Posted by Pecha Kucha means ‘chit-chat’ or the ‘sound of conversation’ in Japanese. It was developed because of a desire to share messages and ideas through presentations. A Pecha Kucha presentation consists of twenty images shown for twenty seconds. The presentation slides automatically change, and the speaker synchronizes their speech with the changing images. It’s also known as a 20×20 presentation. The length of the whole presentation is 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This presentation builds imagery and efficiently utilizes the vocalized word to create a thought-provoking, smooth, and concise presentation.
The Process to Create an Outstanding Pecha Kucha Presentation
Creating a Pecha Kucha presentation that your audience loves is not a very difficult job. You only need to be mindful of a few points. The various steps for creating such a presentation are described in detail below. Follow them carefully and you’ll be able to make a great presentation.
1. Select a topic you love
The key to the success of your presentation is to start with a subject or a topic that you find highly exciting. If you choose Pecha Kucha topics that don’t appeal to you and find them boring, you won’t be able to give your best. On the other hand, your passion and love for exploring the topic will shine through if you develop a presentation on something that excites you. It will also keep you motivated while you curate your content. Always think of an original and unique topic. Your presentation should be distinct and be able to showcase your personality.
Keep the topic simple. Although you might want to speak a lot about it, remember that you need to fit the information in six minutes and forty seconds. It’s best to provide an overview of your message and let people find more about it later on.
2. Stay organized
Pecha Kucha presentations certainly have a restricted format. Effectively talking about your topic in this type of presentation needs much discipline on your part. But organizing your presentation can help you a lot with it.
Before creating the presentation, build an outline to structure it’s story. Ensure to stick to a single point in every slide. After you have prepared the outline, you can edit it according to your needs. You’ll soon find that you need to edit many of your topics so that they get accommodated within the 20X20 format. In simple words, a Pecha Kucha presentation demands you to streamline your content and concentrate on the primary point of your message.
3. Make a PowerPoint presentation
Simple, clean, and precise slides are an integral part of Pecha Kucha presentations. You don’t have to use bullet points, statistics, facts, figures, and even text. All you require is a robust and powerful image and your voice on top of it. You must follow this format to make your presentations successful.
However, do not over complicate your slides with lots of visuals. A single picture that conveys your message is 10X better than crowding the screen with multiple photos. They will make your slides look busy, and your audience will not be able to understand what you are trying to communicate. Remember that your audience only has 20 seconds to comprehend each slide. They don’t want to rush through numerous pictures and text in a 20 second period. Instead, they desire a powerful image that allows them to find the meaning instantly.
4. Practice your conversation as much as you can
After creating the presentation, the next important part is to practice speaking it within the time frame as much as possible. In this presentation, the speaker cannot delay or rewind a slide. It means that you must know exactly what you want to say by heart.
It is best to know your speech word by word. If you don’t want to memorize the terms, then you need to have an in-depth knowledge of the message of every slide. It will help you to speak about a given topic naturally. Many people get tempted to fit as many words as they can into 20 seconds. It is the wrong approach. You must give yourself adequate time between words. It will allow the audience to make better sense of what you are saying.
Use your natural voice instead of robotically giving out the information. Remember that this presentation is for showcasing your creativity and fun. So, no need to sound so serious. Practicing it will help you to give this presentation with ease.
Points to Note When Giving the Pecha Kucha Presentation on Stage
When you are on stage, you will have to remember a few things in order to make your presentation go smoothly. Keep in mind the following points.
- Prepare yourself for the presentation to display differently – Do not rely on how you practiced. Sometimes the slides can get displayed differently than the way you prepared them. But it shouldn’t throw you off track. Note that timing is not equal on all devices. You can find that 20 seconds go faster on some computers than others. So, ensure that you can communicate effectively whatever slides come on the screen.
- Adjust your cadence – It’s essential to learn when you should slow or raise the speed of your speech. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in situations where you have to speak a lot in only five seconds. So you must know how to adjust your cadence and pause naturally.
- Pause to breathe – You don’t need to rush your message. Do not forget to pause and breathe a little. Also, pause on essential points that need to be emphasized. It’ll enhance the overall effect. It will also give your audience time to get the significance of your message.
- Use a few notecards – You don’t read throughout a Pecha Kucha presentation. But its okay to use a few notecards and remind yourself what next you have to speak. But don’t become too focused on reading as it can ruin your timing.
