PowerPoint Tips Blog

Helping you with presenting, PowerPoint, and speaking

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Tips
  • E-Store
  • Training
  • About
  • Affiliates
  • Advertise
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Content / Stay focused with pecha kucha

Stay focused with pecha kucha

June 11, 2003 by Ellen Finkelstein 2 Comments

READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Stay focused with what? Pecha kucha is quite the rage in PowerPoint circles. The name comes from a Japanese term meaning “chatter.” It’s pronounced pechàkchka (with the emphasis on the second syllable), but many people pronounce it as it reads in English, with the emphasis on the first syllable of each word.

You can read the Wikipedia definition. You can read more at the official Pecha Kucha Night site, where you can also find the cities that offer pecha kucha contests. But for our purposes, it’s simply a way to keep presentations short and focused by limiting them to 20 slides of 20 seconds each.

That’s 6 minutes, 40 seconds in all.

The idea is to force the presenter to speak concisely, precisely, and clearly. Typically, pecha kucha presentations are mostly images. The transitions from slide to slide are timed to 20 seconds, so that the presenter can’t extend the time.

Pecha kucha works well when many people have to present, and of course, when the material isn’t very lengthy or technical. Some companies have instituted pecha kucha for some internal meetings.

How do you create a pecha kucha presentation? Here are (appropriately) 6 steps:

  1. Write your script and time it.
  2. Create 20 slides that include a little text and large, striking images
  3. Write your script in the note pane of each slide, so that you know what you’ll say for each slide. Recheck the timing.
  4. Set the slides to advance after 20 seconds. Choose View> Slide Sorter and select all of the slides. (Click the first one, press and hold Shift, and click the last one.)
  5. In PowerPoint 2003, on the Slide Sorter toolbar, click the Transition button. In 2007, choose the Animations. tab. In 2010 and 2013, choose the Transitions tab.  In the Advance Slide section, uncheck the On Mouse Click check box and check the Automatically After check box. In the Automatically After text box, enter 00:20 or 00:20:00.
  6. Practice until you can deliver the presentation within the allotted time.

Share11
Tweet
Share
+12
Shares 13
READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. Create a looping introduction
  2. Repurpose presentations for a kiosk or the Web
  3. Add notes in PowerPoint in Slide Show view
  4. Add taped narration to a presentation

Filed Under: Content, Delivery Tagged With: pecha kucha, PowerPoint, presentations, slides

2
Leave a Reply

avatar
This comment form is under antispam protection
2 Comment threads
0 Thread replies
0 Followers
 
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
1 Comment authors
Marcin ReteckiPresenting in a sprint « Carpe Diem Post Doc Recent comment authors
avatar
This comment form is under antispam protection
  Subscribe  
newest oldest most voted
Notify of
trackback
Presenting in a sprint « Carpe Diem Post Doc

[…] slides for six minutes 40 seconds.  Why so precise a timing?  Because this format, known as a pecha kucha, requires timed presentation of exactly 20 seconds for each slide, i.e. 400 seconds.  You have to […]

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 years ago
Marcin Retecki
Guest
Marcin Retecki

I am a huge fan of PechaKucha Night and I love the fact you mention its focusing aspect. Many presentations get long and dull as presenters can go too in-depth into their topic, while all they were to do was a short incentive! But fortunately Pecha Kucha came for a rescue. I even wrote an article recently to promote this format, 20 Reasons Why Pecha Kucha is Great for You. Would love to know what you think.
All best.

Vote Up0Vote Down 
10 years ago
wpdiscuz   wpDiscuz

Free Video Training!

13 Techniques that Will Make Designing Your Slides EASY!

And get the PowerPoint Tips Newsletter with tips and resources for presenters. Plus 5 bonus tips!

BirdSend Email Marketing Tool
4-up-ads PresenterMedia PoweredTemplate High-Persuasion Secrets Power Pointers Quarter Hour


Recent Posts

Recent Posts

  • How do you format your slide titles?
  • Using PowerPoint’s cartoon people
  • Which version of PowerPoint should you buy?
  • Add a customizable, live web feed with Cameo
  • Get a designer look with abstract images to create backgrounds for slides and shapes

Connect with me!

Connect with me! Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Ellen Finkelstein, Inc. · Fairfield, IA · Tel: 515-989-1832

Privacy, Refund, and Other Legal Stuff

wpDiscuz