How to Give a PechaKucha 20x20 Presentation

Last week I gave a PechaKucha 20x20 presentation at NCECA, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. Their event was called Blinc 20:20. Each topic was 6 minutes and 40 seconds long.

Quick Ideas on Giving a PechaKucha 20x20 Presentation

Don't include text with your photos. Have just a single photo per slide that extends edge to edge to fill the screen. Reduce each slide to bare simplicity.

Decide on one or two major ideas that you will convey in your talk.

• Do not memorize text for each slide. 
• Do not read from notes. 
• Do not try to squeeze a lot of information into the talk. 
• Become familiar with your message before the event. When you go on stage, just talk.

If you have time, rehearse before several friends or coworkers in front of your computer monitor or laptop. The ultimate rehearsal, of course, is to give your 20x20 talk at work in a conference room or at club meetings or a local library. Hold real events in front of small audiences. (If you don't have time to rehearse, that's perfectly fine. You may be a little more jittery, though, when you go on stage.)

When the day you have rehearsed arrives, visit the presentation room 30 - 40 minutes before the event. Walk onto the stage, and check the height of the microphone. Get comfortable with the room. Will you be allowed to walk around with a hand-held microphone? Will you stand at a podium?

Your talk will last only 6 minutes and 40 seconds, so you won't have time to warm up like you would with a longer talk. That's the challenge of PechaKucha 20x20.

Take a few very slow, deep breaths before your talk. Don't try to impress your audience. Don't take this too seriously. That would only cause tension. Get the feeling that in a week, no one will remember your 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Keep thinking that way so you will relax.

Instead of reading or memorizing, just start talking when the first image appears on the screen. As the images appear, keep talking as if you were chatting with a few friends. Don't think about when the 20 seconds will be up for each image. Forget about the 20 second time limit.

As your talk ends, repeat your one or two main ideas.