Recently I performed my first pecha kucha presentation.
I discovered the pecha kucha format a couple of months ago. It’s a relatively new style of PowerPoint presentation with a simple but rigid structure: 1) it must contain exactly 20 slides; 2) the slides must contain only images, no words; 3) the presentation must run in automated sequence, so there’s no mouse clicking, and 4) each slide must show for exactly 20 seconds. While a verbal presentation is being given, the 20 slides serve only to illustrate what’s being said. That’s all there is to it. But trust me, it’s not easy.
When I first came across the format online, I was struck by the creative challenge. I really enjoy rigid creative structures like sonnets or haiku, so I was instantly tempted to try one myself. My second thought was that the total presentation time of 6:40 made this style perfect for a Toastmasters speech.
I created a rough draft for a presentation and began compiling images. Once I put the images into a PowerPoint file and began to practice, it became clear that I would have to do a lot of editing. I spent about a month revising both the verbal and the visual components before I wrought them into a shape that pleased me.
Then I began to practice. The secret to an impressive pecha kucha performance is all in the practicing. The relentless timing of the slide transitions makes the pacing of the verbal presentation absolutely crucial. For a couple of weeks, I practiced my script verbatim. Once I really had it down and wasn’t omitting anything or getting confused on the slide order, then I began to devise ways of tweaking the pacing. For almost every slide, I practiced adding or subtracting a word, a phrase, a very short sentence. These optional words could be added to stretch out the presentation when I’d rushed a slide, or omitted when I was in danger of running over on any given slide. This not only helped perfect my pacing, it also served to give the presentation a spontaneous feel so it didn’t sound canned (though it was).
I was a bit concerned about my venue. The room where my club usually meets is a board room. The room is narrow and long, and a closed rectangle of tables stretches the entire length, with chairs around the outside and a projection screen at the head of the room. I envisioned pacing in a “U” pattern around the top third of the table setup while making my oral presentation, so I could keep the slide images in sight as I spoke. This would have been a little awkward, but I thought I could pull it off.
A scheduling conflict caused our meeting to be bumped to a training classroom at the last minute. The substitute room turned out to be perfectly suited to my purposes. It was a broad room with small, round tables throughout. There was a dual projector setup along the longer wall, so there was a perfect space for me to stand in between the two images and my positioning made it natural for me to shift my focus both left and right as I spoke. Each time I did so, I was able to see the projected images out of the corners of my eyes. This made it possible for me to stay precisely on track with my slides without ever seeming to look at them at all.
My execution was flawless—I was truly “in the zone” and didn’t stumble at all. At the beginning, I could sense a bit of distraction in my audience, but by the fourth or fifth slide they became attentive. By the middle of the presentation, they were hooked. By the end, they were so rapt that the timer (literally a guy with a stopwatch) missed his cue and failed to signal me—not that I needed it, of course. The ending of the last slide was perfect to the second, making a huge impression. I got lots of great feedback, a really good evaluation, and even inspired one or two of the members to try the format for themselves, even after I warned them how much work was involved.
In the aftermath of my performance, I discovered one small problem with the experiment. I practiced so much and for so long, my script became part of my inner dialogue. I had trouble turning it off!
Altogether, though, it was a great creative experiment. I had a lot of fun putting it together and pulling it off so well was a real rush, too. I’ll probably do another one some day…but not for a long time!