Presentation Zen * Garr Reynolds * Chapter 3

Planning Analog....Reynolds spends some time talking about the positives of (gasp!) stepping away from the computer for a few minutes and using such rudimentary tools as a legal pad and pencil, a whiteboard, post-it notes or a moleskin storyboard. During the planning stages, these are great. In fact, some of my best brainstorming sessions have involved a package of post-its and some smart colleagues.
The top takeaways from this chapter for me?

• the list of questions to ask. The top two being "What's my point?" and "Why does it matter?".
• the piece on avoiding the slideument. A presentation comes in 3 parts: the slides the audience sees (the simpler the better!), the notes only the presenter sees and a seperate takeaway document to serve as a handout (never ever a copy of the presentation slides).
• the reminder that planning well means you can still convey the message if the projector bulb burns out or if the client decides that there isn't time for all the slides after all.