Pecha Kucha

A new trend in presentation technology

Who has not been annoyed by lengthy and bland presentations, where it was hardly possible to follow the presenter. “Death by powerpoint” is a well-known phenomenon in meetings.

Architects or creative people talk too much at all. Accordingly, their presentations are always overloaded and lengthy. Based on this conclusion, the two architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham developed PechaKucha and presented this presentation technique for the first time in 2003 in Tokyo as part of an event at which young designers met and presented their work to the public.

Meanwhile, these PechaKucha Nights, where 8 – 14 speakers per evening get a chance to present their ideas, take place in over 800 cities worldwide. Slowly PechaKucha begins its triumphal march to Europe: Since 2007 there are regular PechaKucha Nights in Vienna.

How does PechaKucha work?

Pecha Kucha (pronounced: Petscha Kutscha) means “babble of voices”. Originally designed to give young designers and architects the opportunity to present their ideas in a very short time, Pecha Kucha effectively fights “death by powerpoint”:

The basic rule is:

• 20 (images) x 20 (seconds):
• Each presentation consists of 20 pictures.
• The text on the slides is limited to 20 words.
• Each image appears exactly for 20 seconds. Therefore each presentation takes exactly 6:40 minutes.
• The images change automatically and the presenter talks along the images about his idea / theme.

This tight specification requires the presenter to know exactly what he wants to achieve and say. The right information at the right time is required here.

How can Pecha Kucha be used in companies?

When it comes to briefly and concisely presenting a new idea, reporting a project status, representing one’s own work area in a rules meeting.

Some really cool examples can be streamed directly: http://Pechakucha.com.