Five Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint': Changing the world one conversation at a time

If you're looking for a way to generate better outcomes from your presentations because you have a burning desire to communicate more effectively, this book is exactly what you've been seeking.

"As a frequent speaker, I’m always looking for tools that sharpen my skills. Needless to say, I was intrigued by Eric Bergman’s promise of techniques to avoid humdrum slide decks. 5 Steps to Conquer ‘Death by PowerPoint’ proved to be worth the read."

—Roger Dooley, Forbes

If you're a decision-maker looking for a time-saving platform on which to make effective decisions, every person who presents to you should be required to read this book before delivering any presentation to your group.

"Eric Bergman provides straight-forward advice to presenting ideas effectively. This book is well worth reading."

— Glenn Ives, Chairman, Deloitte & Touche LLP

If you're a sales executive looking to enhance results from the sales presentations delivered by your team, you need to purchase copies of this book before your competitors do. Likewise, if delivering slide-driven presentations gives you comfort as a salesperson, please feel free to continue. But you should pray that your competitors haven't read this book.

“Although ‘Death By PowerPoint’ wasn’t written with sales people in mind, anyone who sells a product or service could benefit from the advice offered in this practical book.”

— Kelley Robertson, Fearless Selling

5 Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint' was written to change two behaviours. First, it encourages presenters to stop using PowerPoint (or Keynote or Prezi or SlideRocket, or any other slideware program) to develop the content of their presentations.

Make no mistake. Using any slideware program to develop content compromises presentation success—regardless of whether you’re presenting in a boardroom, conference hall, meeting room or classroom.

“The strong research base that underpins this book provides reassurance that the recommended techniques have been tested and actually do work in a variety of contexts. Eric Bergman's techniques are a window to the future of this important human activity.”

—John Sweller, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Education, University of New South Wales

The second behaviour the book seeks to change is with audiences. The book introduces the audience manifesto, which is designed to empower audiences everywhere to say: “Please! Enough is enough! We've had our fill of boring, mind-numbing, slide-driven presentations.

"There is life after PowerPoint, and we want to live it.”

"One thing I particularly liked about the book was Bergman's assertion that audiences should take some responsibility in this epidemic by demanding better presentations. To this end, he includes an 'Audience Manifesto' in the final chapter with recommendations on how to communicate it and a downloadable poster at www.FiveStepsToConquer.com/manifesto.html."

— Kathy Reiffenstein, Professionally Speaking

“An excellent book on communications that covers a wide range of communication topics. What sets this book apart is that it is founded on solid academic research. It is also clearly written and presented, making it a great book for students and practitioners alike.”

—David Straker, Changing Minds

For the past 30 years, Eric Bergman's speechwriting, coaching and presentation skills programs have helped countless professionals from five continents become better communicators--from C-Suite executives to front-line supervisors and everything in between. 

Over the past three decades, he has come to the conclusion that the spoken word and the written word must be separate to be effective. Simply put, audiences can read or they can listen, but they cannot read and listen at the same time. 

"This is actually quite easy to demonstrate," he says. "The next time you're watching your favorite all-news channel, try listening to what's being said while reading what's scrolling across the bottom. It shouldn't take longer than ten seconds to prove the point." 

He believes smart presenters tap into this principle, and others, to improve their ability to communicate and enhance their success, and is convinced that Five Steps to Conquer 'Death by PowerPoint' and the free downloadable workbook at fivestepstoconquer.com/workbook.html will show them how.