1. Pecha Kucha: the Holy Grail
of presentation skills training?
Philip Saxon – Corvinus University & IATEFL BESIG

2. Who this talk is for
Anyone who wishes to help students give presentations in English!
This might be because:
• It’s a course requirement at your place of work;
• You have been asked to give learners specific help in this area.
It may also be the case that:
• You’re not fully satisfied with “textbook solutions” and want to
explore alternatives;
• You need to achieve results quickly.
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3. Is presenting easy for students?
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Not often! And especially not if they must use a second language.
Without guidance, students who suddenly have to present in class can
seem ill-prepared in a host of different ways.
They may also not be too interested in their audience. Not everyone
finds presenting motivating if it’s an externally imposed obligation.
And their audience can seem equally uninterested in them. Often the
teacher is the only person with questions. An uninvolved audience is
an apathetic audience: you might as well try teaching in Death Valley!

4. So how can we escape Death Valley?
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5. Arguably, “cardinal rules” are needed!
So here are mine…
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5 CARDINAL RULES

6. 1) Speakers must connect with the
audience!
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7. 2) The talk should feel like a conversation!
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8. 3) The audience should never have to read
and listen at the same time!
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9. 4) Visuals should speak for themselves!
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10. 5) The audience should want to know more
afterwards.
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11. One approach might be to teach from a
great course book…
Mark Powell’s “Dynamic Presentations” (Cambridge University
Press, 2010) is certainly a good course book to work with. It’s
packed with technical advice.
But you’d need several weeks (e.g. 8 x 90 minutes, plus regular
homework) to deliver significant improvements that way.
What if you need results faster than that?
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12. Fortunately, help is at hand!
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13. Pecha Kucha: the basics
Pecha Kucha was originally devised in Tokyo in 2003 and is today
a global phenomenon!
The format is easy to understand:
• You show 20 images, each for 20 seconds.
• The images advance automatically.
• You talk along to the images.
That’s it! There’s almost nothing to it.
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14. The benefits
Pecha Kucha is great because:
• Speakers have to be concise!
• A picture speaks a thousand words!
This makes the presentation interesting and easy to follow!
And it’s not hard for people to do. Anyone can have a go. It’s a
bit like Karaoke, in fact.
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15. So can we use it with our learners?
Yes, why not? It’s task-based learning at its best.
Students can get going really quickly with this approach.
Teachers can concentrate on coaching them.
One possible alteration to the format might be:
• 10 slides, each 30 seconds in length.
• This means each talk lasts exactly 5 minutes!
Spending slightly longer on each slide may work well with EFL
learners who perhaps aren’t as fluent as native speakers.
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16. A good local example!
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17. So why not join the fun?
The benefits are potentially huge:
• Concise talks, students get to the point!
• High audience interest levels!
• No time overruns or extended class sessions!
Do you have any questions at this point?
You can all have a go yourselves in just a minute!
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18. Budapest Tourism Presentation
Now here’s your task.
In groups, decide how you would narrate each of the ten
pictures that make up the presentation.
You’ll get a handout – just add notes. However, the first and last
slides should also introduce and sum up the talk.
When everyone’s ready, we can give our own Pecha Kucha talk,
inviting the world to Budapest!
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29. So is Pecha Kucha the Holy Grail?
Well, maybe not in every situation, but it has a LOT going for it:
• Concise presentations with quality visuals!
• High audience involvement!
• No time-overruns!
• The teacher can focus on feedback!
• It’s simple to understand and implement!
• And everyone can appreciate everyone else’s contribution.
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30. Or to put it another way…
Games with simple rules are easy to play! And lots of fun, too.
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31. Acknowledgements
“The Art of Concise Presentations”: http://www.pechakucha.org
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