Preparing for Ignite or Pecha Kucha: Conversation with Yancey Unequivocally

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  Yancey Unequivocally is the co-founder and President at Empowered Presentations, a slide design firm based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Yancey is in the business of helping companies and nonprofit organizations get their message across. Her business has received accolades such as two first-place finishes in the World’s Best Presentation Contest on Slideshare.net and a Best in Slideshow Finalist in the Microsoft PowerPoint Slidefest Contest.

In this conversation, Yancey discusses how you can prepare efficiently to create and deliver a better Ignite or Pecha Kucha presentation.

Yancey’s Photo Credit: Tina Yuen with Pacific Business News

Geetesh: How is an Ignite presentation or even a Pecha Kucha presentation different from the conventional slide deck?

Yancey: First of all, what is a “conventional” slide deck? If one is referring to a presentation that is like every other presentation; which is less than average, unentertaining, and basically a waste of time. Or, you may think a conventional slide deck is one that spends an hour or so explaining a certain topic of interest in hopes to educate, convince, or inspire one to take action.

Pecha Kucha and Ignite platforms lean more on the latter, while keeping it short and to the point and not dragging it on for a large amount of time keeping them fast-paced, fun, and entertaining.

Not only is Ignite and Pecha Kucha different from the “conventional” slide deck, they are also different from each other. Not having control over your slides is sometimes unnerving to some who are used to clicking on their own. To others is a release not having to stress about what is coming up next and just letting your content flow out of your mouth.

Pecha Kucha is a total of 20 slides that transition every 20 secs automatically, for a total presentation of 6:20. We created this What is a Pecha-Kucha presentation.

For more information on Pecha-Kucha or to locate an event near you, visit the Pecha Kucha site.

Ignite’s platform is 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide, and runs automatically for 5 minutes. We also created this What is Ignite presentation.

For more information on Ignite or to locate an event near you, visit the Ignite site.

Geetesh: Other than the slides, what can a presenter do to make a better impression at an Ignite or Pecha Kucha event?

Yancey: Here are some thoughts:

Do what others do not. There are many ways you can stand out as a presenter and make a lasting impression. It just depends on what you are speaking about. What we try to do to make a better impression as a presenter, when appropriate, is to incorporate all the five senses of, see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. If you are speaking about recycling, why not have a pile of recyclables on stage to illustrate. If you are speaking of food, why not cook it on stage while you present. If you are speaking on leadership, use a live demonstration with the audience and have them participate with you. The things you can do are endless, so step from behind the podium and do what others do not.

Be different. We were given the opportunity to give another Ignite talk and the Theme was Education, Technology, and Interactive Design. So knowing the venue prior to the presentation, gave us an idea to create just that. An Ignite on How to Ignite using Technology (Keynote), using an Interactive Designed Slidedeck, and of course the educational component of How-to. Check out my interactive presentation at Ignite Honolulu #4

Ignite Honolulu #4 from Empowered Presentations

Since then we have been brought on board the Ignite Honolulu Team and plan to schedule the next one in the fall. By being different from all the other presentations, will surely raise the bar for everyone else. And we will assist all the presenters at Ignite Honolulu with their presentations.

Kick-Butt. When we attend any event here in our local city whether it be a networking event, seminar, workshop, etc. people know who we are and automatically start sweating if they are presenting (it’s hilarious). And for the people not presenting, they are already waiting in anticipation for our presentation. That is a huge distinction from any other presenter. When was the last time you attended a seminar and already knew from word of mouth that the person giving the next presentation was either going to suck or kick-butt? Yes, we know, this is our professional and expertise and we should be the best right? No. It is just the time invested into our presentation that makes it stand apart from the rest of those who scramble last minute to throw something together, and their excuse for beginning bad is that they did it last minute. There are many amazing presenters out there that kick-butt in their own ways. You don’t have to be remarkable right out of the gate if it is your first time presenting. Remember, just one step above mediocre will allow you to slowly step away from the rest. So go and kick some butt!

See Also: World’s Best Presentation Contest 2010: Conversation with Cory Jim | 10 Tips for Pecha Kucha | Ten Easy Topics for Pecha Kucha | Pecha Kucha Questions