Krushchev’s Shoe and Other Ways to Captivate an Audience of 1 to 1000″
by Roy Underhill.

What a great title. Any book with a title like that is bound to get attention. It certainly got mine! As a bonus, I found it to be the first book I have ever read that was “an audience-centered approach to making inventive presentations” (from the jacket liner notes).

It’s a must-read for every seminar presenter - and it wasn’t written by one who delivers seminars!

Roy Underhill brings his creativity from being the creator and host of the PBS series: The Woodworker’s Shop, “one of the longest running programs in the history of television.”

I was particularly interested in where he learned about audience participation: from hands-on work as Director of Interpretive Development for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. There, he had to develop methods to get a moving audience to stop and become engaged at specific interpretive exhibits. Now THAT takes skill and ingenuity! Think of it – what if you had to get your audience to stop and sit down to listen to your presentation!

This is not a book about how to arrange your PowerPoint visuals. It IS a book about the audience - their needs, desires, wants, predictable habits and expectations. Many unskilled seminar presenters deliver what they want the audience to learn, period. Underhill’s book will convince you to change that bad habit forever.

Audience involvement. A key to persuasion. It is a skill to be learned, practiced and mastered. Start right now by getting Roy’s book and see things from the audience’s point of view before designing and presenting your next seminar. You’ll be glad you did - and so will your audience!