Guide to Better Pecha Kucha Presentations
July 3rd, 2007
Paul Baron
Reproduced with authorization. Thanks Christophe
From its home here in Tokyo, Pecha Kucha Night has spread to more than 70 cities worldwide, where every month, people continue to present their creations and ideas in front of hundreds of peers, within the same minimal format with which Pecha Kucha started:
- 20 slides, 20 seconds each. That’s 6 minutes and 40 seconds per presentation.
- Still images or video
- Any subject
The beauty of Pecha Kucha Night lies in the tension between the chaos of a full-blown party and the politeness of an art school crit, with the snappy pace holding it all together. Like any open-mic night, this is an intense fight for attention. In the red corner, the presenter “selling” his work to the audience, in the blue corner, the bar selling beer to the same audience. The better your presentation, the less beer the bar sells, and vice-versa!
The thing is that I don’t drink beer, so after attending fifteen Pecha Kucha Nights in Tokyo over the past 2 years, and presenting three times (Tokyo Art Beat, Divvy/Dual#1 and AQ last month), I would like to share some tips on what makes a show-stopping presentation and memorable evening, even without booze.
(Note: like any form of self-expression, rules, even mine, are there for breaking. I have witnessed some great presentations by raucous drunks and near-mute video artists.)
Reproduced with authorization. Thanks Ashley
Preparation
Choose a theme
Portfolio pieces are standard, but by no means required. Some of the most crowd-pleasing presentations I’ve seen have been about what the presenter does outside the studio. Photos of clouds, deconstructions of human love, honeymoon pictures; if you can tell it in a compelling way, you can tell it at Pecha Kucha.
Tell a story
Even a strict portfolio presentation benefits from an over-arching narrative to pull the work together. Don’t just describe what’s on the screen, reveal your thought process, your mistakes and your epiphanies. The audience may just begin to care about you and your work.
Take your time
Crafting a presentation takes time. Dumping 20 images into Keynote won’t cut it. You must decide on a theme, gather material, work out your script, and adjust rhythm and pace, and all this takes time. Count on at least 6 hours of preparation spread over a few days.
Rehearsal
Completing the slides doesn’t mean you are ready to present them. Even twenty seconds can feel endless for you and the audience if you don’t know the material. Rehearse until you feel a rhythm taking over and the initial stiffness melt away.
- Recruit a guinea pig audience. A friend is good, a stranger is even better. (note: your pet guinea pig is not acceptable)
- Stand up.
- Pay attention to your body language and the tone of your voice. Do you look slouchy, stiff, bored?
- Try to imagine yourself in the audience. Would you enjoy the presentation? If not, trim, tweak, project, whatever it takes to get you excited about your own work.
Reproduced with authorization. Thanks Jan
Showtime
The First Word
Without revealing too much, set a few expectations. Introduce yourself, where you come from, and what you will present. Quickly.
Talking
- Pechakucha means “chit-chat” in Japanese, so that means talk. Every presentation requires a different amount of narration, but don’t stay silent: if people wanted to stare at a screen, they’d go to a movie. They’re here for you.
- Speak up! If people were put to sleep by the previous presentation, it will wake them up. Besides, when was the last time you heard “too loud! speak softer” at a presentation?
- Speak into the mic. If you move (which you should), the mic should rotate with your head. If you turn your head to show something on the screen and the mic doesn’t turn with you, people will not hear you anymore. Simple.
- Breathe. The audience needs pauses to digest your genius, so snappy bursts are better than an endless stream. Use silence as your punctuation.
- Articulate, because it’s rude to talk with your mouth full.
- Time your comments so you can follow the slides in a controlled manner. If you start feeling like you are being dragged down the street by a big dog chasing a squirrel, let go of the leash, take a breath and start with the next slide.
Language
If your presentation is bilingual, that leaves only 10 seconds per language per slide, enough for a simple sentence really. The slide may flip before you finish both languages. In this case, continue with the second language over the new slide and finish up with the first language.
Even better, maintain this | A•B | B•A | rhythm throughout. This reduces language switches by half, which is easier for both you and your audience to keep up with.
Body Language
Audience. Talk to the audience, not your shoes, not the projector, not the wall, not your notes, not the front row. Smile, make eye contact, talk with everyone.
