Presentation Zen Design by Garr Reynolds

I liked this book better than Reynolds' first book, Presentation Zen, because it seems more focused. Reynolds' writing style is very easy to follow, although some chapters had abrupt transitions between the subsections (the teacher coming out in me). He does a particularly nice job of explaining the color wheel (and how use it on slideware) and summarizing the strengths of different types of graphs. In addition, he doesn't seem to repeat himself as much or summarize as many people's books. Like his previous book, Reynolds includes useful sample slides in the back - including bullet-less slides from a biology journal club and a TED talk by Bonnie Bassler.

Some useful information:

• Ina Saltz's six necessary typefaces (from Typography Essentials): Caslon, Garamond, Baskerville, Helvetica, Futura, and Gill Sans. Garr also likes Bodoni, Univers, Rockwell, Frutiger, and Franklin Gothic.
• Investor David Rose's tip for delivery: "Say it, then show it". Doing so trains the audience to rely on you, not your slides, for new information.
  
• In Powerpoint, pure hues are the outermost section of the color wheel. Move towards the center to get a lighter tint. Use the slider to the right of the wheel to achieve a darker shade.
• For "bleeding" images on slide, use 72-100 ppi, 1024 x 768.
• Simplify your data presentation: tables for specific numbers; graphs for complex comparisons; line charts for trends, pie charts for comparing a few values. Check your Graph Design IQ here.
  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Dates: 19-22 Oct 2010