Presenting a PechaKucha
PechaKucha—
, “chitchat”—is a special form of presentation with a set structure: twenty slides, each of which advances automatically after twenty seconds, for a total time of 6:40. Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, architects in Tokyo, invented PechaKucha in 2003 because they felt that “architects talk too much” about their own work; they wanted to design a way to keep the presentations succinct and crisp. From this professional presentation format grew “PechaKucha nights” where people can share their work in a relaxed and supportive, if sometimes also competitive, atmosphere. Some college instructors are now inviting students to try their hands at constructing a PechaKucha as a way of presenting ideas to classmates. If you have an opportunity to create a PechaKucha, here are a few tips:
Choose your topic carefully. The best PechaKuchas feature an element of surprise; many use humor to great effect. Think of a topic you can tell a story or weave a narrative about, one that will allow you to be creative.
Choose images that will help tell your story. These images should be simple to grasp and easy to see. Many PechaKucha experts use just one image per slide, and few use more than two on any slide.
Use PowerPoint, Prezi, or other presentation software to develop slides of your images, and set the slides to auto-
advance after twenty seconds. Create a script to accompany each slide, making sure that the script lasts precisely twenty seconds and includes a segue to the next slide.
Practice, practice, practice—
then practice some more!