Recently Felix Jung gave an interesting talk at Pecha Kucha Chicago, Volume 9. Felix told me that he became so interested in the process of developing his 6-minute and 40-second presentation that he created his own guide of sorts to help others. I think there's some good stuff in there worth sharing. First, let's take a look at Felix's presentation below. (The presentation is good, but the audio capture was very poor which is a bit of a distraction; try to get past that and just imagine yourself there at the live event in chicago. Go here just to see the slides with the same audio. You can download the slides and videos as well.)
Pecha Kucha Chicago: Repetition and Variation (Live) from Felix Jung on Vimeo.
Felix Jung's tips for a good Pecha Kucha presentation
Felix Jung's common sense advice can be applied to Ignite talks as well and even more generally to other types of presentations where you stand and deliver to a large crowd with the help of multimedia. Felix broke his advice down into four areas: Getting started, Slide design, Practicing, and finally tips for what to do at the actual Pecha Kucha Night (The big event). Start here to read Felix's tips in detail. Below I summarize some of his main points at a glance.
(1) Getting Started
• Choose a topic for which you have great passion. This does not necessarily have to be anything related to your work. "Think passion not portfolio" is the ol' Pecha Kucha mantra.
• Go analog at the start. Felix uses note cards and paper clips to capture and organize his ideas.
• Remember: "it's about removing, not adding, content" in this phase.
• "Just because your slides are in sequence, it doesn't mean they have to be linear."
(2) Slide design tips
• Use large images (he gives links to his favorite image websites).
• Use as little text as possible.
• "The slide should be an addition to, not a summary of, your ideas and concepts."
• "No more than four images per slide."
• Have a consistent look across the slides.
(3) Practicing
• "Pecha Kucha isn't the same as any regular speech... it's closer on the side of performance."
• Practice against a timed version.
• Practice standing up.
• Look at various points in the room, when talking.
• Add in silence, remove "filler" noises.
• Remember: your slides can do a lot of your talking for you. "I didn't need to give all the backstory - just enough to establish context, and enough to be able to make my point."
• Felix has more tips on practicing here.
(4) At the Event
• Get comfortable with the mic.
• Try not to drink before you talk.
• Volunteer to go early.
• Remember: The crowd is on your side.
• Go slow and steady (e.g., pauses are OK before the next slide if you're done with current point).
• Make eye contact with audience.
• Take business cards for mingling after.
Take a look at Felix's discussion concerning his experience preparing his talk; I think you'll find a thing or two in there that will help you. I really love the Pecha Kucha Nights and the Ignite events. I'll be presenting at Ignite Nishinomiya (Japan) on July 2 and I hope to attend the Portland Ignite (as an audience member) on July 16 in the USA, though I'll be flying into Portland from Japan on that afternoon.
Photo of Felix above by Nick.
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