Presenting Naked

Later this year, Garr Reynolds will unveil his latest book, The Naked Presenter, which promises to be a fascinating read. Before my many female readers get too excited, I should clarify one thing: just as Jamie Oliver does not cook without clothes on (at least not in public), Garr’s book is not about taking the stage literally naked.

Ahead of the book’s publication, Garr asked his many followers what presenting naked means to them. This post is my contribution to that discussion.

I’d like to start with an analogy. In medieval times, a knight would go into battle with a sword and shield, and wearing heavy armour. Fighting naked would mean hand-to-hand combat with no armour.

Presenting naked is about taking off your armour, putting down your sword and shield, and facing your audience, ‘man to man’ as it were. It’s about removing anything which is there only for the benefit of the presenter, and not for the benefit of the audience. It’s about being authentic, being true, being you – and laying yourself open for all to see.

The World’s Best Slide

Yes, dear readers, you read it right: today I am going to reveal the world’s best slide – the one you can and should use in almost any presentation you ever give. It’s so powerful that you can even use it more than once in a single deck.

You may have read about how to produce fantastic, attractive yet simple slides in highly recommended books like Presentation Zen or slide:ology (if not, please do), but this is the best of all. Even better, you don’t need to be an ace with PowerPoint or Keynote to create this yourself. I even give this to you free of copyright.

Are you ready? Then read on…