It’s called Pecha Kucha, and it’s often pronounced pu-CHOK-chu. You have a short period of time to stand up, tell a story, and sit down. Don’t you wish all presenters would do this?
Pecha Kucha presentations were first refined by a group of Tokyo architects and artists in 2003. Since then, the idea has spread around the world. Pecha Kucha can also be very effective for training seminars and academic events. We use them all the time at Habitat X events.
If you’re a presenter at one of these events, scroll down to view and download your PowerPoint or Keynote slide deck.
Want to present at one of these events? Submit a proposal here.
If you choose to deliver a Pecha Kucha presentation, we offer these simple guidelines.
Even seasoned presenters say that presenting a Pecha Kucha is harder than they thought. You’ll need to distill your ideas down to their essence. But isn’t that what good presenters should always do? And the truth is that most modern audiences are hungry to hear summary ideas presented in an intelligent fashion. That’s the essence of Pecha Kucha.
Much of this advice is also relevant to presentations that do not follow the Pecha Kucha format. Keep it simple. Tell a story. And don’t put a lot of data on your slides. Please.
See some excellent tips from the TEDblog on how to make a really good slide deck.
Or read this primer, by Felix Jung, on planning and delivering a great PK presentation.
You can get a feel for the Pecha Kucha format by viewing this presentation by Chris Dorsi on the Pecha Kucha International website.
View Human Habitat: The Evolution of Efficiency
One of the best ways to learn about Pecha Kucha is to try it out yourself. We’ve created PowerPoint templates to help you get started. They include 22 slides: a title slide, 20 body slides with built-in 20-second auto-advance and visual timing cue for the presenter, and a closing slide for the presenter’s name and contact info.
Download the ACI PK Master as a PowerPoint file.
Download the Exploration Works PK Master as a PowerPoint file.
Download the Habitat X PK Master as a PowerPoint file.
Download the Habitat X PK Master as a Keynote file.
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