Presentation #FAIL: Habitudes for Communicators

By Nancy Duarte

I love this great video about presentation #FAIL created by Tim Elmore.

Check out the scribble on the whiteboard in the back “something still here from an earlier presentation”.

This is a promo video for his fantastic visual book on communications. This book is full of FRESH insights that I haven’t seen in any other presentation book, so it’s worth picking up!

It’s rare for me to read a book on presentations and learn something but I did in this book! Elmore uses sticky metaphors that help you remember the concepts. His chapter heads are metaphorical like “Windows and Mirrors”, “the Faded Flag” and “The Thomas Nast Principle.” He has great insights throughout the book. For example, in “Windows and Mirrors” he proposes that there’s a gap between communicators and public speakers:

At the end of each chapter is a quiz, but he’s also put those questions into an online assessment to rank yourself to see how you’re doing as a communicator. He asks questions like “I tend to focus on being simple more than comprehensive”. It shoots out a score when you’re done.

His book is visual which of course I love.

Speaking of visual books, Garr Reynolds of PresentationZen.com fame has re-released his book by the same name. This book has many extras not included in the original so it’s thicker and better!