Book Review - Presentation as War

About two and a half years ago I was working on selling a book about outsourcing. During this period I made the acquaintance of Chuck Boyer, a fellow New England resident and a professional writer.  At the time Chuck was working with his co-author (Bill Dunne) on a great book about presentation skills, cast as battlefield tactical theory.  The book, which I was lucky enough to read in galleys, is called Presentation As War - Battlefield Tactics for Pitching to the Wired Audience.  It's finally on the shelves!

Chuck was a US Army Ranger, Bill was a Marine.  Both have long and distinguished private sector careers.  Their book is a great, quick read that will help anyone who has to stand in front of people and talk.  To quote:

This book is for team leaders, task-force point people, managers, directors and vice presidents - the people who don't usually make State of the Union addresses but who are called upon to make those bread-and-butter presentations that drive an organization forward. 

It takes a straight forward approach to structuring your thoughts and message, condensing the presentation to a an easy and understandable sequence:

• Reconnoiter
• Plan
• Rehearse
• Execute
• Commit
• Secure your objective
• Declare victory and rally

With entertaining chapters on each of these phases, it's a great guide to force you to think about how you approach presentations. Coupled with a healthy dose of hatred for PowerPoint, this will make you a better leader.  You can buy it at Amazon.  And congrats to Chuck and Bill for getting it published and on the shelves!