Just picked up Garr Reynolds new book called Presentation Zen. 
One of the best books I've read on the subject. After you read this you'll understand why most business presentations really, really suck and what you can do about it. The issue you will have inside your place of business is likely lethargy and an unwillingness to rock the boat. But if we all know that most presentations are terrible, (and we all do...when was the last time you saw someone present something that really stuck in your brain for more than 5 minutes after seeing it? really....) why wouldn't you take a run at doing something different? Should be mandatory reading for anyone about to give a presentation to an audience. His web site is one of the best on presentation techniques, tip, guidelines and theory.
Other good sources on this topic include Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson and Power Presentations by Jerry Weissman.
We've seen estimates that there are over 30 million presentations given every day. That's a lot of people sifting through a lot of shite. We need to start a crusade. A movement to ban crappy presentations from business. Read these books, blogs and yes, presentations, and help the movement gain some traction.
UPDATE: Here is a video of the presentation Garr gave at Google.
We are big fans of both Seth Godin and Kevin Kelly and their respective blogs. (Kelly's Cool Tools is a must read)
Kelly has a great piece called "1,000 True Fans". 
It's a thoughtful piece and gives great hope to those wanting to be successful in virtually any kind of business or endeavor. Drives home the message that anything is attainable if you chop it into do-able, reachable chunks. And you target your most loyal, fervent fans first." A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are
true fans."
One of my mentors in this business, Terry O'Malley, used to read USA Today everyday along with The Star, The Globe and the WSJ.
"Why USA Today?" I asked him one day, as my impression of it was that it was at best pulp at worst designed like a kids picture book.
"Two reasons," he said. "One, they cover NCAA Hockey..." (Terry being a Harvard grad, could follow his beloved Crimson and also quickly find out how badly Cornell had trounced them. (full disclosure: Cornell Hockey Alum) "....and two I learn something every time i read it. Even if it's just that 'We're Eating More Mayonnaise" call out on Page 1."
I tell you this because part of business and part of life is learning. If we stop learning we stop growing. Keeping our brains engaged is important. But who's got time for 20 Chapters of the newest business book. Or 400 pages on What's Next?
I came across this site called Change This a while back and have started to collect some of these PDF's. They're short. Easy to read and well designed. They're insightful. And they will teach you something. Last night I read the Seth Godin PDF called When New Won't Work With Old taken from his new book, Meatball Sundae. Seth is one of my favourite authors partly because he has an interesting Canadian connection.
Have a look through the titles. There's something here for everyone. Your brain will thank you.
Came across this on the web. It's called Did you know 2.0.
Fascinating for two reasons; the content is compelling and reminds us that the world our kids will live in will be radically different than ours ("In 10 years it is predicted that the number one English speaking country in the world will be China") and that we had better start preparing our kids via our school systems to be able to participate in it and second the simple, compelling, visual way in which the information is presented. Xplane, a company in Portland, OR helped with the visuals- I've been watching them for years as their approach to visual thinking mirrors some of our own thoughts on the matter- Anyway, have a look here
Clients come to Naked because they are tired of seeing what doesn't work. They have tried all the 'me too' ideas that don't do anything for their business. They are sick of wasting their marketing budgets and not getting results. And, as everyone knows, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
We create ideas that are not run of the mill, that are not necessarily tried and true, and that are sometimes not what any client has seen or considered before. But our clients are brave. They're committed and they have the guts and the instincts to work with us to increase their chances for success in the marketplace.
Naked is in the Communication Design business.
We help companies speak to their target audiences and move their businesses forward. In whatever form that takes:
We've developed ideas for documentary films. We're designing a series of books to help people understand what Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is all about. We've developed a kids toy (available at Mastermind this holiday season!). We've done fully blown out, integrated ad campaigns and direct response programs for The Globe & Mail. We've done web sites and viral videos. We recently convinced a client to create a world class conference to help get his brand established. We developed and printed an oversized coffee table 'sales book' to help raise money for the AGO and articulate the vision of what the AGO could become.
Some of these ideas are 'conventional', most are not. But they're all based around designing communciations for clients that speak to their target in an involving and impactful way.
So that's what we're all about. We think it's different in a smart, "now, why didn't i think of that?" way. And our clients must like it because they keep giving us more work and recommending us to others.
