Chapter 26 Further Reading: Presentations, Slides, and Visual Communication

Presentation Structure and Narrative

"The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking" Barbara Minto The foundational text on structured communication in professional contexts. Minto developed the pyramid principle — and the SCQA framework — while at McKinsey. Her approach to structuring written and verbal communication around a main idea supported by grouped, ordered arguments is the theoretical backbone of the "narrative first" approach in this chapter. Dense but essential for anyone who communicates complex information to executives regularly.

"Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences" Nancy Duarte Duarte is the definitive practitioner-author on presentation narrative. "Resonate" is specifically about creating presentations that move audiences from what is to what could be — a framework she calls the "sparkline" (alternating between current reality and future possibility). Her analysis of great speeches (including Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Jobs' product launches) reveals the structural patterns that make communication truly persuasive. [duarte.com/resources]

"Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations" Nancy Duarte Duarte's companion volume focused specifically on slide design, visual communication, and the craft of building individual slides that communicate clearly. Covers data visualization, diagram design, and the visual hierarchy principles that are essential context for the AI-assisted visual strategy section of this chapter.

Data Visualization

"The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" Edward Tufte The classic work on presenting data clearly and honestly. Tufte's concept of "data-ink ratio" (maximizing the proportion of ink used to communicate data vs. decoration) is directly applicable to evaluating AI-generated charts, which tend toward visual decoration. His critiques of PowerPoint as a communication medium are thought-provoking context for this chapter's approach.

"Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals" Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic The most practical guide to creating charts that communicate a story rather than just displaying data. Knaflic's "choose an appropriate visual display" chapter is a more accessible version of the visualization selection prompt templates in this chapter. Excellent for building the vocabulary to specify what you want from AI when asking for visualization recommendations. [storytellingwithdata.com]

"The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization" Alberto Cairo Cairo's framework for thinking about visualization as a functional tool — designed to help audiences reach conclusions, not just to display information attractively. His distinction between information visualization and data journalism provides context for the "headline insight, not just labels" principle in this chapter.

Executive Communication

"The McKinsey Way" and "The McKinsey Mind" Ethan Rasiel While not primarily about presentations, these books describe the structured analytical communication approach that McKinsey has refined over decades — including the problem-structure-solution format, the "so what" discipline, and the pyramid principle in practice. Useful for understanding the professional communication standards that the AI-assisted presentation workflow in this chapter aims to support.

"Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" Chip and Dan Heath The Heath brothers' analysis of what makes ideas memorable — their SUCCES framework (Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Story) — is directly applicable to presentation design. Their research on why abstract information fails to stick and specific, concrete information succeeds is the foundation for the "so what" discipline and the "assertion titles over category labels" guidance.

AI Presentation Tools

Gamma.app Documentation and Templates Gamma Gamma's template library and documentation provides the clearest illustration of AI-generated presentation structures — what they look like out of the box and how to modify them. Reviewing several of Gamma's template examples before using it helps calibrate what to expect and what to plan to edit. [gamma.app]

"Designing Presentations" (Microsoft Design Blog) Microsoft Microsoft's design guidance for PowerPoint, including principles updated for the Copilot-era workflow. Covers how to work effectively with AI-assisted slide generation in PowerPoint. [design.microsoft.com]

Cognitive Load and Learning

"Multimedia Learning" Richard E. Mayer The foundational academic research on how people learn from words and pictures together. Mayer's "split-attention effect" (the comprehension reduction that occurs when text and speech convey different content simultaneously) is the research basis for the "slides should align with what you're saying, not supplement it" principle. For practitioners who want to understand the science behind presentation design decisions.

"Universal Principles of Design" William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler A reference encyclopedia of 125 design principles, each explained with research context and practical application examples. Particularly useful for evaluating AI-generated visual layouts — principles like "proximity," "alignment," "contrast," and "cognitive load" provide vocabulary for understanding when AI-generated designs are working and when they need revision.