Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck (Third Edition) Paperback – June 15, 2012

GREAT book. It's entertaining, practical, and has a variety of before/after looks at slides. It's almost a reality show about PowerPoint, presentations, and how to make them better. Not to overstate--it's inspiring!Rick--after reading the book twice, I feel as if I know him personally--does a good job of reminding us that PowerPoint is the vehicle, but the presenter is the driver. So ultimately a good or bad presentation is what the speaker makes of it. He shows how to design and create slides that bring out the best in presenters while keeping the audience interested.Admittedly I'm a bit of a PowerPoint junkie. I enjoy using PowerPoint to create something I want to present, not read. The book motivated me to create my own before/after slides, and I'm hoping to get more colleagues to do the same. Like many companies, we're drowning in slides, and yet as slides multiply, they seem to get worse, not better. Rick provided impetus to rethink slides, to simplify them, and to DESIGN not just create. He provided some techniques that I had been vaguely aware of but had not used. Now they have become part of my slide design repertoire. He also had a few tips and tricks that I had not known (or had forgotten), so I'm a better PowerPoint junkie as a result.At the same time, for those who are not as comfortable with PowerPoint or who had used older versions, the book offers detailed information on how to accomplish impressive effects without a lot of effort.So, the bottom line.... The book is useful whether you create PowerPoint presentations or present them, whether you're an accomplished PowerPoint 2010 user or not. You will learn some good presenting techniques. You will probably wince as you see some of the "before" slides and think, "Oh no, those look like some of mine!" And you'll have fun.

On the positive side, I agree with some other reviewers that Altman makes some very good points in a humorous and lighthearted way. However, while this book will get me to look at some of my presentations a bit differently, and there are some good tips, it certainly does NOT need to be on every presenters bookshelf. Actually, at times I had to wonder if I read the same book as some of the other reviewers.Very annoyingly, as another disappointed reviewer also pointed out, Amazon is representing the printed version as being in color, while the printed version Amazon is selling is, in fact, in black and white...and with low resolution figures at that. What gives, as clearly a color version DOES exist? Unfortunately, this lack of color/resolution and false advertising definitely biased my view of this book. It's not fair to blame Mr. Altman for Amazon's mistake in the "Look Inside", but he should take steps to correct this problem.Given that this is a book about PRESENTATIONS, and one with a fairly condescending title at that (some might call it humorous, guess for $18, I didn't get the joke), it should have COLOR (or at least higher resolution) figures. Clearly, color is an extremely important tool that is used well in the best presentations, yet Altman obviously could not cover that subject well. Also, the figures are so grainy that I could barely read some of the screen shots. In fact, the sample photos that were used to show resolution differentials were useless, given that the resolution levels of the original photos were clearly much higher than ANY of the photos published in the book. These are such shortcomings in the book that they are deal-kilers for me. That, combined with Amazon's false advertising, means that this one's going back. I feel embarrassed for Altman, because he let the publisher shove what COULD have been a really good book into the "irrelevant" pile that sits on the floor with the other books written with the best ideas and intentions.Mr. Altman, if you're out there, please have a nice chat with your publisher about getting a larger budget for the printing of the next edition of this book. All the best to you.-M

I bought this book for pointers as I prepare for my first solo presentation at a national conference. The title caught me because I was really feeling like my draft already sucked! I am in a design profession so I felt like I had already been doing things with PowerPoint that others, including making wedding invitations and, I have a good graphic eye for color, and proportion. So I'm already ahead of the game, yes? Nevertheless, I learned lots of tricks in the first few chapters that are pretty exciting for a long time user and lover of the software.I higly recommend this read for those of you who think you have PowerPoint presentations under your belt. Reading it definately won't hurt the precious master presentation you were planning on using . . . again.

There are other books out there a bit similar to Mr. Altman's "Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck and How You Can Make Them Better." "Beyond Bullet Points" comes to mind. And I'd commend both these works to anyone's reading. Altman just writes a fun, engaging and instructive work. It's easy to read and filled with idea after idea after idea. It's one of my "must haves" for any of us in this world of public speaking, aspiring to be in that world, or simply dreading an upcoming presentation to our business class.

Pretty good book about common PPT problems and pitfalls. The title is also super catchy. I felt like I got one or two takeaways that have improved my presentation. I was hoping for a little more in the way of quick tips about image manipulation or perhaps case studies - particularly for scientific or educational presentations.

A very informative book on creating PowerPoint slide decks. I got a great deal of off it nearly all the information contained is still relevant to PowerPoint 2016/365 but the advice provided on creating clear slides that convey your message applies across all versions. A recommended read that will make you look loIke a pro.

Just as described and quick delivery.

This book will overturn all the concepts you ever had about the best way to develop and deliver presentations. Especially meant for those of us who have been doing PowerPoints forever, and are now stuck in a rut.The author's easy style of writing, and humorous way of putting across his points, make this a "must-read" book.

Selbst nach kurzem Überlesen waren die Ergebnisse deutlich besser. Kann das Buch uneingeschränkt empfehlen. Das Publikum wird es dem Vortragenden danken. :-)