Some time ago, I signed up for SlideShare, probably intending to upload a PowerPoint presentation from one of my speaking engagements. However, since my slides are generally designed to enhance what I’m saying, I’ve never felt that they stood on their own merit, so I’ve never got around to doing anything on the site.

Despite the lack of activity on my account, a number of people have found my profile and decided to follow me on SlideShare, and every time I receive a notification, I wonder if I’m missing out on an opportunity. So, when I was offered a review copy of Kit Seeborg & Andrea Meyer’s SlideShare book, Present Yourself: Using SlideShare to Grow Your Business, I was thrilled.

For some reason, I expected it to contain helpful tips for creating great presentations – something along the lines of Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck by Rick Altman – but although it touches on the advantages of presenting data visually rather than by using just words and numbers, that’s not the book’s main focus.

I was amazed to discover that SlideShare is good for a lot more than just posting slides for your audience to view after a speaking engagement (or during, in the case of a virtual event). I learned how speakers and event organizers can use the site to connect with one another, promote events, and much more. In addition, there’s a wealth of information about SlideShare’s other uses, including content marketing, lead generation, research and collaboration, and hiring and getting hired. Each chapter includes relevant case studies, complete with screenshots, which provide both clarification and inspiration.

With many non-fiction books, you might simply skip chapters that don’t interest you, but I don’t recommend doing that in this case, as many of the examples apply to multiple types of users. For example, if you were to assume that the strategies suggested for journalists wouldn’t be relevant to your organizing business, you might not learn about some of the resources on SlideShare that can also help you increase engagement with your blog readers.

Now that I understand the power and the value of SlideShare, I’m eager to take advantage of it. So far, I’ve only added my “About” section and connected my account to my Google+ profile, but I’ve got my sights on creating some actual content in the not-too-distant future.

Present Yourself: Using SlideShare to Grow Your Business is a great resource for new users, as the authors walk you step-by-step through creating and configuring a SlideShare account. They also outline the differences between a free account and a PRO account, so you can easily decide which is best for you. Even if you’re already on SlideShare, you’re bound to find some new ideas to help you get more out of the site.

By the way, if you are on SlideShare, I invite you to share a link to your profile in the Comments section.

Present Yourself: Using SlideShare to Grow Your Business is available from O’Reilly Press or Amazon.com.