back to article Cure for death (by PowerPoint) emerges from Japan

At the next conference you attend, there's a chance one of the presenters will state their intention to do a “PechaKucha” presentation. Don't pass them a handkerchief when they do it or wonder just how many Pokemon there are these days. Instead, buckle in for a swift ride because PechaKucha is a presentation format that …

  1. Christian Berger

    That's old

    Really old, I mean I've heard about it _years_ ago, and I'm not going to conferences a lot.

  2. P. Lee

    I have a better plan

    Take your smart phone with you and read something useful or funny.

  3. Sir Barry

    It would take me more than twenty seconds to write this pos

  4. increasingly_irrelevant
    Megaphone

    Even simpler..

    If you can explain each slide in 20 seconds then the idea is so simple you don't need a powerpoint at all.

    HR love this sort of thing because in their presentations time per important point is always infinite.

    1. Oninoshiko

      Re: If you can explain each slide in 20 seconds

      I think that's a large part of the point. You shouldn't BE explaining the slide, the slide should express what you're explaining, and it should be doing so in a way that words can't. If a slide doesn't meet those two criteria, your presentation is suffering from it's presence.

      The focus of the presentation should be on the presenter, and what they are saying, not on the wall of text on the... err.... wall.

  5. 45RPM Silver badge

    The best presentation I ever attended had no PowerPoint at all. It was given by a chap who was so engaging, who was such a good orator, that (even though the topic was quite dry - a new cross platform API) I doubt anyone would have noticed PowerPoint had it been there.

    The biggest two problems with presentations, in my view are:

    1. The presenter has had a charisma bypass and either drones on in a monotone, or tries to cover it with shit comedy (I'm thinking of Monkey boy Ballmer and the crappy skits that recent Apple 'events' have subjected us to)

    2. The PowerPoint slides are treated like a word document and filled up with closely typed text rather than a few salient and punchy bullet points.

    And no. I don't have a solution to the problem.

    1. getHandle

      Mail it to me

      I'll read it when (if) I need to. Don't waste my time by forcing me to sit in a meeting, single-tasking for any length of time. (Unless the room is big enough to sit a the back and fiddle with my phone.)

  6. Frankee Llonnygog

    The secret of giving good presentations

    only talk about things you have real enthusiasm for

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For good presentations....

    ...pop along to TED talks. Sometimes they have slides, but only to highlight a point, or to show an image.

    These are how presentations / talks SHOULD be done.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: TED - are how presentations / talks SHOULD be done.

      Surely that depends on the point of the presentation? Some of us actually have to communicate some technical content, you know. And as an audience member, in technical talks, I actually expect to be shown it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: TED - are how presentations / talks SHOULD be done.

        I've been through a LOT of tech talks. If you need to bullet point or put text on a screen for more than 20% of the talks, your not doing it right. You can't read, listen and comprehend at the same time.

      2. foxyshadis

        Re: TED - are how presentations / talks SHOULD be done.

        Technical content should be downloadable on the giant URL website shown on the first and final slide, not throughout the whole presentation to audience members squinting to read and ignoring the speaker.

  8. Elmer Phud

    OI!

    My presentations are stacked with realy important information and engrossing video and audio clips along with multiple animations and changes per slide.

    How can I be expected to rapidly inflate my ego without the sound of jetplanes, rockets and lovely big fireballs on screen?

    (please click to continue)

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Coat

      And the bathing suits ! Don't forget the red bathing suits !

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Easiest way to avoid DbPP...

    At our company, the Exchange server and all Outlook clients are set so all appointments have a default length of 30 minutes rather than 60.

    Presto, productivity up by some 2-digit percentage.

    1. myhandler

      Re: Easiest way to avoid DbPP...

      Every meeting must expand to fill its allotted time slot - that's optimal use of "time slot" and "room book" commodities.

  10. Tom 7

    Different method of delivery

    but still the same poison.

  11. Stephen Hart
    Go

    Toastmasters

    Join your local Toastmasters (non-profit). They'll teach you to give an interesting 5 to 7 minute speech without PowerPoint. Pretty much anyone can learn these skills, and Toastmasters provides a structured and supportive environment to get you there.

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