Persuade on Purpose: Create Presentations That Influence and Engage

By combining all his research and ideas on what makes an effective presentation, Eric Fitzpatrick has compiled the 'Presentation Scorecard', which itemises all the things that a speaker needs to consider when making a presentation. He has summed up the key points with the acronym 'TRUE': the presentation should make your audience THINK, should be easy to REMEMBER and UNDERSTAND and should ENGAGE the audience.

He outlines all the traps and pitfalls of making a presentation and how to avoid them, and details the tricks and techniques that will attract your audience's attention and convince them of your message. In straightforward chapters he addresses preparation, the structure of your presentation, the use of stories and humour, delivering the presentation, how to use slides and - more importantly - how not to.

While the ideas in the book are focused on presentations, they are equally effective when giving speeches, pitching ideas, for one-to-one meetings and communicating in general.

Eric Fitzpatrick established ARK Speaking and Training, a Dublin-based executive training company, in 2009. He is also a well-known conference speaker and has spoken, coached and trained in the USA, the UK and throughout Ireland. He has contributed to RTÉ Radio 1 and 98FM on the subjects of public speaking and using humour as a tool for business, and has written numerous articles for magazines on delivering great speeches and presentations.