Pechakucha Presentation

What is Pecha Kucha style presentation?

A Pecha Kucha presentation is a format that uses 20 slides or images that are displayed for 20 seconds each. The slides will move automatically as the presenter is speaking. This format ensures that the speaker is concise, keeps the presentation moving, and gets through all of their content.

Pecha Kucha is a presentation form of 20 images for 20 seconds. The slides change automatically and the speaker must synchronise their speech with the images. It’s sometimes also called a 20×20 presentation. So the entire presentation always lasts for exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

It started in Tokyo in 2003, designed by architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. It was soon adopted by fans of alternative presentation styles. Similar to the short-length focus of an elevator pitch, Pecha Kucha relies upon concision and brevity. By applying a limit on the number of slides, the presenter is forced to streamline their content. It also forces the speaker to prepare and practice, as there is no option to go back or skip ahead. Pecha Kucha is also a very visual presentation style. It is based on single powerful images. Striking visuals enhance any presentation. They captivate the audience in a more immediate way than written words.

Pecha Kucha translates as “the sound of conversation” or “chit-chat” in Japanese. Its creators wanted a space to share ideas and messages through presentations. But to avoid the easy trap of rambling speakers, they set time and slide limits. In a similar way to a Haiku poem, Pecha Kucha forces the creator to creatively arrange their message within a strict form. And such creativity often produces amazing results.

So because of its concise style, specific timings and visual focus, Pecha Kucha has flourished in popularity over the last few decades. You can find many a Pecha Kucha presentation example on their website.

PechaKucha in Japanese means “chit chat“.  So as per the Japanese language, Pecha Kucha’s definition is chit chat. It is the quickest storytelling website. It is believed that millions of users use it. Pecha Kucha is a PowerPoint display format that has revolutionized the industry.

How to create a Pecha Kucha Presentation

Choose a topic

The key piece of advice for newbies to Pecha Kucha is to start with a topic you love. Your passion will not only shine through in your choice of alternative presentation styles, but it will motivate you to create and streamline your content. It’s also a great way to think of an original topic. You are individual. So your Pecha Kucha presentation should be too.

Also try to keep your topic simple. If you love it, you might be tempted to speak a lot about it. But Pecha Kucha has a limit for a reason. Simplify your subject at least enough to fit it into 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Give an overview with a clear message. People can always research more about it afterwards. But the point of Pecha Kucha is focus and concision. So keep your topic light.

Be organised

Pecha Kucha’s restricted format requires a lot of discipline. Organisation can help a lot. Create an outline to structure the story of your presentation. And always stick to one point per slide. Once you have an original structure, tweak it. You probably have to edit a lot of your ideas down to fit within the 20X20 format. So streamline your content and focus on the most important points of your message. Don’t distract yourself with what you want to say. Instead, consider your audience. What do they need to hear?

Create a PowerPoint

Simple slides have never been as important as in a Pecha Kucha presentation. Don’t use bullet points. And don’t use facts and figures. Don’t even use text! Just choose a strong and powerful image and speak over the top of it. This is the format for most successful Pecha Kucha presentations. You audience has only 20 seconds to absorb each slide. They don’t want to rush through text or try and understand a slide. They want a striking image that hits them with meaning straight away. That’s what makes a great Pecha Kucha presentation example.

Practice your presentation

Practice is perhaps even more important than usual in a Pecha Kucha presentation. The fast flow and inability to rewind or delay a slide means you must know it by heart. Perhaps you learn your speech word by word. Or maybe you know the message of each slide and speak about it naturally. Either way, you need to be aware of that constantly ticking timer.

What is a Pecha Kucha Night?

Pecha Kucha rapidly expanded from a presentation style to an event. The first Pecha Kucha Night happened in a creative space in Tokyo, hosted by its founders. They wanted creative minds to come together in a fun way to share whatever they had to say. The topics range from holiday photos to political messages, as long as speakers stick to the 20X20 format. There are now 1,149 cities around the world that host Pecha Kucha Nights.

People were globally drawn to the idea for its creativity and inclusivity. Local communities got involved and offered spaces to host Pecha Kucha events. Organisers can make sure that worldwide concept is made specific to their city. A thing called the Handshake Agreement connects Pecha Kucha’s Tokyo HQ with local hosts to keep consistency in form while allowing freedom to adapt to different city cultures.

For example, check out this page about Pecha Kucha Nights in Dundee to get an idea about the community and atmosphere of such events, and a Pecha Kucha presentation example.

Individuals can thrive at Pecha Kucha Nights because it’s a free and open space to share ideas. Whatever thoughts you want to present, you can. And anyone at all can be a presenter. It’s a useful way to receive feedback on your presenting skills and content. Plus it’s a fun and social atmosphere to enjoy. Pecha Kucha Nights present themselves as a ‘real social network’. Not one that is based behind a screen. But one that forces you out into the real world to share real ideas with real people.

Ideas for a Great Pecha Kucha Presentation

When it comes to Pecha Kucha ideas, think about simple ones that make you feel excited. When you are excited about sharing information on these topics, your audience will naturally find themselves drawn to your presentation.

1. Communicate your travel experiences

Have you just arrived from an international trip? Maybe if not international, you may have gone on a road trip. You can make a great Pecha Kucha presentation when you elaborate on your trips and travel experiences. Whenever a person travels, they naturally click photos of themselves doing something. You can take these photos and speak about how you felt when you were in a different place.

Share your fears if you felt any while you travelled. Apart from that, talk about something surprising that you came across. Travel experiences are always interesting. When you share them along with great visuals, they really make the audience interested. However, ensure that you do not delve into a single experience in detail. Remember that you have with you only 20 seconds per slide.

2. Talk about food

After travel, food is something that everyone loves. It thus comes in the list of effective Pecha Kucha topic ideas. Who doesn’t loves cooking cuisines and sharing them with people? Moreover, you cannot deny that mouth-watering pictures of food can entice anyone. What you can do is share the names of the food items you like to eat along with their pictures. If you’ve made something, you can talk about its recipe.

Tell your audience about the ingredients and the cooking method of a specific food item you love to prepare. But again, do not go into much detail. Talk about what makes a specific food item so enjoyable for you. It will certainly leave your audience engrossed.

3. Talk about emotions 

Is there an emotion that you are afraid of? Maybe there’s an emotion that troubled you a lot before, but now you’ve found a method to control it. There are two aspects to an emotion. There are negative ones like anger, jealousy, fear, and greed and positive ones like love, happiness, laughter, and care. 

If you are talking about negative emotions, you can communicate about how they arise in people and methods to control them. On the other hand, if you are talking about positive emotions, tell about their benefits. Refrain from delving in too much about yourself in your presentation. It’s because not every single person in your audience may be interested in knowing your likes and dislikes. 

4. Talk about the future

It definitely comes in the list of the most interesting Pecha Kucha ideas for presentation. With this topic, you can allow your imagination to soar as much as possible. There is so much to think about when it comes to the future. For example, you can talk about how air travel will be different five decades from now. You can also give your views on how various things like phones, books, electricity, and security will impact human society in the coming years. 

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