Power Presenter, The Techniques, Style, and Strategy to Be Suasive

Present with Power, Poise, and Confidence---In Any Environment, Live or Virtual


To succeed, leaders must deliver powerful presentations at every opportunity: speeches, fireside chats, briefings, pitches, virtual meetings, videoconferences, podcasts, and beyond. Whether you are in front of a live audience or a webcam, the way you present yourself verbally and non-verbally is crucial to your success. Top presentation coach Jerry Weissman gives you the same battle-tested techniques, styles, and strategies he has provided to senior executives at thousands of companies. His proven methodology has enabled presenters to attract investors, sell products, propose partnerships, and get high-stakes projects approved. You will follow a step-by-step plan to shape your content, control your nerves, master your body language, integrate your graphics with your delivery, and much more.

The Power Presenter is packed with proven techniques, practical tools, and case studies of famous power presenters -- including many business leaders new to this edition. It will help you engage any audience from start to finish and deliver persuasive presentations when it counts most.


Part of the Jerry Weissman Presentation Trilogy!
Also look for updated Third Editions of:

• Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story and Designing Your Slides
• In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions...When it Counts

Jerry Weissman is the founder and president of Suasive, Inc., formerly Power Presentations, Ltd. Weissman began his career as a staff producer-director of public affairs and news programs at CBS TV in New York, where he learned the skills to master the building blocks of every presentation: a clear, compelling story, well-designed graphics, natural delivery, and the art of Q&A. In 1988, Weissman brought these skills to Silicon Valley. In short order, he established himself as the coach for Silicon Valley CEOs developing their IPO roadshows by teaching them to tell their business stories through the eyes of their investors. In doing so, he helped their companies raise hundreds of billions of dollars. After amassing an elite client list of IPOs, he soon widened his focus to coaching public and privately held companies to develop and deliver all types of business presentations. Today his methodology has helped thousands of companies on every continent deliver high-stakes presentations with clarity, confidence, and maximum persuasion.


In addition to this book, Weissman is the author of four other books on presentations and public speaking: Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story and Designing Your Slides; In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions; Presentations in Action; and Winning Strategies for Power Presentations, all Pearson publications.

Foreword to the Second Edition     xvii

Preface: Show Me the Money     xxi

Introduction:  The Deer in the Headlights     xxvii

Fight-or-Flight     xxvii

Adrenaline Rush Remedies     xxviii

The Mental Method     xxix

Book Conventions     xxx

Chapter One:  Actions Speak Louder Than Words     1

Audience Advocacy     1

The Power of the Visual     3

Chapter Two:  Creating Empathy with Your Audience     11

Empathy     11

The Science of Empathy     12

The Effectiveness Matrix     15

Chapter Three:  The Butterflies in Your Stomach     23

Fight-or-Flight: Internal Dynamics     23

Fight-or-Flight: External Dynamics     26

Presenter Behavior/Audience Perception     29

The Yikes! Moment     30

Chapter Four:  The Quest for Content     31

Slides     32

Script     33

Teleprompter (Also Known as Autocue)     34

Comfort Monitors     35

Advanced Technology     36

Five Simple Steps to Develop Your Story     37

Chapter Five:  The Mental Method     45

Concentration     45

The Mind–Body Connection     46

The Mental Method     49

Delivering Your Message     59

Chapter Six:  The Learning Process     61

Change     61

The Four Stages of Learning     62

Comfort Zone Paradox     63

Repetition over Time     65

The Yikes! Moment     68

The Suasive Master Skills Cycle     69

Chapter Seven:  Speak with Your Body Language     71

The Historic Kennedy–Nixon Debate     71

External Factors/Audience Perception     76

Visual Dynamics     77

Vocal Dynamics     92

Putting It All Together     96

Chapter Eight:  Control Your Cadence: The Phrase     99

Cadence     99

Complete the Arc     100

Rising/Falling Inflection     102

Complete the Arc in Action     107

Chapter Nine:  Control Your Cadence: The Pause     111

Unwords     112

Ten Benefits of the Pause     120

Speak Only to Eyes     120

Phrase & Pause     122

Cadence Summary     124

Chapter Ten:  Tools of the Trade     127

Position     127

The Presentation Checklist     130

Putting It All Together     133

Chapter Eleven:  SlideSynchronization     135

Design/Delivery Balance     135

The Suasive Meta Design Concepts     138

Seven Steps of Slide Sync Delivery     141

Slide Sync Delivery in Action     148

Chapter Twelve:  SlideSync Narrative     149

Describe     149

Narrative Continuity     154

Three Simple Steps of Continuity     155

Putting It All Together     156

Chapter Thirteen:  Masters of the Game     157

The Great Communicator     157

Sir Winston Churchill     160

President John F. Kennedy     161

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.     162

Reverend Billy Graham     163

The Great Communicator Redux     165

The Great Orators: Conversation and Empathy     167

Coda:  Ending with the Beginning     169

Endnotes     173

Appendix A:  Video Links     187

Acknowledgments     193

About the Author     195

Index     197