Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Precise, accurate and inspiring
Comment: I have read through numerous books with similar titles on the topic and this one was by far and away the best. He does a great job at organizing his arguments into a logical and intuitive flow. The result is an easy to read and motivational book that will definitely help you tell a story.
Customer Rating:
Summary: After 1 year, this book is already in its 7th printing!
Comment: My boss gave me this book as I had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for a major client. I thought "oh great, just what I need, another book telling me how to make PowerPoints. Whatever!"
So I started paging through the book and decided maybe that this is a little different after all. And next thing I knew, I went through the first two chapters devouring every word!
Conclusion? This book is not just about PowerPoints, far from it. This book is about presenting and selling: whether you are presenting a product or presenting yourself. For example, most people don't know how to go about asking for a raise. Why? Because they walk into their boss's office saying "I want a raise or I'll quit" or "I want a raise because I'm expecting a child soon" or "I want a raise because Herbert is making more money that I do and we do the same job!"
And of course, this leads to confrontation, and you end up getting either a little or no raise.
But the book points out that whatever you do in life, you are constantly making presentations. Whether the presentation is for your customer, your boss, your wife, or your colleagues, you need to convince them to do something for you. And the simplest way to get them to act on your presentation is to tell them how they will benefit from doing what you want them to do.
For example, you are going to make a presentation on some new electronic widgets and gizmos your company makes. You spend hours telling your customer the features of the widgets and gizmos but in the end the customer walks away without ever intending to buy your product. WHY? Because you neglected to tell them the benefits. If you had told them how the widgets and gizmos would make their job easier, used less electricity, etc., then they may have made the move to buy the product. SELL THE BENEFITS NOT THE FEATURES!
So, the book tells you how to make your presentation into a story that will move the audience (e.g. customer, boss, spouse, etc.) rather than having a presentation that drolls on giving the audience fact after fact, feature after feature, with no clear beginning and no clear ending.
I finished this book in a weekend and radically altered the presentation I had to give to my client. My presentation was well received and my company ended up with the contract we were seeking.
To put this in Ebay's terms, I give this book an A++++++++++
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Summary: Fundraisers, buy this book
Comment: In fundraising, the basic exercise is called "making your case." Which is, you make an argument that persuades prospective donors to invest their philanthropic dollars in your particular mission or vision -- you hope. True, Jerry Weissman's book is intended for a traditional business audience; he learned his secrets coaching companies like Yahoo prepare for their IPOs. But don't be fooled by his for-profit credentials: this book is all about making your case effectively. And fundraisers desperately need to know the stuff that Jerry Weissman reveals here: how to tell your story so compellingly that buy-in is virtually guaranteed. If you're a fundraiser entering a capital campaign, save yourself the false starts: buy this book.
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Summary: The experience of presenting written in this book
Comment: Excellent book. It's well written, with very good examples. You will recognize your mistakes and as myself you will probably improve your presenting skills.
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Summary: Best public speaking book ever
Comment: This book is amazing to me because my employer requires that I read one book on communication skills/presentation skills each quarter. Well, I've worked for for more than five years so I've read more than 20 such books. The thing that shocked me about this book was how much new information it contained that I had never seen elsewhere. This books is really great for the long time public speaker... you'll get a lot out of it.
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