Present

I recently checked out a little happening downtown called Pecha Kucha. The event, held at a small club, invites people to present 20 PowerPoint slides of something. This included an architecture student showing sketches of buildings, a photographer displaying a study he did, and even an entrepreneur talking about his startup. The catch was that each was allowed just 20 seconds per slide. Twenty slides, 20 seconds each.

The format really made me think hard about presenting, as the skill is one that's very necessary in my field. How is information displayed, what does the audience need to see (in 20 seconds), how simple/complex is the layout or idea that's being shown, does the slide tell the story or does the narration, etc. I also thought about some of the presentations I've seen from various leaders at my agency. I'm impressed each time I see them. And I wonder whether being an amazing presenter gets you to the top, or if this is a skill that's learned along the way. Or maybe I'm unnecessarily I'm awe of the people at the top who make these presentations and they're really not that amazing...