- Use the Presenter View – The Presenter View will allow you to view the current slide and the succeeding one on a second monitor. You can better anticipate what you have to speak about in a few moments.
- Keep going – Once your presentation begins, it doesn’t pause. So you have to be prepared to just keep going. Don’t worry if you make a few errors or use the wrong words. Just don’t stop entirely in between.
What a Sample Pecha Kucha Presentation Looks Like
You need to structure the presentation well. For it, you should go through various Pecha Kucha examples and see how they are structured. Ideally, the 3X3 structure is shared by most presentations. It includes three major points supported by three sub-points, which are sandwiched between an introductory portion and a conclusion. A sample presentation looks like the one given below.
- Your topic introduction
- The significance of your topic or why it matters.
- Outline of the three central points you are going to discuss.
- Point 1
- Subpoint 1 of the first point
- Subpoint 2 of the first point
- Subpoint 3 of the first point
- Point 2
- Subpoint 1 of the second point
- Subpoint 2 of the second point
- Subpoint 3 of the second point
- Point 3
- Subpoint 1 of the third point
- Subpoint 2 of the third point
- Subpoint 3 of the third point
- Review the three central points
- Takeaway 1
- Takeaway 2
- Takeaway 3
- Final thoughts
Expert Tips for an Incredible Pecha Kucha Presentation
Before knowing about the various Pecha Kucha ideas and examples, you need to understand how to present your topic in the best possible manner. The tips given below will help you to convey your message perfectly. When you implement them, you’ll also be able to keep your audience engaged. Moreover, if you are unsure about which topic to choose, these tips will work for you as well.
- Don’t read straight from the slides you are showing.
- Refrain from filling your slides with excessive text. The style of Pecha Kucha presentations is not suited to it. People won’t get time to read all that you have written.
- Do not try to relate text with images. It usually takes a person more than 20 seconds to understand this relation. By the time they’ll be able to grasp it, you will have to change the slides.
- Employ a consistent slide design. Don’t utilize different PowerPoint templates. Use a plain background for your slides. Type the text in sans serif font. It will make your presentations more readable.
- Think in detail about the pictures you are using. In this kind of a presentation, images constitute a significant source of data on the different slides. Don’t put pictures that are not related to the topic. The images you insert should give a good amount of visual data regarding the Pecha Kucha topics you are presenting.
- The style of Pecha Kucha presentations gives no time for your audience to observe short video clips. Twenty seconds is not a significant amount of time. Video clips will only confuse your audience. Your own voice is the best sound instrument in this presentation. Speak in a pitch that’s audible. It will help your audience to grasp your idea better.
- Sometimes, it so happens that you want to delve into a particular slide. But a time of 20 seconds seems insufficient. In this case, you should replicate the slide. Remember that your presentation should be like an informative speech. When you copy the slide, its message will be shown for 40 seconds instead of 20. Thus, your audience will be able to grasp your message better.
- Reflect on your presentation slides. Think about them as a cohesive unit. They should present a harmonious statement for people to understand your topic.
- Practice speaking the presentation. It is essential when you are getting ready to go on stage. Many people forget midway what they have to say. But to make your presentation successful, you should never overlook any critical points. That’s why you should always select those Pecha Kucha topics that you find interesting. It will allow you to speak properly as you are passionate about sharing information about that subject with your audience.
- To make your presentation genuinely distinguishing from average ones, talk nicely and confidently. It’s not enough to only design an aesthetic presentation. It would be best if you did not hesitate while speaking. Your confidence is what will impress your audience and compel them to know more about what you have to say.
Topic Ideas for a good Pecha Kucha Presentation
If you want to deliver an excellent presentation, you need to find Pecha Kucha ideas that excite you. It will stimulate your audience to listen to your words actively. When you feel passionate about a particular subject, you’ll naturally talk about that subject in an engaging manner.
But many students struggle with finding suitable topics. If you are one among them, the next portion of this article is just for you. Given below are some effective tried-and-tested topics that will help you deliver a great presentation.
Tell about your travel experiences
Did you recently go on an international trip? Maybe you might have returned from a road trip. You can create an inspiring presentation on it. A travel presentation is one of the best Pecha Kucha examples. Here you can put beautiful pictures of your travel and describe them in a clear and precise language. If you went to a lesser-known place, then this topic will work for you the most effectively. As you talk about your experience, it can be intriguing for your audience to hear about it.
