Get to the Point

by Karen Berg

Book Overview

The complete guide to making effective presentations. The proven program that helps you fight performance anxiety - and communicate with confidence and ease. Teaches you how to say what you meand and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553053361
• ISBN13: 9780553053364
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Get To The Point"...I Will If You Wait A Minute...

How many times have we eaten up valuable time?... or someone we are listening to is just beating around the bush...Well the next time someone is doing just that pull out a copy of this book and give it to them..."Get To The Point" is the gift you ought to give all of your friends and maybe even your boss who doesn't know how to get to the point quick enough. In this Nan-o-second generation of ours getting to the point becomes a cherished resource. I would love to sit down with Karen Berg & Andrew Gilman (the authors of this book) and tell them personally how much this book has made a difference in my life. Here is the key area I reference from this book as being extremely helpful... Page 31 Chapter 4 (Is worth the cost of the whole book) BUILDING STRONG MESSAGES: SELLING POINTS AND WORD POWER "Strong messages use vivid, unambiguous language"... Get To The Point really does help you express yourself more clearly and completely. If you want to examine the principles of your communication style and then change them for the better Get To The point is for you.

Very Helpful...While Getting To The Point

Most Americans either fear public speaking or do not know how to properly give a presentation. Get To The Point gives many helpful insights to the many aspects of presenting your points in the best light.Very often, the average audience member comes away with 10% of the content of a speech. Get To The Point helps the presentator maximize that 10% and maybe even icnrease it. Authors Berg and Gillman emphasize the importance of getting to know your aduience from many points of view. Know your relationship to the audience and the aduience within itself. From there, a good presentor will use clear concise jargon and possibly throw a few key buzzwords for effect. The importance of a conservative dress code as well as a confident animated matter are also emphasized.Many other key details are explored such as the types of questioners at a presentation such as the fillibuster. Gillman and Berg detail well how to deal with this type of personality as well as how to handle yourself when interrupted. The conservative approach is very level headed.Other topics such as meetings, job interviews, and introducing speakers are discussed in detail. Special effects in presentations are also discussed. Because this book was written before the invention of PowerPoint, many fo the visual aid examples are a bit out of date. However, the bottom line point illustrating that the speaker makes the presentation rather than the effects, still overrides any technology advances taht Get To The Point does not incorporate.To summarize: Get To The Point meets its mark and will help out budding speakings greatly.

First Determine: What IS the point?

Gilman and Berg achieve two primary objectives: They help their reader to determine, first, what the most important "point" is; then, they help the reader to "get" to it ASAP with clarity and precision. The same principles of the program are relevant to every situation in which there is a need to communicate but it is important to note that this is not a "how to" book for those who need help preparing and then presenting formal speeches. "Rather, we are referring to the relatively short and informal talks with clearly defined objectives that take place most often in a work-related context." The authors prefer the word "presentations" to "speeches" as in a one-on-one situation in which someone must persuade her or his supervisor to make a certain approval decision or take a specific action. I think this book is very well organized. The authors have dozens of key points which they get to in exemplary fashion. Their approach is practical rather than theoretical, based on many years of real-world experience with training all manner of persons who needed to understand how to say what they meant inorder to get what they wanted. Although most of the examples in the book are in a business context, the lessons to be learned are also relevant to presentations elsewhere, such as a committee report to members of a church, a briefing to members of a social organization, or participation in a "Career Day" program at a school. The authors also explain "How to Introduce a Speaker" (Chapter 24). In earlier chapters, they offer some excellent advice on other subjects such as "Clothing: What the Well-Dressed Presenter Wears", "Picture Perfect Videoconferencing", and "The Job Interview." For many people, this may well be the most valuable book they read during the next 12 months.

A must read for all executives

This book tells it like it is. How to get the point across to various audiences using a variety of media. This book must be in every executive's library.

Excellent value in a pocket-size package.

A value-packed book with a strong emphasis on overcoming stage fright. Detailed description of how to write a quick speech, keep note cards, what to wear, how to use visuals, and how to deal with hostile audiences, among others. Provides most of the good solid speaking tips and presentation skills found in larger and much more expensive books. A good book to bend the pages and mark up useful passages with highlighter. Definitely worth the price in paperback.