This page has resources for teachers and conference organisers wishing to set up their own Pecha Kucha event.
Click to go to the following:
Ten Tips for setting up your own Pecha Kucha evening at a conference - Handy hints on how to set up a PK for your own event.
The "Rules" of Pecha Kucha The "rules" of the event, to send to presenters.
Variations on Pecha Kucha The format is pretty simple and adaptable, here are variations.
A Pecha Kucha lesson for Business English Students Doesn't have to be restricted to ELT conferences. Why not do something on this with your students?
by Lindsay Clandfield.
These tips also appear as part of a longer article in The Teacher Trainer
1. Choose a very general theme for the event. If you take something specific (e.g. Global English) there is a risk that the presentations will be the same or very similar (or use the same images). You’ll need a big room for the audience, with powerpoint projection facilities and preferably sound too.
2. Pecha Kucha evenings usually have up to 14 presenters. The event we did at IATEFL had 8, and it felt about right.
3. Let the speakers know LONG in advance about the event, and warn them that it takes quite some time to prepare. I kept communication open between all speakers so we made sure nobody did exactly the same topic.
4. Each presenter prepares 20 powerpoint slides, and gets 20 seconds per slide. The slides cannot contain animation, or video, or music. You need to know how to use Powerpoint, and how to set the slides so that they change automatically every 20 seconds. Get a computer-literate person to help you with that. I got all the speakers to send me their presentations three days before the conference so that I could put the timer on them and have them ready in one folder for the evening’s event.
5. Check the timer works on the presentations before the evening! It “broke down” a couple of times during our evening, which meant I had to time the slides with my watch and then click them forward manually while the speaker was presenting. This added some humour to the event though…
7. It’s best to have a facilitator for the event. At IATEFL, I was the facilitator. The facilitator introduces the whole thing and explains Pecha Kucha. The facilitator then keeps it going and calls the speakers to the stage as their turn is up. He/she can also encourage the audience to clap, whistle, hoot with laughter and so on. At the end, invite all the speakers back onto the stage for a group bow. The speakers will feel like superstars!
8. While the evening is a social event, the presentations don’t have to all be funny. What many people liked about the Pecha Kucha at IATEFL Exeter was the variety. Some presentations were hilarious, others much more measured and serious. All of them felt right for the evening.
9. Schedule an interval between each batch of say, four, presentations. During our interval I told the audience they could go get another drink and chat/move around etc (we were in a great hall). During this time you could have a band playing, or show short funny films. We showed some funny films from YouTube (www.youtube.com) that related to English and English teaching. These were a lot of fun.
10. Finally, some advice for your presenters – courtesy of Rose Senior, who did a fantastic presentation at our Pecha Kucha:
Have a simple, single message or overall theme
Let each slide speak for itself
Don't try to say too much for each slide (I reckon 60 words is about right - although there can be considerable variation)
Keep in mind that your prime aim is entertainment
Have confidence in your personal presentation style
Practise on your friends before doing the 'real thing'
Good luck and have fun!
Here are the "rules" of Pecha Kucha that could be sent to participants beforehand. You can of course edit them or make your own variations. These were the rules sent to the IATEFL presenters (hence the comments about non-commercial presentations...)
The evening will begin with an introduction to the format and the speakers by the host. The introduction is intended to set a light-hearted tone to the evening.
The speakers will then each give their presentation of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This is how it works. There will be a two minute break between each speaker for the next person to come up and get ready.
The theme of the evening is XXXXX (insert theme here).
Your talk cannot be commercial. Nor can it be a “reduced” version of the talk or workshop you are giving at the conference anyway.
You need to support your talk with 20 Powerpoint slides. No more and no less.
Each slide can contain images or text (or both) but NO animation, video or music. That is to say that each time you “click” the next slide must appear.
Please send XX (your tech person, or you) a copy of the presentation beforehand so that I can add the timer to it. We will set the timer so that the slide changes exactly every twenty seconds. If you know how to do this already on Powerpoint you can (but we’ll still need a copy of the slideshow beforehand)
We will mount all the slideshows onto the computer we’ll use for the event on the day of the event.
When you are introduced, we’ll open your presentation, press start and away you go. The slides will change every twenty seconds, you won’t need to press anything. You just give your talk as the slides change behind you (or to the side of you).
Pecha Kucha works best if you’ve rehearsed beforehand. Think of it like a talk rather than a workshop. You won’t really have time to elicit audience responses.
Since its original inception there have been variations on the theme. Here are some I've come across.
THIS PART STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.