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The Presentation Coach: Bare Knuckle Brilliance For Every Presenter
You probably hate giving presentations. You probably hate listening to them too. Why? Because most business presentations are too long, too detailed, too boring...and submerged under a blizzard of PowerPoint. But the single most important presentational tool known to man isn't a slideshow. It's you. Whether you're speaking to one person across a table, 20 people in a boardroom or 1,000 people in a ballroom, it's all about the words you say and how you say them. Praise for The Presentation Coach "Graham Davies is a brilliantly funny speaker who knows how to inspire and enthuse anyone who sees presenting as a bore, a burden or a source of terror."
Nick Robinson, Political Editor, BBC "This book really captures Graham's intense and robust sense of coaching. Just like the author, it is amusing, punchy and really comforting to have access to in all presentation situations."
Michel Combes, CEO,Vodafone Europe "Required reading for anyone who wants their presentations to enthuse rather than euthanize their audience."
Tim Curtis, MD, Northern Europe, Land's End "Graham is a highly effective presentation coach. He is always honest and gets straight to the point. His book is just as direct and entertaining as he is in person."
Nick Jeffery, CEO, Vodafone Global Enterprise "I don't know anyone who could wear the label 'the presentation coach' more confidently than Graham."
Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor, The Times "I use Graham's system strictly and religiously in every speech. In fact on almost every important occasion when I need to get a message across.... You will never regret buying and using this book."
George Clarke, MD, Heidelberg UK "Graham helped me develop my very own presentation style, true to myself, with high impact and focused very much on the audience."
Phil Clarke, CEO Designate, Tesco "Graham's approach is ruthlessly robust and utterly practical. This book is the next best thing to seeing him in person, and much less of a strain on your budget."
Matthew Wilson, CEO Brit Global Markets "...Davies's compelling book illuminates all the pitfalls and provides a simple guide to allowing personality into presentations - radical stuff indeed!"
Andy Street, MD, John Lewis "Whether you are a Prime Minister, chief executive or anyone else who needs make an impact, then you must read this challenging and innovative book by Graham Davies."
Neil Sherlock, Partner, Public Affairs, KPMG "...I wish Graham had written it 20 years ago..."
Richard Klein, MD, Bank of America Merrill Lynch "Never again will you commit the crime of Death by Bullet-Point."
Penny Philpot, Group Vice President, Worldwide Partner Services, Oracle "Graham Davis is a talented gagmeister who shows that the best way of exposing a bad argument is with a good joke."
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London "Reading his book will spur you on to win your own presentational race."
Richard Dunwoody, twice winner of the Grand National "Graham completely reframed my approach to presenting. His approach works!"
Otto Thoresen, CEO, Aegon UK "A process that you can use no matter what the situation. I heartily recommend it."
Michael Gove MP "This book is not a coaching guide for the faint-hearted. Prepare to be beaten into being bloody brilliant!"
Francis Edmonds, broadcaster, author and professional speaker
Nick Robinson, Political Editor, BBC "This book really captures Graham's intense and robust sense of coaching. Just like the author, it is amusing, punchy and really comforting to have access to in all presentation situations."
Michel Combes, CEO,Vodafone Europe "Required reading for anyone who wants their presentations to enthuse rather than euthanize their audience."
Tim Curtis, MD, Northern Europe, Land's End "Graham is a highly effective presentation coach. He is always honest and gets straight to the point. His book is just as direct and entertaining as he is in person."
Nick Jeffery, CEO, Vodafone Global Enterprise "I don't know anyone who could wear the label 'the presentation coach' more confidently than Graham."
Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor, The Times "I use Graham's system strictly and religiously in every speech. In fact on almost every important occasion when I need to get a message across.... You will never regret buying and using this book."
George Clarke, MD, Heidelberg UK "Graham helped me develop my very own presentation style, true to myself, with high impact and focused very much on the audience."
Phil Clarke, CEO Designate, Tesco "Graham's approach is ruthlessly robust and utterly practical. This book is the next best thing to seeing him in person, and much less of a strain on your budget."
Matthew Wilson, CEO Brit Global Markets "...Davies's compelling book illuminates all the pitfalls and provides a simple guide to allowing personality into presentations - radical stuff indeed!"
Andy Street, MD, John Lewis "Whether you are a Prime Minister, chief executive or anyone else who needs make an impact, then you must read this challenging and innovative book by Graham Davies."
Neil Sherlock, Partner, Public Affairs, KPMG "...I wish Graham had written it 20 years ago..."
Richard Klein, MD, Bank of America Merrill Lynch "Never again will you commit the crime of Death by Bullet-Point."
Penny Philpot, Group Vice President, Worldwide Partner Services, Oracle "Graham Davis is a talented gagmeister who shows that the best way of exposing a bad argument is with a good joke."
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London "Reading his book will spur you on to win your own presentational race."
Richard Dunwoody, twice winner of the Grand National "Graham completely reframed my approach to presenting. His approach works!"
Otto Thoresen, CEO, Aegon UK "A process that you can use no matter what the situation. I heartily recommend it."
Michael Gove MP "This book is not a coaching guide for the faint-hearted. Prepare to be beaten into being bloody brilliant!"
