I’ve been on the board of my local Pecha Kucha for a number of years now, and I’m finally taking the plunge to do one!  Not familiar with Pecha Kucha?  Think TED talk meets Twitter – Each presenter tells a story with 20 slides at 20 seconds per slide – total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds of whatever you need to convey.  Yikes!   The beauty and challenge of this format is the absolute need to Cut To The Chase!

Developed by two architects in Tokyo, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of KDa  who were sick and tired of wading through 3-4 hour presentations by prospective architects – PK (Pecha Kucha is Japanese for “chit-chat”) became a world-wide phenomenon roughly 15 years ago, with 4 presentations held annually in over 900 cities world wide.  

Those who attend report that they come away uniquely inspired just to find out about projects and passions being explored and developed in their community.  And even though PK Board membership has been challenging at times, once we experience the joy of these presentations, we find ourselves signing on for more.  

I challenge you to consider submitting your proposal for a Pecha Kucha evening near you!

Wish me luck with mine – Our theme for this event is “Radical Compassion” and I’ll be presenting on my training experience with the Standardized Patient program through Tufts/Maine Medical.  This effort is designed to build better, more compassionate partnerships between doctors and their patients.  Mine is NOT going to be the usual Powerpoint format: I’ve decided to tell the story using 20 collages I’ve created.  (One shown here) Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to my Pecha Kucha 6.5 minutes of fame!