slideology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations

Slideology by Nancy Duarte cover

Nancy Duarte helps high-tech firms like Adobe, Cisco, and Google craft their images. But she is best known for her work on former US Vice President Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient TruthSlide:ology is a combination of the words slide (as in PowerPoint slide) and ideology, which is an apt description for the book.  Although there are specific prescriptions for making successful presentations, the book does a better job at presenting Nancy Duarte’s ideology (although I would use the word methodology) for crafting presentations. If you feel totally lost when you first open Microsoft PowerPoint (or any presentation tool – the book is tool agnostic) or if you feel totally defeated after giving an underwhelming presentation, you’ll find this book tremendously helpful. It beautifully covers the entire lifecycle from imagination to creation to presentation.

Based on the rave reviews of this book, I was expecting to experience a presentation epiphany. Although I found some new tips, much of the advice is presented in the books I already own by Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen and The Naked Presenter. Slide:ology is beautiful and inspirational. But in times when I wanted Nancy Duarte’s own book to go deeper, she provided reading recommendations for still more books instead.


Still, it’s useful to have a few of these guides on your bookshelf and to review them while in the midst of creating your latest presentation.  Many times, we reach immediately for Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote instead of practicing slide:ology. If your bookshelf is light on presentation design books, this book will definitely be a big help. But if you already own a few books on presentation design- like me- you’ll turn the last page still hoping for more. Perhaps I’ll find more as I read Resonate, her second book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I purchased this book and did not receive it free from its publisher. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Dallas Marks

Dallas Marks

I am an analytics and cloud architect, author, and trainer. An AWS certified blogger, SAP Mentor Alumni and co-author of the SAP Press book SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence: The Comprehensive Guide, I prefer piano keyboards over computer keyboards when not blogging or tweeting.

One thought on “slideology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations

  1. Thanks so much for taking the time to write a review, Dallas. I hope you find what you’re looking for in Resonate, and my latest, The HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations. That’s the most comprehensive reference guide in my collection. Wishing you the best of luck on all your future presos!

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