Pecha Kucha. This “equal time” meeting format is wildly popular because everyone gets a
chance to share and compare in a quick and lively way. That’s why it spread around the world so quickly in the past few years. Attendees loved it yesterday when Joan Eisenstodt demonstrated the approach at PCMA’s prestigious conference of meeting professionals. “I am now a big fan” wrote MeetingsNet blogger Sue Pelletier who covered the session.
Pecha Kucha Night was originally conceived as a way for young architects and designers in Tokyo to gather and “show-and-tell” their work, leaving enough time to compare notes afterwards. Here’s how it works.
Each person who wants to talk about her or his work presents a slide show (a PowerPoint presentation). They are limited to 20 images, each slide showing for no more than 20 seconds.
Thus each presenter get six minutes and 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter pops up to present a pithy message.
Think of it as speed dating for meetings where the goal is to quickly learn a great insight from each other. This format has spread throughout the world, from Amsterdam to here in San Francisco. By the way, Pecha Kucha is Japanese for chit chat. Brevity is growing popular.
Besides using Garr Reynolds’ fabulous new book, hosting your own Pecha Kucha gathering – and avoid death by PowerPoint.
