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Douglas Ferguson

John Fitch

An unusual and irreverent guide to transforming your meetings from time-sucking interruptions to productive moments of collaboration – whether your team is together or virtual.

What if meetings could be the high point of collaboration in your day, instead of the usual time-sucking soul-draining experience they often become?

In this guide, expert facilitators Douglas Ferguson and John Fitch tackle the myth that the most effective way to get more out of meetings is to just avoid having them or to have less of them. In a well-run organization, meetings should actually be integral to getting sh*t done.

Meetings are the secret underappreciated weapon that businesses are using badly. And why do they use them so badly? Because no one has been taught how to make them better. In this guide, you will learn:

 • What if having an agenda has no effect on whether you have a great meeting?

 • What happens when you actually do the work in the meeting?

 • What are the five common elements of every meeting that sucks, and how do you avoid them?

Douglas and John show you how to adopt and adapt the non-obvious Meeting Mantras they developed at their company, Voltage Control. Their methods have helped companies and teams transform the perception of meetings from “going to the dentist” (ie – something you have to do but hate) into something you can’t wait for – like a rock concert or great dinner.

Ideapress Publishing

Non-Obvious Guides

The Non-Obvious Guide to Magical Meetings (Reinvent How Your Team Works Together)

Jacqueline Farrington

“In the undeniably vast crowd of books about public speaking, this one stands out for its intelligent, direct approach … An indispensable manual on all aspects of public speaking and a boon to those who may be anxious about it.” —KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW

A timely guide to effectively presenting virtually by Fortune 500 presentation skills coach and former Yale Drama School lecturer Jacqueline Farrington.

The ability to shine online has suddenly become one of the most important skills for us personally and professionally. Whether you’re presenting to a team of 7 on Zoom or 7,000 on WebEx, the practical and proven insights in this book will build confidence, skills and positive outcomes.

Read this book to learn:

 • Why you must rehearse over and over, so it looks like you’ve never done it before
 • The science of why connecting and engaging online is harder—and exactly what to do about it
 • Why you must understand the difference between authentic presence and strategic presence
 • Why congruency matters and how to use it in your favor
 • What happens to our voices in virtual realms—and how to effectively compensate
 • How to produce like a pro—and become a pro in every aspect of your delivery
 • And much more

This Non-Obvious Guide is to become the most comprehensive, readable and actionable collection of principles for performing at your best online. Written by a globally known presentation skills coach who delivers her results-driven process for shining online (and on stage), this guide also features plenty of humor and fun references to relevant lines from our favorite flicks to keep you engaged—and help you learn more in less time.

Read this book to learn how to apply actionable principles from stage and screen to your virtual presentations. The future of presentations, workshops, and meetings is virtual and acting, producing, directing skills are required, no matter who’s in your audience, and no matter what your topic.

Based on the science of how our brains encode virtual experiences, this pithy, entertaining guide details how to create your most authentic and strategic presence; make the most of your voice, body language and stories; format options; visual considerations; equipment set up; tapping the backchannel and more.

The Non-Obvious Guide to Better Presentations: How to Present Like a Pro (Virtually or in Person)