Francis Edmonds, broadcaster, author and professional speaker
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2010
12 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Graham Davies
39 books3 followersGraham’s career as a Professional Speaker started 33 years ago, shortly after he was elected President of the Cambridge Union Society.
For the first 12 years after Cambridge, he practised Law at the London Criminal Bar whilst simultaneously performing After Dinner Speeches for dozens of association and corporate clients in several different countries.
His Bluechip clients include all the usual suspects: Ford, IBM, Microsoft, Toyota, McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, UBS, HSBC, Mars and PWC.
In 1998, when the frequency of After Dinner Speeches got to over 100 a year, Graham left the Bar and branched out into daytime Keynoting and Compering / Facilitation, as well as elaborate hoaxes as a Corporate Imposter.
Hoax identities have included the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, the Wax Director of Madame Tussauds, a Professor of Total Quality Management, a Royal Navy Rear Admiral and the Lead Guitarist of Pink Floyd.
From 1999 onwards, Graham started to provide bespoke Presentation Coaching for CEOs and Politicians. His individual clients include 15 British Cabinet Minsters across several governments, as well as 2 Prime Ministers.
His book, The Presentation Coach, is the most popular title on its subject ever published in the UK. It has helped him to become the leading on-screen Speech Analyst for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
Graham was a Founding member of the Professional Speaking Association of the United Kingdom and served on its Board for 8 years. He was the first recipient of the Professional Speaking Award of Excellence (the UK equivalent of NSA’s CPAE) in 2009, as well as the first recipient of the Paul Bridle Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Speaking Industry.
He now spends much of his time plotting to make sure that one of his clients becomes the next Prime Minister.
For the first 12 years after Cambridge, he practised Law at the London Criminal Bar whilst simultaneously performing After Dinner Speeches for dozens of association and corporate clients in several different countries.
His Bluechip clients include all the usual suspects: Ford, IBM, Microsoft, Toyota, McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, UBS, HSBC, Mars and PWC.
In 1998, when the frequency of After Dinner Speeches got to over 100 a year, Graham left the Bar and branched out into daytime Keynoting and Compering / Facilitation, as well as elaborate hoaxes as a Corporate Imposter.
Hoax identities have included the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, the Wax Director of Madame Tussauds, a Professor of Total Quality Management, a Royal Navy Rear Admiral and the Lead Guitarist of Pink Floyd.
From 1999 onwards, Graham started to provide bespoke Presentation Coaching for CEOs and Politicians. His individual clients include 15 British Cabinet Minsters across several governments, as well as 2 Prime Ministers.
His book, The Presentation Coach, is the most popular title on its subject ever published in the UK. It has helped him to become the leading on-screen Speech Analyst for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
Graham was a Founding member of the Professional Speaking Association of the United Kingdom and served on its Board for 8 years. He was the first recipient of the Professional Speaking Award of Excellence (the UK equivalent of NSA’s CPAE) in 2009, as well as the first recipient of the Paul Bridle Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Speaking Industry.
He now spends much of his time plotting to make sure that one of his clients becomes the next Prime Minister.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 6, 2022
The subtitle caught my attention, Bare Knuckle Brilliance because I spend way too much time listening to presentations that need some tough attention.
Taking you through what he describes as the presentation pipeline there is an outline from the two sentence to multi-day presentation on building impact.
What is your purpose, audience and key points? Excellent material on how to answer those questions and then build a talk that has power.
Taking you through what he describes as the presentation pipeline there is an outline from the two sentence to multi-day presentation on building impact.
What is your purpose, audience and key points? Excellent material on how to answer those questions and then build a talk that has power.
July 31, 2018
Excelent book. Davies gives a lot of very specific and well argumented advices in order to prepare a good presentation. And if you are an experienced presenter, or if you work training other people in public speaking, this books offers a lot of good ideas that are useful for explaining complex concepts to beginners.
August 29, 2022
Great desk top reference for all who speak in front of people or who help set up presentations. A well thought out book, I foresee many extras and additions coming with cheat sheets and check lists to help influence only become more efficient and effective. I think people who have created tictok have the attention span science down.
March 3, 2012
In my working life I've been making presentations for about twenty years. How I wish I'd read this book at the start of it! I really can't recommend this book highly enough, although I think that to benefit from the vast amount of experience-driven advice it gives, you have to be in a position to be able to practice what it preaches. If you're looking for a book to help you with a one-off presentation you have to make, I think this might be a bit advanced. On top of that, the style is no nonsense, straight talking and highly opinionated - you're either with this bloke or you deserve to die on your ar*e when the spotlight turns on you! It's also very amusing too, which makes it an enjoyable as well as a practical read. At the same time, it never verges away from the message, and some of the techniques are going to take a lot of commitment if you're going to take the book seriously. If you do, however, I really think that the advice herein is top notch, and I'm already itching to try out some of the tips when constructing and making my next presentation. It's one of the very few business books I'm thinking of buying for other people to benefit from, and I can't give higher praise than that. Excellent stuff.
February 1, 2016
Covers a lot of details around basic approach when it comes to not only preparing a presentation but also around public speaking. Graham shares a detail plan that one should follow when working on presentations. Overall an interesting read & has some good take aways for improving on presentation skills.
January 13, 2015
Nice little read, with some interesting tips on improving presentation skills. Definitely worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews