Features

1 Know your material
With slides changing automatically every 20 seconds, you haven't got time to consult your notes or pause for a breather.

2 Use humour
Pecha Kucha is a form of entertainment, and a sharp one-liner can help you out of a tricky spot if you momentarily lose your place.

3 Practice, practice, practice
It's harder than it might sound to spend only six minutes on a presentation and keep pace with the slideshow. Don't assume that because you're adept at ordinary presentations you'll take to this with ease.

4 Don't learn a script
Stumble on your lines once and you'll never catch up.

5 Set the tempo
You can set PowerPoint 2007 to advance to the next slide automatically after 20 seconds by clicking on the Animation tab and altering the Advance Slide Automatically After drop-down menu on the far right of the toolbar.

6 Keep a laptop in front of you so you can see the slideshow
You don't want to be turning your back on your audience every few seconds to keep track of the slides.

7 Relate your speech to your slides
As tempting as it might be to prepare a speech and let a slideshow of accompanying images roll away in the background, it isn't really entering the spirit of Pecha Kucha, nor likely to impress your audience.

8 Avoid using jargon and explain any technical terms
The last thing you want during a carefully timed presentation is someone asking a question.

9 Enjoy yourself
Smile, crack jokes, don't fiddle with your hands. If you look uptight or downright terrified, the nervousness will transmit to your audience.

10 Avoid repetition
Conventional presentation wisdom is to repeat key points three times, but as Virgin Atlantic's Joe Perry notes, "you don't have time".

11 Have a drink to settle your nerves
Perhaps not during a formal business presentation, but many Pecha Kucha presenters have said it's helped settle them down before talking in front of an informal audience who are drinking themselves.

12 Stick to a theme
In only six-and-a-half minutes you haven't the time to explore multiple subjects. Pick your topic and don't deviate.

13 Don't sit down
Pecha Kucha is all about high energy - if you're slouched in a seat you've immediately lost impact.

14 Define your presentation
Use your first slide to tell the audience who you are and explain the subject of your slideshow.

15 Don't rush
The obvious temptation is to try to cram in as much as you possibly can, but if you gabble through your presentation at 100mph the audience won't understand. Do a hard edit on your material before you start.

16 Don't just read what's onscreen
If your audience wanted a narrator, they'd watch Jackanory. Use your slides to complement your speech, with pictures, graphs or bullet points related to your subject.

17 Avoid using videos in your slideshow
You have only 20 seconds per slide, and the video will start automatically - unless your timing is spot on, it could derail your slideshow. On a more practical note, they can sometimes take a few seconds to start on slow PCs or even crash PowerPoint.

18 Do your homework
If you can, try to attend a Pecha Kucha Night or presentation before you attempt to do your own. That way, you can learn from the mistakes of others and hopefully avoid making the same errors yourself.

19 Don't fritter away time with fancy transitions
If it takes two or three seconds to pass from one slide to the next, that's 10-15% of your showtime wasted.

20 Don't post your presentation online after you've finished
Pecha Kucha inventor Mark Dytham says videos don't do the atmosphere of the live shows justice.