The ultimate quick reference manual for busy managers who have a job to do and not enough time to do it.

It's the night before the morning after. You've got more life than time. And that big presentation/key performance appraisal/career turning interview is the next day. It's not too late. Ros Jay and her team of expert authors will cut through the thought jungle, switch off the panic and give you simple concrete things to say, do and remember so you'll have the shine that makes you look as though you've been polishing for weeks.

So what have you left to the last minute this time? Report? Appraisal? Presentation? Tackling that discipline interview? We all do it. You've good intentions, but there's always something more urgent. And suddenly that big presentation is next week, and you still haven't done a stroke of preparation. That's when the panic sets in. If only you'd made time for it weeks ago, you'd be ready by now. As it is, what chance have you got now of getting through it without turning it into a disaster?

Or is it the first time you have had to do this? You haven't got time to wade through a weighty manual or attend a course - what you need is the smart and savvy guide to pulling it off as if you were a seasoned professional.

Or maybe you don't do it very often, and need a refreshing refresher to bring you up to speed with minimal fuss.

What you need is a Last Minute lifesaver. A minimalist guide to everything you need to know about the subject. Short enough to read fast - you haven't got long - and full of cool ideas for not only getting through it, but looking polished. Tips for looking as if you know more than you do, checklists to run through at the last minute, shortcuts for doing as little preparation as possible. And a clear, readable style so that you can understand it even through the fog of panic (which will subside once you read it).

OK, some of us are just downright disorganised, but most of us just have too much life and too little time. Here's the good news, fast: knowledge is power. And the Fast Thinking guides give you the knowledge you need to face the job head on. Not only will they get you through it this time, but they will set you up for all the next times - once you know what you're doing, you'll never worry about leaving it to the last minute again.