Pecha Kucha is a presentation style consisting of 20 slides, with 20 seconds/slide. I got tapped last Tuesday for giving a presentation on Thursday. It was a bit of a rush job, and I was a bit harried, but all in all, a good experience.
Thoughts
- It's not an easy style. The slides go one to the other every 20 seconds, whether you're ready or not.
- I've found that I need to be much better prepared -- given only 20 seconds, I have to plan exactly and/or script out what I'm going to say on each slide, otherwise I'll certainly go over. I scripted it. Then I cut it. Then I cut it again. I could still cut it more.
- Limit the scope. In six minutes, there's a limit to what an audience can digest.
- Limit the text on the slides. This is good advice in general, but even more important in this style.
- I think it's a very, very good exercise. I found that having the constraint was very useful; it definitely kept me focused and on topic.
I'll definitely use this style again. The presentation can be found at: Into the Aether: Web 2.0 -- People, Conversations, and Community.
