Well, that’s done. The presentation went really, really well. I went last and ended the evening on a high note. The Pecha Kucha night was held at the Ivy Hotel here in San Diego. It’s a modern swankhaüs filled with beautiful people, and according to the website the rooms, stated with excessive subterfuge, are “dripping with luxury.” The waitresses wore some kind of white wrap thing that slunk unapologetically around tanline-less bodies, and the bartenders were muscled Adonii straight from the pages of Abercrombie & Fitch. So you understand the style of this boutique hotel, the columns in the lobby were wrapped with braided black leather, and concealed orange lighting at the column bases made them look as if they were in mid-blastoff. No understatement allowed. The party was on the rooftop deck and was packed with beautiful people wearing designer eyewear.
I was expecting maybe a hundred people, this must’ve been two hundred fifty at least. Good thing public speaking is NOT ranked above death on my fear list. Of the ten presenters, three did a really good job, keeping pace with the slides and keeping people entertained. When it comes to presenting, basically, you should say some interesting stuff, make people laugh, and speak up. Sounds easy, but a few of the presenters blew it. Listen, guy, if you’re not interested in your presentation and sigh your way through it, we won’t be either. One guy gave a hilarious presentation about his van catching on fire on a precarious highway ramp. Throughout his talk he gestured with a full glass of beer, each slosh emphasizing the finer points of car fire safety, like not keeping ammunition and fireworks in your car.
The guy who went before me was very slow and quiet, staring with excruciating silence at his own slides, so I knew I had to get people excited. I kept it light, made some jokes, and tried to get people excited about bread. I think I timed everything well and giving out free bread at the end certainly went over well. A lot of people came up to me afterwards to say how much they enjoyed it, and one guy told me he was the only one of all the presenters that he wanted to talk to. It was a great time and holy crap I’m glad I’m done with it. No more preparation or baking for a while.
Writer, architect, father, husband.
Sounds so… Californian! 🙂
Also sounds like you were a hit!