false63325107356238729780735623873226Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspirehttp://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176520653m/633251.jpg
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/633251.Beyond_Bullet_Points_Using_Microsoft_Office_PowerPoint_2007_to_Create_Presentations_That_Inform_Motivate_and_Inspire
82371Cliff Atkinson571730falseSat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009Mon Jul 27 21:54:06 -0700 2009Sun Oct 04 11:08:24 -0700 2009 And, so, the art of creating great presentations is something I must be better at if I want to succeed in this new role. I haven't had much need for PowerPoint in the past. I'm a wannabe writer more comfortable with Word or a Rich Text Editor telling stories with flowery language and cute turns of phrase. In the world I work in now, though, visual cues are way more important. At The Mouse, the "pretty picture" is powerful. The "pretty picture" is what gets people excited. It sparks ideas and action and momentum. What Beyond Bullet Points was helpful in doing for me was to help give context to the "pretty picture". Give me some bit of control over what actions those images ignite. Our point of difference is always when we tie compelling creative vision with strong business objectives.
I didn't read all of Beyond Bullet Points. In fact, the most compelling and useful pieces of information came in it's earliest chapters and on it's accompanying CD and website. The templates for presentation construction are great. The tips and tricks around using some of the more nuanced features of PPT (like slide sorting view and notes view) continue to be endlessly helpful. What I found, though, is that what I'm looking for isn't really about presentation construction, though. It's about elegant ways of making a point. New ways to think about storytelling in a different medium. Understanding the difference between creating confidence and excitement and spending time and effort on things that are cute but not necessarily moving.
This was my third choice of books to read behind Slide:ology and Presentation Zen. It's not that Beyond Bullet Points was bad (the exact opposite in fact. I recommend it.) it's just that I want more.