Pecha Kucha Workshop at Volta: Learning to Speak with Impact

Teaser:

Can you tell a compelling story about science in just 6 minutes and 40 seconds?
That’s what Volta students discovered during a lively workshop on Pecha Kucha, an innovative presentation format that turns concise communication, visual design, and storytelling into powerful learning tools for the future.

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Pecha Kucha Workshop at Volta: Learning to Speak with Impact

As part of Volta’s preparation activities for the TED-Ed Student Talks project, English teachers Prof. Stefania Coluccia, Adriana Patriche, Caterina Pettazzoni and Erica Volani organized a special Pecha Kucha workshop on Monday 20th October, bringing together Volta students and teachers interested in improving their presentation skills.

The workshop was led by Antonio Falchi, Emanuele Fancello and Daniele Piccin, three students from the Dipartimento di Comunicazione Interlinguistica Applicata at the University of Trieste, together with Associate Professor Katia Peruzzo, who teaches the Pecha Kucha course, and Language Experts Prof. Karen Percival and Prof. Jason Lonie. The university students, now graduates of the Laurea Magistrale, had prepared their own Pecha Kuchas as part of their English Language exam.

But what exactly is a Pecha Kucha? It is a concise and dynamic presentation format consisting of 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, designed to promote clarity, rhythm, and visual storytelling. This innovative method fosters creativity and precision in communication, helping students develop essential skills in storytelling, public speaking, and visual literacy – all crucial for their final exams, and even more so for their future academic and professional paths.

During the workshop, the speakers briefly explained the Pecha Kucha format before presenting their own work:

• Emanuele Fancello and Daniele Piccin, “We gotta thank a chocolate bar, or the science behind the microwave”

• Antonio Falchi, “Cascading Failure”

They also shared valuable insights from their preparation process, from choosing a topic and researching it in depth to transforming knowledge into an engaging narrative, rehearsing effectively, and managing public speaking nerves. Participants even had the chance to practise what it feels like to speak for just 20 seconds per slide, discovering how much precision and focus this format requires.

The session proved to be both formative and inspiring, showing how innovative presentation methods like Pecha Kucha can make learning more engaging and meaningful at Volta.

Antonio Falchi presenting his Pecha Kucha on Cascading Failure.

Emanuele Falcin (left) and Daniele Piccin (right) presenting their Pecha Kucha
We gotta thank a chocolate bar, on the history and science behind the microwave oven.

Volta students and teachers practising the 20x20 format guided by the teachers who held the course on Pecha Kucha at the Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche, del Linguaggio, dell’Interpretazione e della traduzione of the University of Trieste: Associate Professor Katia Peruzzo (on the right), Language Experts Professors Karen Percival (on the right in front of her) and Jason Lonie (on the left).