15 Minutes - Including Q & A - A Book Review

Many of us have seen lousy presentations after lousy presentations. I am sure most of you have asked a simple question: "Why are these presentations so bad?" Well, there are a lot of reasons to be sure. I am sure that I could fill an entire blog post just listing the problems with PowerPoints - which I would have to do in bullet format of course.

There are a lot of people trying to change this however: Duarte Design, Garr Reynolds, Sticky Slides, your truly, Joey Asher and many others.

Joey Asher though has an interesting idea that he is trying to get people to believe in. His concept: no presentation should last longer than 15 minutes - and that includes the Q & A time as well. Revolutionary? probably. Will people do it? Maybe.

The book itself is quite short and to the point - which is exactly what Joey wants all of us to do with our presentations. However, the effectiveness of it is its simplicity. He breaks down exactly how to put together a 7 minute presentation and how to prepare for the Q & A at the end.

I'm almost wondering if Joey did Extemporaneous speaking as a high school student because his method is exactly what I have taught my students for the past 10 years:

1. Start with a hook

2. Give a preview of your main points (keep it to three)

3. Body of the speech

4. Review

5. Call to action

It's a great way to make sure your point gets across to your audience. Joey breaks it down a little bit more than I just did, but I don't want to give away all of his good tips and suggestions.

He goes through each area and helps you figure out how to take a presentation that used to be a long-winded, soul-crushing event to a short, persuasive and effective presentation.

If you are having trouble shortening your presentations then I would highly recommend picking up this book. It not only will teach you a lot of key ideas, but it is something that you can also keep with you for a reference guide in case you need some help.

The only question really is - will people have the gumption to follow his suggestions? It's a long shot, but one I'm hopeful for.

Comments

[TJ Walker]

If a speaker is incredibly boring, then 15 seconds is too long. If a speaker is fantastic, then 3 hours can be too short.

[Travis Dahle]

TJ,

You make a valid point. I've seen speakers who have lost their audience in about a minute because their presentation skills have been so bad. I'm not sure I would be able to listen to someone for 3 hours, I do get the point that an engaging speaker will keep your attention.

Thanks for the comments!

Travis