Endurance
20 seconds is short, but 6m 40s is pretty long. Aim to keep the same intensity for 20 slides or people will be gazing into the bottom of their glass by half-time.
The Last Word (some ideas)
- Give thanks.
- Offer people a next step: Where can they see more? How can they find you? Where will you be after the show?
- If you have to beg for work, be elegant or at least funny in doing so.
- Alternatively you can dive into the crowd.
Post-Apocalypse
Don’t go home… yet. Scan the room to see how you’ve done. Someone may be trying to catch your gaze, someone may have an opportunity for you, someone may want to buy you a beer etc. You’ve talked to the audience, give them a chance to respond.
A Pecha Kucha Night is a rare chance to feel the creative pulse of a city in just a few hours. But more than a slideshow, it thrives on new human connections created during each event. Pecha Kucha can start discussions and relationships; so don’t be shy, show your work, make an impact, and let’s keep the chit-chat alive.
Jean Snow
July 5th, 2007
Some great tips, Paul! I think the most important thing for my preparation when I did a presentation last year was to run through what I wanted to say a few times, and get a feel for how much I could say in 20 seconds. As you say, 20 seconds is not long, and I’m the sort of person who can easily ramble on about something, so it was important to keep things tight and to the point. Of course, I was lucky to be paired up with my good friend Jesper, who created a very cool overlay-theme for our slides — you can watch the entire presentation here.
links for 2007-09-14 | Not the kinda cool you're looking for
September 15th, 2007
[...] Pecha Kucha Nights and Beer: a Sober Guide to Better Presentations [...]
Lesley Jones
October 14th, 2007
I loved the meeting in Portland, Maine! Thank you for bringing this format to our fair city. It was amazing to see the diversity of talent in the room, and to hear about people’s projects. Some wanted to share the art, get a job, challenge the status quo – but all of the presenters added something to the dialogue of Culture Creatives- who really want to make their own world and city a better place. It was truely inspiring.Thank you again!
Carrie
November 21st, 2007
These tips are great even for non Pecha Kucha presentations! Thank you…
Janice Kent-Mackenzie
January 7th, 2008
Do you have tips re technology …specifically, how to make the turnover interval from person to person snappy?
I am at university now, and it seems that during student presentations, as much time is taken up by difficulties and glitches switching from one person’s computer and/or software format to the next person as is by the presentation itself.
Thanks.
Paul
January 7th, 2008
well, one obvious advice is to solve the switching difficulties… by getting all presentations a few days prior to whatever event it is, in a single format (all as pdfs, or as slides exported to jpgs). This is what pechakucha does and that saves a lot of time and trouble.
Another idea maybe is to get the next student to start his setup during the QA session at the end of the previous student.
Abdul Dube
January 13th, 2008
the tips are great, and with ur permission i would like to included in a zine i make now and again, to explain and spread the chit-chat presentation tips… also just how the tips are universal the application is for everything …any way send me ur postal addy and i willl send u the the completed zine —
pecae and blessings.
Abdul Dube
Dave Spathaky
April 2nd, 2008
Hi Paul,
I live in a remote location in Ireland and I would like to try out the idea of Pecha Kucha with some local artists and designers. The official web site seems plastered with copyright notices and so on. What is the deal. Can I call it Pecha Kutcha or do I ‘officially’ have to call it something else if I’m not registered with PechaKucha.org
Do you know what the deal is. I want to use the idea to have some fun and maybe raise a little money for charity but do I have to get involved in registering?
Many thanks Dave
Tiffany Mahan
September 9th, 2008
Hi,
I have an idea for the upcoming Pecha Kucha night in Charlotte, NC that I wanted to run by someone… I’m not sure if it fits in with the traditional mold of this event. Essentially my idea is to create 20 slides, each slide being a collaged background, and all twenty completing a poem. The slide then would be speaking for itself.
-Tiffany
Paul
September 9th, 2008
Hi Tiffany,
sounds like an interesting idea, but it may be a little lonely… I mean anyone could read slides, I think they come to see/hear you too. This interaction is the fun part of PKN.
You should contact the PKN people in your city and they should be able to give you more feedback.
