I often see on people's bookshelves PowerPoint for Dummies or other similar technical books on how to create PowerPoint. What I rarely see anyone with are books on how to create presentations.

To be fair, up until a few years ago, there were very few books on information design and even fewer on presentation design. But today there are a few absolutely essential books for anyone who creates presentations. In this first of a three-part series, let me introduce you to a book that helped get the ball rolling for today's new style of presentation.



Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds

Garr Reynolds, like Guy Kawasaki (who wrote the introduction to this book--as a series of 15 slides, no less), is one of those guys who used to work for Apple and subsequently carved out a niche in the tech and business world for himself. 

For Garr, it was presentation. His blog, PresentationZen.com grew into Presentation Zen the book published in 2008.

As you might guess, Garr preaches a philosophy of simplicity of design and message. The book covers content prep and creation, basic principles of design and presentation delivery. But don't think he gets bogged down in involved theory and academics. The book is very accessible on many levels, and what makes it so invaluable are the numerous examples of well-designed slides and presentations throughout.



I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I keep Presentation Zen on my bookshelf and refer to it for inspiration and ideas with almost every presentation I design.

Trust me. Buy the book. Read the blog. And pre-order his next book, Presentation Zen Design.
 
And if you want to see him in action, check out his talk at Google.