PechaKucha and why it’s great for business

So what actually is PechaKucha? 

No, it’s not a pokemon, although it does sound like one! PechaKucha is a form of storytelling which is a topic Salamandra.uk are extremely passionate about! It’s Japanese for ‘chit-chat’.

Where did it come from?

With their zeal for efficiency, architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, coined the term PechaKucha whilst looking for a method of streamlining long-winded design presentations. Now, let’s face it, we have all sat through a presentation that’s been far longer than it needs to be! 

So, with an emphasis on ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’, the architects’ aim was to shorten their team’s design meetings and get straight to the point. So how did they do it? Well, they decided that their PechaKucha meetings were to be timed… to a tee! Each person gives a presentation consisting of 20 slides which are each accompanied by exactly 20 seconds of commentary, giving their presenters a grand total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds to parade and discuss their artful conceptions.

Fast forward to 2020 and PechaKucha can be used for fun, entertainment or for business. There are no set rules for what you can present about so long as there are people that want to hear what you have to say and you can do it within 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

We took part!

Recently, our Head Honcho, Christine MacKay, took part in a PechaKucha networking event with Agencynomics, a not for profit social enterprise. Rather than talk through our services, which we were sure they already knew about, we thought we would ‘chit chat’ about the story of Salamandra.uk, our fabulous company culture and creative core values. 

So why should we use it in business?

There are many benefits to using PechaKucha, such as it’s entertaining nature, however, it has many advantages for businesses.

• It’s extremely efficient. It saves A LOT of time, and as we all know, time is money! 

• It’s captivating. We want all our employees, cohorts and clients to be interested in our business or department and keeping our presentations short, fun and exciting is certainly a way to manage this.

• It’s unique and memorable. I don’t know about you, but in the past few months, I’ve attended a plethora of digital networking events, webinars and presentations some of which can start to seem similar. PechaKucha certainly makes a difference.

• It’s a networking dream. It’s a straightforward, time-efficient way to impress your network and learn about other companies. 

• It’s a great way for you and your team to brush up your presentation skills. Expressing an idea via PechaKucha isn’t as easy as it seems, however, but when mastered, it has a positive impact on your communication and speaking skills and increases audience learning.

For more info, check out the PechaKucha Website!