Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Get started
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Weekend Language summary
Andy Craig, Dave Yewman
Presenting with More Stories and Less PowerPoint
22 mins
Brief summary
Weekend Language teaches us to transform complex ideas into engaging narratives. Andy Craig and Dave Yewman emphasize clear, concise, and compelling communication, enabling professionals to effectively connect with their audiences and achieve better results.
Table of Contents
Weekend Language
Summary of 5 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 5
Ban PowerPoint for 30 days to become a better presenter
Every day, 30 million PowerPoint presentations are delivered worldwide – and 90% of them fail to engage their audiences. In fact, people are so desperate for a better experience that in one survey, 24% of respondents said they would rather give up sex for the night than sit through another bad presentation.
But the real problem isn’t PowerPoint itself – it’s how we use it. Most presentations are built backwards: the speaker starts with slides and then figures out what to say. This approach leads to cluttered, ineffective content, presenters who lack clarity and confidence, and messages that don’t stick once the audience walks away.
So, what’s the alternative? One alternative approach is PechaKucha – 20 slides, 20 seconds each – which forces concise, efficient presentations of just 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Or you could follow the three-second rule, where visuals are so simple that the audience can absorb them in three seconds before returning their attention to you.
Or, take a radical step: ban PowerPoint entirely for 30 days in your organization. Without this crutch, presenters will be forced to think through each point they’re making – how to verbally illustrate it and what visuals might reinforce it instead. You’ll need to prepare more and prepare longer, but on presentation day, your audience will find it much easier to understand your message.
Remember that you are the presentation, not your slides. As Steve Jobs bluntly put it, “People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” For example, consider how Bill Gates captivated his TED audience by releasing actual mosquitoes during his talk on malaria, or how Adidas COO Glenn Bennett ditched slides entirely for a town hall meeting, using only a flip chart and surprise handouts hidden under audience chairs.
To implement this 30-day ban, remove projectors and laptops from meetings. Encourage your team to develop their narratives first, focusing on what they want the audience to do after listening. Build presentations around a single key point rather than dozens of slides.
When you do return to using slides after your 30-day experiment, use them wisely and sparingly. Try hitting the B key to temporarily blank the screen during discussions, hide detailed slides that are only needed in handouts, and use ‘presenter mode’ to keep your notes visible only to you.
By putting audience needs first and breaking your PowerPoint dependency, you’ll deliver more engaging, authentic, and effective presentations that people will actually remember.
Want to see all full key ideas from Weekend Language?
Key ideas in Weekend Language
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Weekend Language about?
Weekend Language (2013) is a practical guide to bringing your natural storytelling abilities into corporate presentations. It demonstrates how the conversational style we naturally use on weekends is far more effective than the jargon-filled, slide-heavy approach most professionals adopt during the workweek.
Who should read Weekend Language?
- Nervous executives preparing important presentations
- Technical experts translating complex ideas
- Anyone who wants to sound more authentic
Categories with Weekend Language
Book summaries like Weekend Language
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked these summaries
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
37 Million
Downloads on all platforms
10+ years
Experience igniting personal growth