Review

Pitching and presenting are hard. Clearly it’s something that comes with practice. I’d love to have seen Russell in action. I suspect his presentations really stood out in the public sector.

Just by reading the book you feel your copywriting skills improve by osmosis. This was a helpful reminder that presenting is hard, so you owe yourself the time it takes to prepare - and do a good job.

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Write Useful Books

I’ll read every book Rob Fitzpatrick writes. I loved the Mom test, not just because of the content but because the writing style was so concise and refreshing. I was hoping this book would unpack his writing secrets, and I wasn’t disappointed. The secret seems to be having a clear value proposition, then delivering on your promise with an insight dense carefully sequenced book.

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Key Takeaways

The 20% that gave me 80% of the value.

Mindset

• Almost everyone can be a great presenter. There are many ways to be great. Do you.
• Talk about something you know
• Don’t aim for excellence. Lower the bar. Just get the basics right.
• Think of your presentation as a series of posters
• You can’t be too obvious, getting one idea out of one brain and into another is a miracle
• As a boss, give people time to prepare if you want them to present well

Presentation Structure

• Repeat the important things
• Be either clear, concise and catchy OR free wheeling, unpredictable and magical
• Make it memorable
• Practical Technique: Draw slides on a plain business card with a sharpie. It restricts content and allows you to play with structure

Presentation Style

Before presenting

• Rule: One hour of prep for 1 minute of talk

When Presenting

• Don’t just read from the screen
• Be yourself. Imagine your sharing some things you collected with friends

• Vary your cadence. Slow down, speed up, pause.
• Never speak for more than 20 minutes - if you have to, break it into two with a gap
• If you can’t finish on time, finish early.

Quotes:

A cash point gives you cash. A PowerPoint gives you power.

Make it big, keep it short, have a point.

Creative industries are full of people who remove things dispassionately and expertly from other people’s work

Use words. Not too many. Mostly short.

Strategy is like food, how it looks matters

Appendix