I recently presented at PechaKucha Night Portsmouth #23. For those of you unfamiliar with PechaKucha (pe-CHA k-CHA), it’s a presentation format designed to limit duration to 20 slides at 20 seconds each – so 6:40. I’ve presented in this format before, but felt an urgent need to mix things up this time around. Since the subject of my presentation was the accessibility of video and the need for developing the skills of a storyteller, I reasoned that it was perfectly appropriate for me to use 20 x 20second video slides as opposed to the standard static slides. So that’s what I did.

I admittedly stressed myself over the balance between imagery and the narrative I expected to share with the audience. I was still somewhat vague on the last point up until I was called up to the stage, but I expected that might be the case, so I broke it down into three main components – a brief backstory (for context), a practical example of working with videos sent in by friends around the world, and an invitation to experiment. That way, I figured, if I lost track of myself I would only have to make it through to the next section. As it is, I can talk about this subject all day long, so a 6 minute presentation didn’t actually scare me. I did however put aside my notes and decided to wing it at the last minute. Have a peek at the video and tell me how I did.