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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The So What Strategy

This book is a revelation. The 7 storylines are great, expect your first 'aha moment' when you select the right one, fill in your context and an eloquent storyline emerges in no time at all. It makes perfect sense to me that a handful of storylines can be used for 80% of the things you have to communicate at work.

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The Making of a Manager

I love Julie Zhuo's writing style, she's able to cover a lot of ground quickly. She frames the major challenges of leading a team well. Her practical advice is spot on. The book is full of little gems. I found myself agreeing with her high-level perspective on things (e.g.

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Good Strategy / Bad Strategy

I keep coming back to the core concepts of this book. Before reading it I thought the concept of strategy seemed vague - I appreciate the clarity and structure the author brings to the subject. The examples bring the concepts to life. Personally I feel like I'm more able to assess the quality of a strategy now.

andrewclark.co.uk

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