Presenting Pecha Kucha
A quick-fire presentation technique is making seven minute stars out of even the most nervous speakers.
Tuesday, December 20 2011 || Features || BY Lesley Springall
Six months after emigrating from Ireland Meadhbh (pronounced Maeve) Ní Challanáin discovered nerves she never knew she had. Her nerves had nerves, she said. “I was quite alarmed at that.”
Challanáin was one of five young researchers chosen to present to a 130-strong audience at the 2011 Market Research Society (MRS) conference using a quick-fire presentation technique called Pecha Kucha.
Presenters show 20 slides and have 20 seconds each to talk. There’s no stopping or backing up, the slides move forward automatically and whatever happens it’s all over in six minutes and 40 seconds.
It took a huge amount of preparation, but the sense of accomplishment was immense, says Challanáin. “It really was a fantastic experience. It helps you learn how to get your message across in a really short amount of time.”
Despite her nerves, Challanáin won the MRS Pecha Kucha Challenge for an emotional talk about her emigration. The Pecha Kucha slot turned out to be one of the most popular of the conference, says committee member Sue Cardwell.
The MRS audience is not alone. Pecha Kucha is sweeping the world with regular, dedicated evenings now held in more than 450 cities worldwide. Each combines up to 15 presentations with the chance to have a drink and a chat — roughly translated Pecha Kucha means ‘chit chat’ in Japanese.
Tokyo-based architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham came up with the concept in February 2003 because “architects talk too much”.
Their first Pecha Kucha night was meant to be a one off, designed to give young architects and other creative types the chance to show off their work without boring their audience rigid. But the format was so popular it became a monthly event. Soon overseas visitors introduced the concept to their home cities.
Luka Hinse, a German concept designer, introduced Pecha Kucha to Berlin in 2005 and then to Auckland in 2007. By then the buzz was such that more than 300 people turned up on a cold weeknight for Auckland’s first. There’s now been 28 Pecha Kucha nights in Auckland, attracting between 300 and 800 people each.
There are also regular Pecha Kucha nights across the country in places as far afield as Gisborne, Raglan, Nelson and Queenstown.
Hinse calls Pecha Kucha “a bit of an underground movement”. It’s well known among creative communities, but not much outside of those because it deliberately shuns attempts to commercialise it, he says.
Pecha Kucha nights have attracted some big names — from fashion designer Karen Walker in Auckland to outspoken scientist Paul Callaghan in Wellington. But what makes the evenings so exciting is the unknown, says Hinse. “People have a lot to say. They collect really strange things and do really interesting stuff, but have nowhere to present that in public.”
Often the speakers who blow an audience away are the ones you least expect, he says: the nervous blacksmith with a beer in his hand who was so passionate about his work he moved his audience to a standing ovation; or the 87-year-old from Parnell who talked about her life. “It was inspirational,” says Hinse — and all for the third of the cost of a cinema ticket.
pechakucha.co.nz
