Presentation Zen

Presentation Zen is not necessarily new to some folks, but I am intrigued by it, and I have sat through a few traditional PowerPoint presentations lately that have inspired me to share my take on it.

In a nutshell, Presentation Zen is a different way of looking at creating a presentation for an audience. Instead of the traditional PowerPoint slide with lots of text, instead choose an evocative image that is appealing and makes the audience think. Choose one or two words to sum up what you want to say in that slide instead of adding all that text, and you have completely changed the approach of presenting to peers.

Garr Reynolds, the author of the book Presentation Zen, lives in Japan and took the Japanese concept of simplicity and beauty and adapted it to presentations. His book is a very interesting read, and I learned tons from it.

Recently on my first trip to Japan, I was amazed at how I could walk down the street and see images that were just perfect for a presentation designed in a Presentation Zen style. I'm finding that my mind now looks at images in a way as to how I can use them in a future presentation.


Giving your audience something beautiful to look at in your next presentation just might hold their attention longer than a traditional text-filled slide, and I love how it makes me ponder while listening. Compfight offers a great selection of Creative Commons photos.

Another great resource to check out is Death By Powerpoint.