Are you a newbie speaker? Is English your second language? Are you intimated by presenting in English? Do you wish you had a blueprint to help you prepare and deliver a powerful presentation?

I recently read the book “How to Make a Great Presentation” by Liam Lusk.

Presentation Skills for ESL

The book is written primarily for people who’ve never presented before (or who have very little experience speaking in public) and for whom English is a second language. If that sounds like you – stop reading and get the book now!

I’ve read several hundred books on presentation skills, and this is the only one I’ve come across which directly focuses on the needs of presenters who are not fluent English speakers and who have very little experience presenting. As someone who used to teach presentation skills to non-native English speakers in Hong Kong, I highly recommend the book to you and will be recommending it to my clients too.

Blueprint for Powerful Presentations

Here’s what I enjoyed most about the book: It provides a specific blueprint that anyone can follow to create and deliver a great presentation. Liam walks you through each aspect of the presentation (from introducing yourself to preparing your script to designing your Powerpoint). This step-by-step explanation is crucial for people who are newbie presenters.

 9 Aspects of Public Speaking

The book is split into 9 sections, with each section covering one major aspect of presenting. The first chapter looks at the critical information you need in order to create a great presentation. In this section, Liam uses the acronym APT to describe the three things you need to know before you begin preparing your presentation.

Other sections in the book cover how to:

• craft a compelling introduction
• use your body effectively to convey your points
• use a storyboard to visualize your presentation
• create your speech script

Overall, the 9 sections in the book do a great job of covering the basics of public speaking.

Creating Compelling PowerPoint Presentations

My personal favorite chapter in the book was the chapter on Visuals. If you’re like most speakers who rely on text-heavy Powerpoint slides, applying the techniques you learn in this chapter will help you become twice the presenter that you are today. In my opinion, this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Recommended for New Speakers

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Highly recommended if you’re a newbie presenter or a second-language speaker of English looking to learn how to deliver great presentations. The books contains some valuable gems – all for the price of a cup of coffee! Click here to buy the Kindle edition of the book from Amazon.