Most business presentations are stunningly boring because speakers are driven by a powerful unconscious motivation: Avoid Embarrassment!

Like the sports team that “plays not to lose” by implementing a “prevent defense,” the average business presentation is organized around avoiding failure rather than creating a powerful, memorable and engaging experience. All business presentations are a form of theater: they are either bad theater or good theater! Moreover, developing your strengths as a presenter is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen your career possibilities. All other things being equal, the best presenter/communicator is the one who gets the job/promotion/leadership opportunity.

My passion for helping others cultivate this essential skill led me to write Present Yourself: Captivate Your Audience With Great Presentation Skills in 1988 and to record Speak With Power: Giving High Performance Presentations for Profit and Results with Nightingale-Conant.

And I’m always seeking other resources to complement the ones that I have created.

Own the Room: Business Presentations That Persuade, Engage and Get Results by David Booth, Deborah Shames and Peter Desberg stands out from the many other books I’ve seen on the subject, largely because of the unique combination of authors:

• An award-winning actor who applies performance techniques from the stage to engage and move an audience
• A television and film director who demonstrates how to craft and deliver your message with authority, credibility, and authenticity
• A psychologist who specializes in memory and stage fright and reveals how to overcome fear and activate an audience’s attention and memory

I’ve met 2 of the 3 authors and they are authentic innovators in the field of presentation and communication. They provide vivid, practical guidance on helping you stir your audience’s emotions while appealing to its intellect. Read and practice – you will learn how to apply the principles of “good theater” so you can keep your audience awake and engaged as you “play to win” every time you present.

In the Spring of 2009 I spoke at the International Conference on Science and Consciousness. One of the benefits of speaking at this remarkable event is the opportunity to attend sessions given by other presenters. I particularly enjoyed the workshops given by Dr. Jean Houston, Dr. Leonard Laskow and Dr. Christine Page. And, my most outstanding experience at this amazing 5-day event was the session I had with Dr. Christine Ranck. Dr. Ranck wasn’t part of the formal program, she was attending as a participant. After my talk on the Spirit of Leonardo, she approached me and graciously offered to give me an introduction to her work.

I’ve experienced, and taught, many approaches to relaxation and creative visualization over the years. I can assert without reservation that Dr. Ranck’s work is unique, effective and truly inspiring. If you can’t go to New York for a private session with her, then the next best idea is to buy her remarkable book: Ignite the Genius Within. The extraordinary illustrations and delightful non-linear approach to creative self-awareness are complemented by a free soundtrack of bio-lateral harmonizing music.

In 2010, the ability to think and act creatively will be more important than ever before. Ignite The Genius Within will help you thrive in the new decade as you learn to make every moment of life a beautiful work of art.

In a capitalist society, business sets the social tone and, ultimately, influences the values and spiritual life of the culture at large, for better or worse. In today’s world, societal development is a function of business and organizational development. As leadership guru Warren Bennis advises: “Because the organization is the primary form of the era, it is also the primary shaper … we must redesign organizations in order to redesign society along more humane and functional lines.” from Thinking for a Change by Michael J. Gelb, Harmony Books, 1996

Jeff Klein is a positive, creative force in the redesign of organizations to better serve the higher purposes of society. He currently serves as executive director and chief integration officer for Conscious Capitalism, Inc. – a nonprofit dedicated to “liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good.” (I have the pleasure of working with Jeff on the Conscious Capitalism event coming up in Austin on October 20-23).

Jeff’s new book Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living is a gift to anyone who seeks to make work more meaningful. He introduces five essential skills – Awareness, Embodiment, Connection, Collaboration, and Integration – and shows how they can form a self-reinforcing system that supports you to cultivate your humanity and bring it to work, for the benefit of yourself, your business, and the greater good. This is a great book to give to all your colleagues!

Jeff also offers an eBook that outlines 26 principles of Working for Good to support the five essential skills. The eBook includes the preface and part of the introduction to Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, and you can download it for free from his website.

Explorer, lyricist and theatrical producer, Barbara Bonfigli has just released a new fictional travel/memoir that offers us all of these ingredients, and more! In Café Tempest, Bonfigli invites us to share a concentrated experience of food, spirit and love on an intimate Greek island. Your mouth will water from her savory descriptions of zucchini fritters and baklava (recipes included), your heart will race with the tempestuousness of love, and you’ll discover a remarkable depth of spiritual wisdom (and humor!) that shines through every page.

Bonfigli’s recipe for this fabulous first novel plays with the best elements of the approach of Gilbert and Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence) and combines them with ingredients from Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba the Greek) and Shakespeare (The Tempest) to bring us a uniquely sumptuous literary feast.

Opa!

The Think Big Manifesto is Michael’s best work yet.

His subtitle represents a challenge and an invitation to all of us: Think You Can’t Change Your Life (and the World)? Think Again.

It is a clarion call to use our potential to think like Leonardo, Edison and Einstein in the most constructive, practical ways possible.

Michael’s passion, commitment and energy shine through every page.

His book serves as a delightful kick in the pants to inspire you to take your thinking and action to a higher level.

