Top all-time · #1451
Garr Reynolds
Personal blog · presentationzen.com/presentationzendesignwritingproductivity
Garr Reynolds writes Presentation Zen, a personal blog at presentationzen.com about design, writing and productivity. Since 2007, 49 different Hacker News readers have linked it 71 times, most often “Deep or wide? You decide. (how to present)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-08-05, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (21) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Garr Reynolds' blog on presentation design, which covers bullet-free slides and delivery, and commenters often suggest it as a starting resource alongside his book.
- Recommended for · 7 comments
- Called an "excellent" blog on bullet-point-free presentations and "good resources"; "exceedingly helpful" for presenters.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 21 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
The Presentation Zen® approach by Garr Reynolds helps professionals and educators create clear, engaging presentations through simplicity, storytelling, and thoughtful presentation design. Explore insights from the award-winning author on slide design, visual thinking, and authentic communication in
Most-linked posts?
- Deep or wide? You decide. (how to present)10 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2007-04-06
- The Key to story structure in two words: Therefore and But2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2015-05-23
- /2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-06-30
What Hacker News says?
My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago. The weights looked like these: http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4... One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years of use without being cleaned. The e…
Comment linking /.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb409b4970c-450wi
on “I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet”Submitted Presentation Zen: Storytelling lessons from Bill Cosby as a story · 71 points
HN discussion> 4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. This one reminds me of writing advice from South Park's Trey Parker: write better stories by figuring out how to replace all your "ands" and "buts" with "therefore". http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2015/05/the-k... > 20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you disl…
Comment linking /presentationzen/2015/05/the-key-to-story-structure-in-two-words-therefore-but.html
on “Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)”Submitted Japanese aesthetic principles to change your thinking as a story · 48 points
HN discussionSomethings are better without powerpoint-like presentation, but is possible to use it correctly. I have used the ideas behind http://www.presentationzen.com/ with good results. Based on that, my mom setup a service to build that kind of presentations at http://www.emilypresenta.com/ (the site is in spanish for now), including finding, buying the photos/icons and the provide a basic layout for the talking part.
Comment linking /
on “LHC Physics Center bans Powerpoint, switches to whiteboard-only forums”Submitted Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic as a story · 34 points
HN discussionI guess it is not a coincidence, but just in case that you don't know it already, patio11 is giving a talk at a presentation group we have here called "Design Matters", at the Osaka Shinsaibashi Apple Store. It will be great. Check out http://designmatters.jp/ This group was initiated by Garr Raynolds of http://www.presentationzen.com/ but Garr became very busy, so since last year, together with another guy we run t…
Comment linking /
on “Life lessons learned in travelling the world for 8 years straight”Submitted Minimalistic Presentations – Takahashi Method as a story · 17 points
HN discussionCounter-Counter point, those studies were not of very high quality. Very small groups, and the “hard to read font” was Comic Sans which isn’t actually hard to read, just different. Also, Comic Sans is well known to be the butt of all font jokes, which could have been acting as some kind of marker for the content. A lot for variable unaccounted for. On the other hand, the author of OPs “beginners’ guide” treats prese…
Comment linking /
on “A beginner's guide to making beautiful slides for talks”Submitted If your idea is worth spreading, then presentation matters as a story · 11 points
HN discussion> I've always wondered what it was with publicizing sheets instead of a talk. Laziness, mostly. Slides are a printable material and less effort to publish than a transcription or a full article write-up. > Didn't I get taught in school every year for the past decade that sheets are supposed to support the material I'm talking about and should not say much on their own? I wasn't aware people were actually teaching de…
Comment linking /presentationzen/2005/06/using_annotated.html
on “If Only I Knew This Shit in College”Submitted Helvetica (the film) as a story · 10 points
HN discussionGarr Reynolds has an excellent blog about giving great, bullet point free Presentations: http://www.presentationzen.com/ His book, Presentation Zen, comes highly recommended (not a referral link): http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Zen-Simple-Delivery-Editi...
Comment linking /
on “Designing Presentations”Submitted You can learn a lot from "a child" (great article, must see video) as a story · 9 points
HN discussionGood old Presentation Zen. I didn't even know that they still exist. That article is from 2005 and as such somewhat outdated. Bill Gates has been giving quite a few great presentations after he left Microsoft (for example: http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2005/11/the_z... ) and even Microsoft's presentations have improved, well, at least visually. Steve Ballmer is just no Steve Jobs. Edit: Oh, Presenta…
Comment linking /presentationzen/2010/08/the-naked-transformation-of-bill-gates-the-presenter.html
on “Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic”Submitted How to build a tribe as a story · 8 points
HN discussionI found the embedded slides didn't work for me, so here's a non-embedded link to the same slides: http://www.slideshare.net/cheilmann/the-road-to-being-a-kick... I'm a big fan of: (1) encouraging techies to take and make opportunities to present publicly; and, (2) improving the quality of the presentation in terms of supporting material and presentation styles. In the past I've found sites like Presentation Zen ( ht…
Comment linking /
on “The road to being a kick-ass public speaker”Submitted Presentation Zen: Learning from Bill Gates & Steve Jobs as a story · 7 points
HN discussionI think the idea is good, I don't doubt that the content and research may be good, but I do have an issue with someone whose credentials are "During high school and college I've done several presentations". I consider myself comfortable and relatively good at presenting and I've presented in front of a few thousand professional peers before but I wouldn't for a moment conclude that I am qualified to run an online co…
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on “Online course on how to give great presentations / pitches”Submitted Dick Cavett on improving your speeches as a story · 6 points
HN discussionhttp://www.presentationzen.com/ might just be your new best friend.
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: What makes a presentation great ?”Submitted 10 great books to help you think, create, & communicate better in 2012 as a story · 5 points
HN discussionTwo good resources: PresentationZen blog ( http://www.presentationzen.com/ ) and Beyond Bullet Points book ( http://www.beyondbullets.com/ ).
Comment linking /
on “Research points the finger at PowerPoint”Submitted Presentation Zen: 6 Presentation tips from a Steve Jobs keynote as a story · 5 points
HN discussion(A) Presentation Zen both the book (that came out recently) and the blog: http://www.presentationzen.com/ and Beyond Bullet Points, http://beyondbulletpoints.com/ the book and online seminars. Yes, both of them are primarily focused on "static" presentations, however the focus on the telling a good story through your demonstration is the point. In presenting Krugle at DEMO06 (and winning a DEMOGod award, woohoo!), t…
Comment linking /
on “Ask YC: Books/Links on giving better demonstrations.”Submitted Slide design: signal vs. noise (redux) as a story · 5 points
HN discussionI have not read it myself (yet), but Garr Reynolds ( http://www.presentationzen.com/ ) recommends this one "Brenda Ueland: If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit". Maybe that helps.
Comment linking /
on “Any ideas in helping to improve writing skills?”Submitted Stop stealing dreams: Seth Godin on education & school as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI suggest tuning into Presentation Zen on a regular basis. http://www.presentationzen.com/
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on “Ask HN: What are your favorite idea pitches?”Submitted 10 great books to help you think, create, & communicate better in 2012 as a story · 4 points
HN discussion