Good luck and have fun!
halbwertszeit & pilzefreak » Blog Archive » Pecha Kucha Night
February 7th, 2009
[...] Tips zum Präsentieren gibts hier: http://www.aqworks.com/2007/07/03/pecha-kucha-nights-and-beer-a-sober-guide-to-better-presentation-s... [...]
heather
March 22nd, 2009
great tips for me as i spend a Sunday afternoon agonising over the final choices of pics for my presentation on 2nd April in Christchurch NZ.
see my blogs re pecha kucha (follow the links on my web pages)
thanks
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April 30th, 2009
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Colleen
May 2nd, 2009
I enjoyed your tips. What fun to make them into evening parties. Lots of work though…but fun work.
Jo Campbell
May 13th, 2009
Wish I’d read these notes before this week. I was a ring in for someone who dropped out and had to prepare my talk in 30 mins while breastfeeding my son and answering the never ending questions of my other son! Still – thoroughly enjoyed my first experience as audience and also presenter at Pecha Kucha. Such a neat mix of stuff. I presented on Eco Art and my own work – a climate change installation, Others presented on all sorts from a toastrack collection to puppy training by a photographer! A great way to get yourself out there and give the old brain cells and laughter muscles a good work out.
links for 2009-05-13 « Policy and Performance
May 14th, 2009
[...] AQ » Pecha Kucha Nights: Guide to Better Presentations Skills Tips for Pecha Kucha presenters (tags: presentations pechakucha presentation facilitation events) [...]
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September 16th, 2009
[...] a former presenter from Tokyo says: “The beauty of Pecha Kucha Night lies in the tension between the chaos of a [...]
Joan
October 1st, 2009
Do you have any Pecha Kucha going on in San Francisco from November 21 – 25? Thanks.
Paul
October 1st, 2009
Hey Joan,
why don’t you contact them directly:
http://pechakucha-sanfrancisco.blogspot.com/
Challenging the Presentation Paradigm (in 6 minutes, 40 seconds): Pecha Kucha - ProfHacker.com
November 3rd, 2009
[...] Merlin Mann’s “How I Made My Presentations a Little Better” and AQ’s “Guide to Better Pecha Kucha Night Presentations.” (In particular, note AQ’s recommendation that one spend about 6 hours on making the [...]
sara
March 9th, 2010
Hi Paul!
Thank you for your awesome tips!
I’m a university student from Portugal and was challenged by my english teacher to try to do this Pecha kucha- apresentation, your tips were a great help and gave me some very useful ideas for the preparation part of my presentation.
Most people tell me I talk too fast, so I guess that’s were I’ll have to work more, or as you so well say: “Articulate, because it’s rude to talk with your mouth full”.
Thank you again and wish me luck for my presentation!
~sara
Paul
March 10th, 2010
Glad it could be of some help!
And hope you have a great presentation!
-Paul
Erica
March 13th, 2010
Help, I have to do a 60 second 3/6 slide Pecha Kucha in a few days, supposed to be a quick introduction to ourselves – as it`s with people I am going to be working with. I thought it should be about work I do or am doing – but this means it could be a little dry. Help….
Paul
March 13th, 2010
60s is 3 slides. This is really short compared to a full 20×20 PKN presentation, and I don’t think you should be worried about your presentation being dry.
Taken individually, 20s can feel very long though and you should prepare well so you don’t have to fill the remaining seconds of each slide with stares and smiles.
If you are introducing yourself to people you are going to be working with, I think they will have plenty of time to learn about your work background and studies over the next months, so I would stick to slightly wackier things about yourself like what you do in your free time, hobbies, latest trip, music taste, anything that will make it easy for other people to feel closer to you and strike a conversation with you later.
Rehearse well, enjoy the presentation, and let us know how it all went.
-Paul
Heather
March 17th, 2010
Paul,
I decided to give Pecha Kucha a try after seeing it at another company I was visiting. I am giving a presentation in a business setting where this will be very, very different form the boring PPT presentations before me, loaded with technical data. I want it it be light and funny, but not totally freak anyone out. The topic is about an Innovation Space I am creating for scientists and engineers to facilitate creative thinking and innovative new ideas. Any advice?