The course, The Nature of Human Beings has been very enlightening in so many ways. It has helped me personally understand myself, the motivations for the actions that I perform. And it has also helped me understand other people better as well as the possible motivations behind their actions. One of the more recent highlights of my class happened in the last lecture where I was to do an individual PechaKucha. Now for those who may not know what this is, a pechakucha is a presentation format wherein you have a total of 20 slides and each slide is given a total of 20 seconds for commentary, after which you transit to the next one. It was created in 2003 by two men who worked in an architecture firm in Tokyo, Japan. The word pechakucha is a Japanese word meaning “chit-chat”.
The pechakucha format helps keep things brief and to the point while holding the attention of the viewers. one of the things to highlight about a pechakucha is that many words on a slide are not encouraged. “Talk less, show more” was one of the main desires of the creators of the format. Simple captions, graphics and illustrations used, as they help your audience focus on the narrative as opposed to trying to read many words within the short 20 seconds allotted for each slide. It also helps create an atmosphere of engaging storytelling which is one of the main features of the pechakucha. The total time for the presentation comes down to approximately 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Now, the topic was chosen for us “What makes me happy”. and. This required us to examine ourselves, see what those things are that make us happy as individuals and then prepare them for presentation to the class in the aforementioned format. Personally speaking, I consider myself a shy person; I consider public speaking as something of a ‘necessary hassle’ as opposed to something I enjoy doing. I really had to think about this deeply, as I had never a presentation in this format before much less on a topic such as this and to a crowd I was just getting to know. I found myself watching various videos on pechakucha presentations and putting my thoughts together on the things that made me happy. This turned out to be an interesting venture, as prior to that time I had never been asked that question directly. It did require some self-reflection and thinking. Well, I didn’t have to think too much because looking back on my life, I easily discovered the things that brought me the deepest sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. They were the times when I was reaching out, helping people and being a positive contributor towards their success stories one way or another. It showed in the small things; an errand run as child, flowers to an aunty every Sunday. I had to use all these bits to spin a connected tale of my life and showcase this in less than 7 minutes. Whoosh! However, I was able to put all these together and highlight how it had even influenced my career choices, including my decision to study at LBS. And so, I put my slides together, with what I deem was the necessary pictorial depiction of my points. Come the time of presentation, I had minimal anxiety. Not because I had put things together so exquisitely (there was also some internal mindfulness of the limited time allotted to me) but probably because I was discussing a subject most familiar; ME. I consider this a deeply rewarding experience because of how it took me out of my comfort zone. Will I do it again if presented with the opportunity? Most certainly.
Dress As You Would Like to Be Addressed