Here’s a direct quote from his book;

The think big revolution is in full swing. There’s no stopping it. Thousands of revolutionaries are coming together to collaborate, cooperate and combine forces to yes… think bigger about who they are and what they offer the world. Thinking big is about one person at a time experiencing his or her own personal empowerment against an existing, deficient (small thinking) system. It’s about being fully self-expressed in the face of all the forces that conspire to pacify your drive, your hunger to be the most you can be. Be a part of history. Bring your big thoughts forward. Get your manifesto and road map to navigate these revolutionary times. The Think Big Manifesto is not just my manifesto, it’s our manifesto. It is the manifesto of everyone who is, who will and wants to think big. Michael Port

Michael’s book makes a great present, especially for those friends and colleagues who are struggling with the negative and small-minded thinking that dominates the media. The only way forward – for us as individuals as well as for society at large – is through solution-centered, positive, creative thinking. Michael Port inspires you to expand and revitalize your thinking. His book is a long-acting B12 shot for your mind!

www.thinkbigmanifesto.com

In his new book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, Ken presents a lively manual for “Following Your Bliss.” He guides readers to understand a simple but profound truth: Achievement and success are the natural result of the marriage of passion and talent. As he notes in the Introduction, his aim in writing the book:

…is to offer a richer vision of human ability and creativity, and of the benefits to us all of connecting properly with our individual talents and passions. This book is about issues that are of fundamental importance in our lives and in the lives of our children, our students, and the people we work with. I use the term The Element to describe the place where the things we love and the things we are good at come together. I believe it is essential that each of us find his or her Element, not simply because it will make us more fulfilled but because, as the world evolves, the very future of our communities and institutions will depend on it.

Ken shows how successful people like Paul McCartney, Ridley Scott, Matt Groening, Vidal Sassoon and Paolo Cohello, as well as lesser known figures, all combine passion and talent to achieve their dreams. And, as inspiring as Ken’s message is for every individual reader, his greatest contribution is helping us all understand how our institutions need to evolve in order to better support this winning combination.

“Must See” TV: Ken at the TED Conference speaking on Do Schools Kill Creativity?

In the first edition of her book (2002) Turning to One Another, Meg proclaims, “I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again.”

In her revised and newly released edition she emphasizes,

“I still believe this. I still believe that if we turn to one another, if we begin talking with each other – especially with those we call stranger or enemy – then this world can reverse its darkening direction and change for the good. And I know with all my heart that the only way the world will change is if many more of us step forward, let go of our judgments, become curious about each other, and take the risk to begin a conversation.”

I agree! Meg offers 12 powerful questions to inspire conversations that can move us in the direction of healthy change.

The questions are:

1. Do I feel a vocation to be fully human?
2. What is my faith in the future?
3. What do I believe about others?
4. What am I willing to notice in my world?
5. When have I experienced good listening?
6. Am I willing to reclaim time to think?
7. What is the relationship I want with the earth?
8. What is my unique contribution to the whole?
9. When have I experienced working for the common good?
10. When do I experience the sacred?
11. What is our role in creating change?
12. Can I be fearless?

Meg explains, “Because this is a time when we are bombarded with images of human badness, I have been intentionally exploring human goodness.” This notebook is devoted to exploring human goodness, creativity, joy and freedom. That’s why I recommend Meg’s work and her new book to you.

“I love the fact that you can open this book on any given day of the year and begin! Each day is a session in creativity unto itself. How do you envision people using this book?

Badonsky replies:

“I envision that they will open the book on any given day and have a session in creativity unto itself.”

I also recommend that you sign up for her Muse-Flash Newsletter.

Now, they’ve released a new book that is a must have for everyone who takes a creative approach to culinary enjoyment: THE FLAVOR BIBLE: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs. Page and Dornenburg have created a masterpiece that legendary food critic Gael Greene calls, “A gospel…A wealth of inspiration…”

As the authors explain: “Cuisine is undergoing a startling historic transformation: With the advent of the global availability of ingredients, dishes are no longer based on geography but on flavor. This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking — as well as a new genre of “cookbook” that serves not to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones focused on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations.”

Page and Dornenburg also write one of the most informative and engaging food/wine blogs on the planet. Check it out: www.becomingachef.com

And now, we are beginning to see an acceleration in the movement toward a more creative and humanistic business paradigm. At the 2008 Davos Forum, Bill Gates spoke of the need for a new Creative Capitalism. He commented, “This is a worldwide movement, and we all have the ability and responsibility to accelerate it,” John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods has put his energy and capital into a coordinated program for “Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism.”

But, critics complain that an emphasis on the greater good of stakeholders and society distracts from the business of business.

Fortunately Dr. Raj Sisodia, and his co-authors Dr. David B. Wolfe And Dr. Jagdish Sheth have developed a convincing case that idealism and profit are compatible. Sisodia and his colleagues are the authors of the ground breaking book, Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose. They demonstrate how social coherence and humanistic values lead not only to greater personal fulfillment but also to higher and more sustainable profits.

As they describe their approach, “Most studies of corporate exceptionalism or “greatness” start with financial performance and work backwards. We started with human performance and worked forward. We researched hundreds of companies that people love – not just like, but love. We put them through a stringent set of screening criteria …These companies pay their employees very well, provide great value to customers, and have thriving, profitable suppliers. They are also wonderful for investors…”

The authors add, “The world is changing dramatically, imposing new requirements for success. To thrive in the future, companies will have to embrace the social transformation of capitalism.”

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of the book and I provided this endorsement:

“This wonderful book shows the way to what the authors call “The Self Actualization of Capitalism.” It celebrates the confluence of humanistic values and business success in an inspiring and engaging fashion. I recommend it wholeheartedly!”