Being Succinct & Effective Pecha Kucha Style

Last Wednesday night in Vancouver I was among a crowd of 2000+ at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to witness presentations on a “green” theme entitled, “Walk The Talk, Green Your City”.

To be honest, although I am pro “green”, it wasn’t the subject matter that motivated me to attend.   It was how the various  presentations were going to be made.

All the presenters were required to conform to a “Pecha Kucha” format, which basically had them speak with the aid of a slide show that consisted of 20 slides with each slide appearing on the screen for exactly 20 seconds.   When the slide show ended, the presenters ended.   Hence they had six minutes and forty seconds to get their point across.   Incredibly, the seven I witnessed, did just that.

Pecha Kucha is the onomatopoeic Japanese word for the sound of conversation. The equivalent English term is “chit-chat”.     I have heard it pronouced in three syllables as “pe-chak-cha” and in four syllables as “peh-cha koo-cha”.

Per the organization’s website, www.pechakucha.com, Pecha Kucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.   It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide.

I am looking for to the next Pecha Kucha Night in Vancouver and will be experimenting with this approach in the pitching of media products/services within the entertainment industry.