What is a Pecha Kucha?
A Pecha Kucha presentation is one of the best ways I’ve experienced to build team trust quickly. Knowing who our co-workers are, outside of their work lives, enables us to connect over who we are as individuals. This trust tool is a favorite of mine: I share it almost every time I speak and I’ve blogged about it here. In a nutshell, a Pecha Kucha is simply a personal slide show.
Making your own Pecha Kucha is easy. The two main things to remember are (1) images only, and (2) ten slides timed at ten seconds a piece. Keeping the presentations short preserves everyone’s engagement & interest, and ensures everyone gets their turn. To maximize getting to know each other, don’t include anything about work; the images should be about your life outside of work. (You’ll have plenty of opportunity at work to get to know each other as working professionals. This is a chance to learn about hobbies, home life and things that normally don’t come up in work conversation.)
Download a Pecha Kucha template
The easiest way to get started is to download my template and replace my pictures with yours.
How to make a Pecha Kucha in PowerPoint
To start from scratch, follow these step-by-step instructions.
- Gather your digital pictures and decide in which order you want to assemble them.
- Open a new blank presentation in PowerPoint.
- Insert a new blank slide by clicking “New Slide” in the Home menu. Delete the title slide that appeared when you opened PowerPoint by right clicking on the thumbnail of the title slide and selecting “Delete.” Remember that a Pecha Kucha is all images – no words. All of your slides will be created from the blank template.
- Open the “Transitions” menu. In the Timing window select the “After” box and enter 10 seconds. Deselect “On Mouse Click.”
- Insert your picture(s) by selecting the “Insert” menu. Click “Pictures” and choose your digital file.
- Continue to create new blank slides and inserting your digital images until you’ve created 10 slides this way.
- Practice what you want to explain about each slide. 10 seconds is short!
You can learn about an online creation/sharing tool (currently in beta) here.
We’d love to hear about your Pecha Kucha experiences and how this works for you! Send your comments or questions to happysupport@happybrainscience.com
Go Beyond the Pecha Kucha
Pecha Kucha’s are a fantastic way to build relationships in your workplace–here are some other free tools you can use to boost productivity and creativity on your teams:
- Express specific gratitude by using Appreciate Cards
- Encourage your colleagues to tap into their strengths more often at work with Strength Spotting Cards
- Boost morale and encourage productivity by savoring and celebrating progress made each day with I Did It Lists.
To purchase tools that build team and individual productivity and happiness, visit our Shop.