Share information about different types of food
Another great topic that makes it on the list of the best Pecha Kucha ideas for presentation is food. In fact, sharing information about different kinds of food, especially after travel can be a very exciting process. As food is something that you enjoy personally, you’ll have more to speak about it. Share with your audience information about cooking different cuisines and let them feast their eyes on delicious pictures of food. You can also tell the names of different types of food along with their pictures. If you know about their ingredients and cooking methods, you can create specific slides on them.
Communicate about your emotions
Every individual experiences various emotions in their life. Many people are afraid of certain emotions. If there was an emotion that troubled you in the past, and you’ve now found a method to overcome it, you can freely share your thoughts about it. Who knows? It may also help several other people listening to your presentation overcome the problem if they are also facing it.
There are two kinds of emotions. Negative emotions include jealousy, anger, greed, and fear, while positive emotions consist of happiness, love, care, and laughter. When communicating about negative emotions, you can tell your audience ways to control them. If you are talking about the positive ones, you can elaborate on their benefits.
Choose satire
It is one of the challenging yet rewarding Pecha Kucha ideas to explore. Not everyone resonates with satire. But if it’s something close to your heart, you can easily present your views on it. A satire refers to the usage of humor for irony. You can choose any topic or subject for it like politics, fashion, film, or a historical figure. For example, you can talk about the life of a middle child or satirize the usage of social media for businesses. You can also roast a documentary or a fictional character. Thus, there are many ways to give a presentation on satire topics. The only thing that you should be mindful of is not making fun of people or an institution.
Talk about your pets
Today, most people like to own pets. Animals like puppies and cats can truly be something that brings you utmost joy. So, you can talk about this in your presentation. You can explain the daily routine of your pets. It’s something that most audiences will find appealing.
If you have a pet and have had an unforgettable experience with them, you can take it up in your presentation. If you have a pet dog or cat, you can share why they make for a good companion. You can also share how owning pets have made you more responsible.
Future topics
Everyone loves to speculate about the future. So don’t miss any chance of sharing your thoughts on the future and what might happen in the various domains like electronic, automobile, appliances, business, and the like. You can think of Pecha Kucha topics like the effect of emerging technologies in multiple domains. You can also explore topics like the future of travel some 50 years from the present, revolution in kitchen gadgets, and climate change. There’s practically a lot to think and speak about in this field. Let your imagination take a flight.
Explain various happenings in numbers
There are lots of events that you can describe in numbers. For example, you can talk about 5 best gyms in your area or 7 of your favorite songs. You can also talk about 10 or 20 great movies of all time or 8 of your favorite gadgets. These kinds of topics fit into the scope of Pecha Kucha presentations. You can quickly cover all the things in the list that you are talking about.
When you share a list with people, they get to read a long and descriptive article. It also makes them anticipate what will come next.
Share thoughts on your hobbies
Everyone likes a specific activity for recreation. It can be collecting antique pieces, playing video games, cooking, or gardening. In your presentation, you can speak about some of your hobbies and the new ones you have developed in recent time. You can then delve into your hobby in some detail. You can also talk about why you think a specific activity is your hobby. Furthermore, you can speak on the various benefits your hobby may have. It is also possible to talk about how people can get better at the activity they love doing.
Tell about your work to elders or children
You can easily tell what you do to your partner or friends who have some idea about your field. However, it’s a tough job to explain what you do to other people like elders or children who don’t have any idea about the domain you work in.
But explaining it to them can also turn out to be entertaining and fun. You can use examples like pictures to describe your work. If you are explaining about your work to the elderly, you can give a short tour of your office in your presentation. To children, you can explain how you maintain a work-life balance. You can also elaborate on the changing nature of office culture in modern times.
Share some wisdom
It’s hard to find wisdom or philosophical knowledge from people these days. It’s your chance to narrate how you navigate various challenges and learn from your mistakes. So you can give your audience some sound wisdom and advice and enlighten them. People will feel more excited and motivated to do better in their life when they hear you talking about your errors and the experiences that helped you become a better person.
Final Words
This long guide on making a Pecha Kucha presentation will effectively erase all doubts from your minds about it. Follow the format and expert tips outlined in the article. You can also take inspiration from the example topics mentioned. Come back to this article whenever you feel stuck with creating your presentation. If you find the whole task of arranging the slides and organizing the presentation in a systematic way too challenging, seek expert help with it. The professional academic writers will provide you with engaging presentations that will help you make the most impact on your audience.
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