Most critics of PowerPoint agree that traditional presentations are often boring and do not engage the audience, and the facts presented are usually forgotten. How does the advice in this book differ from the traditional guidelines (“not too many bullets and don’t overload the slide”)? As described by the author, this work is not a method; it is an approach, “a way of being, rather than a set of rules or dogma to be followed.” Basically, the aim of the book is “to help professionals who design PowerPoint slide presentations to see presentations in a way that is different, simpler, more visual and ultimately more meaningful.”

Most people who create PowerPoint presentations are not designers, and many are not gifted presenters. Can this book be of help? Yes, if they follow the first area of slide presentation, one that is familiar to trained designers. It’s all about thinking first and letting your mind flow: doodle what comes to mind about your topic, create stories about its information, be playful where it fits, and think about information that is meaningful to your audience. And do all of this away from your computer. Use paper and pencil, post-it notes, even a whiteboard: whatever works for you to get a free-flow of ideas from your head to where you can see them. Then organize your ideas into your absolute central point. “If your audience remembers only one thing, what should it be?”

Group similar ideas under topic headings, and create a storyboard using post-it notes. Keep your storyboard ideas simple. Relate the information to your core message, the one thing you want your audience to remember. Now you are ready to go to the computer and put your topics into visual form. If you are using charts, remove all extraneous visual elements that interfere with the information, like grids, three-dimensional (3D) graphics, and so on. When your data is created in its simplest, least distracting visual form, you can enhance its message with a simple graphic that tells the same story. Your handouts can contain the detailed information that the audience can refer to later.

From here on, the author suggests the many ways in which visual design, simplicity, and the use of graphics and pictures can be used to enhance your message. Sample slides, images, and text are used to help the nonvisual presenter. While many of the examples are excellent, getting good pictures, especially from the companies the author lists, can be very expensive.

Overall, this is a book that outlines what designers do when they are given a problem to solve visually. It is inspirational in content. A nondesigner who needs to put together a presentation in a hurry will probably not want to take the time to go through the “thinking” stage, but that is the source for the best presentations a nondesigner can make.