They told their stories – the big, the small, the grand, the funny, the moving and even the hopeful – in under 6 minutes and 40 seconds. 

Pecha Kucha, Japanese for “chit chat”, is a unique speaker series, said Will Hopper, one of the event's speakers and senior entrepreneurial management major. 

Pecha Kucha events are held in bars and college campuses in over 500 cities around the world. 

Pecha Kucha is a presentation style in which speakers present 20 images in 20 seconds each, Keri Cyr said, Assistant Director of Transitions in Student Development Services. 

According to the Pecha Kucha website, it was invented in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network and show their work in public. It became a large celebration that happens in hundreds of cities around the world,  and inspires creative people worldwide. 

The event took place in the Brown-Lupton University Union Auditorium on Wednesday and was open to students, their families and friends and the community to come and watch.

“This event is a great way to use a unique format like Pecha Kucha to allow students to share something about themselves," Cyr said. "The subject is very open-ended so they can really put their personalities into it. We have been thrilled with their presentations so far.” 

The students who spoke were invited based on recommendations from TCU's Student Affairs staff who knew them from their roles on campus as leaders, Cyr said. 

Vanessa Norris, a senior Spanish majoring in Spanish, said the event was very important to her because she said she was able to share her story with her peer mentors and parents, as well as see a different side of the other student speakers. 

This is the second time Pecha Kucha has happened on the university’s campus, Cyr said. Student Development Services intends to have this event every semester in the future.