What’s Pecha Kucha, anyway? You could describe it as TED Talks for people with short attention spans or a good way to get presenters to keep it short. Every Pecha Kucha is 20 slides long, 20 seconds each slide.

Pecha Kucha Greenville adds to the 20×20 theme by also scheduling their events at 20:20 (8:20pm). They have around 6 presenters and the audience gets to question them after the talks. Greenville’s is located at the wonderful Warehouse Theatre, with drinks available. It’s a perfect restaurant and a show evening.

Here’s my talk from the March 27th Pecha Kucha, on urban farming:

I came away from my run-in with the 6 minutes and 40 seconds format feeling intensely impressed with presenters who can make it look flawless. Those of you who do public speaking know that we’re rarely actors who memorize a script. Most of us are ramblers — we meander through the material until we manage to say everything.

I was thankful for the Q & A session afterward because it let me say some of the things I’d forgotten. Such as what a USDA hardiness zone is and why it mattered that Greenville has gone up in warmth from zone 7 to zone 8 in such a short time. Or that roosters are not required for chickens to make eggs and that noise ordinances prohibit them in the city. Hens are quieter than dogs and won’t wake you up in the early AM. I also forgot to mention that a diversely planted farm or garden creates more beneficial wildlife habitat than a monocrop system.

If you’re interested in the Greenville Urban Farm Tour mentioned in my presentation, click here for the link.

Speaking of diversity — literally — the evening I spoke the audience was also exposed to the art of persuasion, recreating Medieval harpsichords, two impressive teenagers explaining social design, and doodling (yep, this is my husband). You can view past Greenville Pecha Kucha talks on video here. Doesn’t look like they have all the recent ones up yet, but I suspect they will soon.