The Mobile Presenter

I guess everybody who is interested in good presentations (whether seeing them or improving their own presentations) will sooner or later come across TED and their wonderful collection of great and engaging presentations. Once you've become addicted to TED (and believe me - you will), you will want to attend a TED conference. Alas, for mere mortals that's not so easy.

Fortunately, TED invented the TEDx event: Smaller, local, and independently (but under a license from TED) organized events that are much more accessible for the rest of us.

TEDx events can be found all over the world and, of course, also in Germany where I live. Missing, so far, was a TEDx event in my current place of residence, i.e. Stuttgart. But this is about to change, since for a couple of weeks now, I've been a member of the team that is in the process of organizing the first TEDx in Stuttgart.

And even better: Ticket sales are now open! If you're living in the Stuttgart area, here's your chance to attend the first TEDxStuttgart. See you there!

I have been reading Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen blog even before the first book came out. Getting Presentation Zen (The Book) was just the next logical step, since it provides all that useful information you can find on the website in a structured, readable, and easily accessible way. Four years and another two books (Presentation Zen Design and The Naked Presenter) later, there is now a second edition of the original Presentation Zen book. What can we expect from it?

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

The book starts out by pointing out an - often overlooked - discrepancy between what companies think are good motivation strategies ("carrot & stick") and what science has found out about them, i.e. that they are not always working and that they may even have the opposite effect. The rest of the book then goes on to explore better ways to encourage employees, students, etc.

So What? How to Communicate What Really Matters to Your Audience by Mark Magnacca

The author may be overdoing it a bit (So What Method, So What Matrix, So What This, So What That), but the idea as such is valid: Whether you're presenting, want to sell something, or are about to introduce yourself - always think about your audience first.

Presentations in Action: 80 Memorable Presentation Lessons from the Masters by Jerry Weissman

The "lessons" in this book are short articles, each concentrating on a single concept, idea or observation. Some are a bit hand-wavy and, especially in the second half of the book, refer to the author's other book and company a bit too often. Oh, and many of the sports and celebrity references probably aren't too well understood outside of the US.