Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking

by Poornima Vijayashanker, Karen Catlin

Keep them at the edge of their seats!

This book will show you how to:

Overcome stage fright and develop an authentic and engaging speaking style

Extract your expertise, and develop it into a talk complete with storytelling and unforgettable takeaways

Handle tough audiences and difficult Q&A session questions

The book is now available: http://femgineer.com/present-book

Genres: Communication, Nonfiction, Business, Technology, Self Help

267 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2015

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've given a few talks already, and I've previously struggled to find one specific resource for tips and tricks on public speaking. This book answers so many of the questions that I've had and so many of the questions I didn't even know to ask. There are so many personal anecdotes and examples that really help me to understand how to implement the strategies.

I breezed through it quickly, and am looking forward to rereading it as I put together a talk from scratch using the activities in this book.

Thank you to Poornima Vijayashanker and Karen Catlin for this great resource. I'll be recommending it to everyone I know that is even remotely interested in public speaking.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong 4 stars, maybe even 4.25 :)

On the PROs side - content is very clear & easy to understand, there are some R-L examples provided as well; Formatting & editing is very professional (& it's not always the case when book's not published by a 'big' pub house); Proposed advices, practices & suggestions are indeed useful & they all make a lot of sense -> they are intended mainly for someone who's just starting (or trying to convince her/himself to start) public speaking adventure - such a person would benefit most.

Why not 5 stars then? (CONS side) - I've expected far more advices regarding talk composition - not overall composition, but neat, situational tricks that are useful in particular scenarios. For instance: when do you keep chronological order & when to start by the end of the story; or "5 smart ways to get the full attention of your audience in the first 2 minutes"; or how to navigate a non-linear story (when you're starting with the overview & then dive in particular sections by enriching them with the details), etc.

So, it's actually good news - there's still a room for improvement for authors :) And I still think it's a good book - I don't regret either time or money spent on it.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Present! is an awesome tool for all techies who want to speak with confidence. It is filled with Poornima and Karen's personal stories, which give honest context to the book's teachings. Their anecdotes also made it relatable, and helped me to visualize how I might apply the learnings to my life experiences. In addition, each chapter includes useful exercises which enrich the content and help you on your journey to become a better speaker.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I'd had this book earlier in my career! It’s packed with invaluable advice on giving technical presentations, from concept to delivery. The authors' personal anecdotes are priceless. Karen and Poornima make a convincing case that it's crucial to engage your audience with storytelling and they teach you how to do it with entertaining stories of their own. Covering everything from getting over stage fright to crafting slides, this is a must-read for anyone serious about growing their public speaking career.

[Qianqian Pan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book very much! This book is perfect to guide me in public speech and career. I learned many useful skills for interview, suggestions of pitching myself, techniques to design stunning slides and methods of dealing with feedback. It helps me a lot.

[kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable, with plenty of practical tips, homework assignments and personal anecdotes. Would recommend this to anyone looking to get more comfortable with speaking.

[Andrea Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm currently enrolled in a Confident Communicator course that Poornima and Karen teach, so I'm obviously a fan of their approach :-)

I've done some public speaking in the past, but this is the first resource I've come across that really guided me through the process of planning, pitching and presenting a talk. The conversational tone of the book makes it an enjoyable read, while the chapter recaps make it a resource I know I'll turn back to again and again over time.

[Raka Adrianto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I quickly grabbed this handy book from the local library in preparation for my own talk, due in 2 weeks. So many concepts are actually popular among public speakers, but Poornima made the texts in a very readable way. Both she and Karen use easy to grasp language, and thus only focus on the content delivery to maximize benefits. Other components that I like are the step by step guides and the structuring of a technical talk. Not only it helps me identify the key messages for my presentation that I mentioned earlier, but also it somehow supercharges the slides as a whole new package. Of course, some other bits such as handling questions and broadcasting performances pre/ post-events are also important. But my concentrations were more drawn towards the first two, which you could think about to level up your next discourses.

[Goose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good for what it was, an introduction to several types of presentations. I felt the language was approachable and the tips were really practical and useful. I would flip through this before some future presentations again.

[Bugzmanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good intro into the public speaking. But it’s pretty basic.
If you’re just entering the arena the book can help you navigate the space. But if you have given couple of presentations already I don’t think there is anything to learn from this book.

[Matheus Bigo · Rating 2 out of 5]

garbage

[Romina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and practical book for new speakers.

[Hayatudeen Mustapha]

This book is a unique blueprint to take anyone from being a newbie to a pro in public speaking.I used one of the strategies in the book called the [inventory method] and i was seen as an expert speaker almost instantly.