Last week, I had the pleasure of talking with industry colleague Lira Luis at Chicago’s 2009 Twestival. As we discussed the oral communications challenges of fellow professionals in the AEC industry, Lira shared with me her positive experiences involved with Pecha Kucha night.
In short, Pecha Kucha is Japanese for chit-chat and is a new way to present using PowerPoint. Presenters are allowed to use 20 slides, which are shown on screen for 20 seconds each. It equals a 6 minute, 40 second presentation. If you’ve ever sat through a boring presentation led by a rambling presenter who opts to read EXACTLY what is already on the screen, then you will find this format appealing. In particular, architects and other creatives who have a lot of imagery to share can greatly benefit from this limited, concise approach.
Just two weeks prior to my conversation with Lira, I had also spoken with another industry colleague, Christopher Parsons, the founder of KA Architecture. Dedicated to knowledge management in the AEC industry, Chris plans to launch his first KA Connect Conference in Chicago, March 2010. In part, his conference will be modeled after TED — a nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading” that started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Education, and Design (TED). TED’s agenda has included such prestigious speakers as Al Gore and Jane Goodall. Further, TED uses the Pecha Kucha approach as part of it’s presentation format.
Let’s face it. Many universities focusing on built environment and related-degree tracks continue to overlook the value of communications and business skills for our up-and-coming technical professionals. It’s a shame, really, that something so valuable as presentation skills training is only an elective, at best, within even the most prestigious of U.S. design and enginereing schools.
As such, our industry is in special need of honing and refining our skills in those areas…no matter what our age or level of experience. It’s no wonder that savvy professionals like Chris and Lira are gravitating towards Pecha Kucha as a great tool in which to improve the quality and ‘sticking power’ of presentations.
