five questions with Brogan from Pecha Kucha

QUESTION ONE  How did you first get involved with Pecha Kucha? 

I had attended some Pecha Kucha events in my hometown of Calgary, so when I moved to London I tried looking up their next event but couldn’t find anything.

When the event randomly popped up on Eventbrite I was so excited. I went with my friend to The Bookclub in Shoreditch and had a brilliant evening watching some really interesting speakers.

I accosted the host Claire during the break and told her I really wanted help with future events. We met up the week after and started running these events together. Claire has just moved back to New Zealand, so I’m now working solo. 

QUESTION TWO  This concept has been taken world-wide.  Why do you think it’s so successful? 

This presentation style lends itself to the creative community, so the talks are always super interesting. People leave the evenings feeling as if they’ve learnt something new, at least I certainly do.

The community of people who attend these events also make it so popular - you are presenting to a group of warm, friendly, interested people. 

QUESTION THREE  What’s the most interesting topic you’ve seen at a PK event? 

We worked with the Transport Museum for a night entirely devoted to the fabric of transport in London which was fascinating.

We had the maker of the slowest coffee machine in the world who was fantastic and then a few events later had his wife who was hilarious and motivating.

Honestly, they’re all so good it’s hard to choose one! 

QUESTION FOUR have you ever witnessed a disaster with someone not being able to hack the time pressure?  

No disasters thankfully, but not everything goes to time. There is something charming about people running over or under and the audience supporting them through it.

QUESTION FIVE what type of topics make the best presentations

We had someone come in and put up 20 pictures of all the ramen he had in Japan and it was such a good presentation!

If you are passionate about the subject, it’s going to come across.

bonus quick-fire questions 

1. Who would you most like to see present at a PK event? 
Sadiq Khan

2. Favourite way to spend your downtime in London? 
Something fun I’ve been doing lately is Eventbrite roulette – pick a date and then see which random event you can attend.

So far we’ve attended a Bulgarian poetry reading, an architectural firm open evening (where there was an unsanctioned PechaKucha being run!) and I even accidentally crashed an engagement party…

3. Your top tip for people presenting at a Pecha Kucha
Try not to worry about it too much. Some slides you’ll go over, some slides you will be under. I like to say 20 seconds is either really long or really short – seems that there really isn’t an in-between.

4. What do you prefer writing - letters or postcards?
Postcards! I have a pen pal in Canada, my best friend's 6-year-old daughter, who I try to send postcards to as often as possible.

5. Favourite venue in London? 
Probably the Tate Modern, I just love it there.