and to the Point Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn

Say it with Charts Gene Zelazny

Universal Principles of Design Lidwell, Holden and Butler

The Non-Designers Design Book Robin Williams

Show Me the Numbers Stephen Few

10

Visual Slide Revolution Dave Paradi

Fear

Top books on creating slide visuals

Delivery

Design

Design

Visualization

Storytelling

Structure

Planning

1 2 3
4 5

Give Your Speech, Change the World Dr. Nick Morgan Youve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard Bert Decker Real Leaders Dont Do PowerPoint Christopher Witt
Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck Rick Altman

Presenting to Win Jerry Weissman

The Naked Presenter Garr Reynolds

Confessions of a Public Speaker Scott Berkun

Dazzle Em With Style Robert R. H. Anholt

Moving Mountains Henry M. Boettinger

10

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs Carmine Gallo

Fear

Top books on delivering your presentations

Delivery

Design

Delivery

Top 35 PowerPoint Books

Author Title Total Score (max 35) Number of votes

Jerry Weissman 2 Henry Boettenger 3 Bruce R. Gabrielle

1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Presenting to Win Moving Mountains Speaking PowerPoint

Give Your Speech, Change the World The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs Presentation Zen slide:ology Real Leaders Dont Do PowerPoint Resonate Dazzle 'Em With Style Beyond Bullet Points 7-Slide Solution Presentation Zen Design The Craft of Scientific Presentations The Naked Presenter Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck Advanced Presentations by Design Boring to Bravo Clear and to the Point You've Got to Be Believed to Be Heard Brain Rules Say It With Charts Everyone Communicates, Few Connect Visual Slide Revolution Made to Stick The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking The Story Factor Confessions of a Public Speaker The Backchannel The Pyramid Principle The Back of the Napkin Tell to Win Universal Principles of Design The Non-Designer's Design Book Show Me the Numbers

23.3 23.0 22.3

21.0 20.3 20.2 20.2 20.0 19.5 19.5 19.0 17.5 17.0 17.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 14.3 14.0 13.0 13.0 12.3 12.0 12.0 11.2 11.0 10.7 10.7 10.0 10.0 9.0 8.0 7.5 7.0 6.3

4 2 4
2 5 7 6 3 6 3 4 2 5 2 3 2 4 4 5 3 4 4 2 2 6 3 4 4 2 2 4 4 3 4 4

Nick Morgan Carmine Gallo Garr Reynolds Nancy Duarte Christopher Witt Nancy Duarte Robert R. H. Anholt Cliff Atkinson Paul J. Kelly Garr Reynolds Michael Alley Garr Reynolds Rick Altman Andrew Abela Kristin Arnold Stephen M. Kosslyn Bert Decker John Medina Gene Zelazny John C. Maxwell Dave Paradi Chip Heath y Dan Heath Dale Carnegie Annette Simmons Scott Berkun Cliff Atkinson Barbara Minto Dan Roam Peter Guber Lidwell, Holden and Butler Robin Williams Stephen Few

Your Judges

Nancy Duarte

Bruce R. Gabrielle

Dr. Michael Alley

Gonzalo lvarez

Andrew Dlugan

Nolan Haimes

Al Bonner