Creating a unique DressCode

We first came across PechaKucha online, it’s probably one of the hardest and best formats in which to present anything. Maybe ‘hardest’ isn’t the right description, we’re not sure, but the discipline of 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide with auto advance makes this feel like an ambitious task. 

For us there’s one simple reason, we love to talk, and when we’re presenting we often disappear down blind alleys during the presentation, there’s a good reason for this – fear. The pressure of speaking to live audience causes even the most experienced public speaker to feel a bit of pressure, and that is a good thing (believe it or not). Being slightly nervous with the adrenalin flowing actually ups your game, but that adrenalin can also take you to places you really don’t want to be with auto advancing slides and a tight time frame, the possibilities of a mashed up mess are high. 

So why did we agree to do a PechaKucha talk anyway?

Well it just felt right - the right time a couple of weeks after the launch, the right place…Cambridge and with the right people supporting us – Ann and Andrew Hawkins.

PechaKucha is all about creativity

We told the DressCode story, the reason we started, the point of inspiration and where it came from…the most unlikely of places, a printer glitch. Yeah that’s right, a mis-print, machine error, piece of happy chance that set the scene, inspired Andy…hang on, we don’t need to retell the story, Andy’s already done that and you can watch the full presentation here.

Lots of learning

Andy was one of several speakers on the evening, covering a wide range of topics, from living with OCD to passions for independent food companies, the definitive pocket guide to Japan, life behind the lens of a photographer and a global explorer. PechaKucha brings together an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life with one thing in common - dreams.

Some may call them ideas, other may say it’s principles but they are all incredibly emotive. Driving people to push the boundaries of what they can achieve with these dreams. The best bit, these dreams have all been made a reality by the determination and grit of the people who had the dream in the first place, the people they shared that dream with and the way in which they found a place and the people to make that dream happen.

We’re thrilled to have shared our story with the world, we’ve learnt alot about ourselves and  we’ve had the opportunity to see what other people have done and discover what motivated them.

We now know and understand much more about many things from the presentations we heard on the night, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, there’s so much to learn about, understand and connect with that we’d recommend everyone try a PechaKucha night, whether as a presenter or just an audience member, you’ll learn loads about yourself, about others and about what makes this formula so special. Then the next time you’re enduring a 'death by Powerpoint moment' you can spread the word, suggest the 20x20 format and who knows, maybe you’ll be delivering your own PechaKucha talk.