Pecha Kucha: Get to the PowerPoint in 20 Slides

Let us now bullet-point our praise for Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, two Tokyo-based architects who have turned PowerPoint, that fixture of cubicle life, into both art form and competitive sport. Their innovation, dubbed pecha-kucha (Japanese for “chatter”), applies a simple set of rules to presentations: exactly 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. That’s it. Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down. The …

24 Comments

  1. stephengiem
    Posted August 29, 2007 at 5:28 pm | Permalink

    i’m digesting your book, over and over again. it’s been two years since you’ve spoken at the art center in pasadena, thanks so much dan!

  2. daddytypes
    Posted September 4, 2007 at 8:39 am | Permalink

    dude, it’s pecha kucha, not pecha chuka

  3. Cadelfwch
    Posted September 4, 2007 at 12:40 pm | Permalink

    Great info, especially as I make signs.

  4. xaozxaoz
    Posted September 21, 2007 at 4:54 pm | Permalink

    Aaarggh.. It’s Pecha-kucha, NOT “pechachka”!!!!

  5. Kattiatv
    Posted October 2, 2007 at 3:36 pm | Permalink

    Terrible!
    I loved your article
    Your video here was a dissapontment :-(

  6. lewisian
    Posted October 16, 2007 at 4:51 pm | Permalink

    And let us not forget the most emotionally intelligent sign of all time (IMHO) – a book cover that reads “DON’T PANIC” in large friendly letters… a book used by people likely to find themselves in some most difficult and stressful situations in the Galaxy… :-) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy…

  7. cuddo
    Posted November 6, 2007 at 10:03 pm | Permalink

    Wrong! U is an almost silent vowel in Japanese. So it indeed sounds more like pecha-kcha than pecha-kooocha.

  8. cuddo
    Posted November 6, 2007 at 10:04 pm | Permalink

    It’s great. I love this 20×20 method as well as your empathy signs idea!

  9. LenEdgerly
    Posted November 29, 2007 at 8:55 pm | Permalink

    Terrific! I finished your book last week and was very impressed. Insightful, useful, and playful. Thanks!

  10. maxygbabes
    Posted December 11, 2007 at 5:31 pm | Permalink

    Hey im doing a pechakucha for my university project. I hate to sound much smarter than i am but i thought that it had to be 20seconds on each slide. Your speech sort of rolls into the next one so it isnt really 20seconds perslide, its more like 6mins 40 seconds of speech with images that change every 20 seconds.

  11. tehblunderbuss
    Posted December 13, 2007 at 1:14 am | Permalink

    Exactly what it should be.
    It isn’t: blah blah blah about this slide. Ok next slide. Blah blah blah about this slide. Next slide.

    Pecha-kucha is like speed golf of presentation, I gather.

  12. practicaleq
    Posted January 21, 2008 at 10:04 am | Permalink

    Ahem! “exquisitely matched words and images”

  13. practicaleq
    Posted January 21, 2008 at 10:06 am | Permalink

    Sorry – that was supposed to be a reply to ‘tehblunderbuss’s comment but came out in the wrong place for some reason…

  14. spiraltraining
    Posted January 23, 2008 at 9:32 pm | Permalink

    Just posted a video response … you say towards the start of your video, Daniel, that doing a PK on PK is too post-modern for you…… so I got all post modern and did it instead! Thanks for inspiring me!

  15. WealthyLiving
    Posted March 26, 2008 at 1:01 pm | Permalink

    This was my introduction to Pecha Kucha and I loved it. The subject matter had a lot to do with that though. Great job!
    On another note, my vid titled “Reading is Fundemental” clearly isn’t Pecha Kucha. Since I’m not familiar with this topic, does anyone know if that particular video falls into any presentation classification?

  16. jdm1051
    Posted May 22, 2008 at 11:06 am | Permalink

    Is “Fundamental” supposed to be misspelled?

  17. WealthyLiving
    Posted May 22, 2008 at 11:15 am | Permalink

    no. thank you for pointing that out

  18. bradiscool500
    Posted June 24, 2008 at 3:07 pm | Permalink

    remember there were 8 minute abs, then 7 minute abs? well, i’ve invented 18 slides shown for 18 seconds each. go fuck yourselves, 20 slides for 20 seconds! haha

  19. vanchunyin
    Posted October 11, 2008 at 11:22 pm | Permalink

    Thank you very much, that gave me an idea how I’m going to prepare and what I should put into my Pecha Kucha presentation.

  20. 54Plasma
    Posted October 28, 2008 at 1:25 pm | Permalink

    Hey there
    I’m currently across from the UK working in DC for a month, and was interested to learn you are also here. Do some presentation work myself and loved both your talk and content.
    Thanks
    David

  21. blackhairlily
    Posted November 24, 2008 at 5:41 pm | Permalink

    woohoo.just upload my first clip Pecha Kucha presentation!!! i am excited LOL.

  22. jeffkorhan
    Posted December 26, 2008 at 11:43 am | Permalink

    This is how Powerpoint should be used. I don’t personally adhere to the time limit per slide. However, the point of letting the image silently “speak” WITH the speaker – not in place of – is what this presentation skill is all about in my mind. Jeff Korhan

  23. TheVirtualOne
    Posted January 18, 2009 at 11:24 pm | Permalink

    Thanks! I love learning new strategies and this is new for me! I love it and I can’t wait to use it!

  24. macscotchale
    Posted June 29, 2009 at 3:55 pm | Permalink

    good talk, but

    it’s not “peh-CHAch-ka”
    but rather “peh-CHAK-cha

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