You already know how to punch up your PowerPoint slide decks, but what about punching up yourself? Do you have the skills to really inspire your audience, to make your presentation not only valuable but memorable? Most importantly, can you use it to close the deal?

There’s an ebook for that. In Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, presentation consultant Jerry Weissman teaches you to move beyond the slide deck and really engage with your audience.

The book normally sells for $26.99, but for a limited time, Amazon is offering the Kindle edition free of charge. (How limited? I’m not sure, but these freebies rarely last more than a few days. If you’re interested in this title, grab it now.)

Don’t have a Kindle? No problem: You can read the ebook on your PC, smartphone, tablet, or just about any other device.

So, what kind of information can you hope to glean from Presenting to Win? Weissman starts off by noting that most presenters fail to tell a story, which is the key ingredient in a persuasive presentation:

“The overwhelming majority of business presentations merely serve to convey data, not to persuade,” he says, adding: “In business, when the point is not crystal clear, and when the benefit to the audience is not vividly evident, the investment is declined, the sale is not made, the approval is not granted; the presentation fails.”

That reminds me of my days in sales, when a very smart boss taught me the importance of stressing benefits over features. I think the same can apply to presentations: It’s critical to let the audience know how this information will benefit them, using real-world examples.

Presenting to Win is itself chock-full of benefits, so I’d say it’s a must-read for anyone who spends time in front of groups. Even if you miss out on the giveaway, it’s $27 very well spent.

Have you found a better resource for presentation advice? Or do you have your own tips to share? Let’s hear them in the comments.

The other day I received a lengthy contract via e-mail. The document, delivered in business-ubiquitous PDF, was essentially one long form that needed to be filled out. (Or is that filled in? Oh, English language, you so crazy!)

Just one problem: The document was created with certain administrative limitations, meaning I couldn't perform any editing on it. My only recourse was to print the document, complete it by hand, and then scan it back in.

Email groups are an important part of business life, yet Apple's iOS offers no support for them.

So what happens if you want to send a message to, say, everyone in the marketing department, or a select batch of customers? If you're using an iPhone or iPad, you have little choice but to manually select their email addresses, one after another.

There are many ways you can use Twitter to help build your business. For example, you can track trending topics, leverage Web analytics, and tap some 50 million daily users.

Of course, let's not ignore the basics. What if you're simply trying to wrangle multiple Twitter accounts? Do you really have to sign out from one and sign into another every time you want to tweet across them?

Should businesses be interested in Pinterest? On the surface, you might not think so: the service would appear to be little more than a showcase for cool jewelry and favorite recipes.

However, it's also a great way to drive traffic to your site. That's according to a new HubSpot e-book: "How to Use Pinterest for Business".

Knowledge is power, especially for anyone looking to start a new business or boost an existing one. Docstoc, home to hundreds of documents and resources for business folk, packs an awful lot of knowledge into its 30 small-business apps for iPhone and iPad.

The apps cover just about every topic under the business sun, starting with finding a job or developing an idea:

A few months back I called Kingsoft Office the best Microsoft Office alternative you've never heard of. Now Kingsoft is making waves again with a mobile version of that impressive suite.

Kingsoft Office for Android lets you open, edit, and create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations right on your smartphone or tablet. And it's noteworthy not just for its Microsoft Office compatibility, but also its price: the app is free.

The best-kept secret of the business world? Email reminder services, which can help turn overloaded inboxes into productivity powerhouses.

Email reminder services such as Followupthen make you more productive.No, really. I’ve been using these services for the past couple years, and I’m constantly amazed at how helpful they are--and how few people know they exist.

Last week you learned how to avoid gridlock during your daily commute. Of course, you can't avoid that commute altogether, which is why it's smart to make the most of time you have to spend in the car (or, for that matter, on bus, plane, train, etc.).

Instead of getting enraged by talk radio or lulled into a stupor by your tired old playlists, stock your phone or MP3 player with podcasts designed to enrich your brain. Without spending a penny, you can learn the secrets of managing effectively, communicating better, staying motivated, and much more.

Very often in business, the important thing is not how you act, but rather how you react.

For example, at some point you're going to be on the receiving end of a nasty email. It might come from your boss or a co-worker, a client or customer, perhaps even a stranger. But regardless of the origin, it can feel like a slap in the face. And chances are good it's going to result in hurt feelings, anger, and a strong desire to answer in kind.

It was just a couple months ago that Google Docs improved its spell-check capabilities, making itself that much more attractive to business users seeking an affordable alternative to Microsoft Office.

Two more steps forward: Google just updated Docs with 450 new fonts and 60 new templates (many of which cater to business).

Unless you're lucky enough to telecommute, you probably spend a ton of time in your car. There's the trip to and from work, the lunch meetings, the visits to client offices, and so on.

Needless to say, traffic is probably your worst enemy. (Second-worst: gas prices.) If only you had some magic tool that could monitor and even predict the traffic along your route.