One of the reasons that the Extreme Presentation method is so effective is that treats a presentation as a form of marketing communication, from audience analysis through to measurement of impact.
Branding guru Tom Asacker, whom I find to be one of the more cogent and original marketing thinkers around (and whom I have referred to before in this blog, e.g. here and here) has just published a clever little book entitled A Little Less Conversation: Connecting with Customers in a Noisy World.
The format of Tom's book is itself relevant to our presentation discussions: it is written in the form of a story, specifically an encounter between Tom and a marketing executive. The discussion proceeds as a series of questions and answers (very similar to the Situation/Complication/Resolution method for sequencing your evidence into a story.) The book itself talks about the importance of stories in marketing communication (p. 140-141).
The essential message of the book is that marketing today is more effective if your every interaction with each customer is Different, Desirable, Interesting, and Real.
All four of these are relevant to presentations as marketing communication. I am particularly attached to the "Real" part. In an age of spin and fluff, I think being Real is a distinctive advantage, whether in marketing, in presentations design, or in life. In Advanced Presentations by Design, I wrote about what I call the Reality Principle in presentations:
"The reality principle states that you should always prefer
to present evidence that is
concrete and particular rather than conceptual and general. Real things,
real people, and specific details are more interesting, memorable, and
persuasive.
…
When summarizing consumer research, for example, show a
picture of an actual subject and provide specific, real details about the
person (to the extent that this is possible without violating the confidentiality
of your research). Show photographs of the things or people you are talking
about, maps of locations, and diagrams or plans." (p. 36-37)