Sweaty palms, dry mouth, blank mind — all symptoms of a nervous public speaker. Only the existence of common decency stands between stuttering your way through a public address and utter demise in front of a crowded auditorium. Now, replace decency with alcohol and hushed silence with heckling and chatter, and you get Pecha Kucha Volume VII: The Next Indianapolis (PK). PK was part of this year's Spirit and Place Festival.

In what started in Japan as a forum for long-winded architects to present their ideas quickly and clearly, Pecha Kucha has moved to cities all over the globe. Presenters are allotted a presentation of 20 slides with 20 seconds per slide. In this case, IMA’s crowded Toby Theater was host to ideas about making Indianapolis a world-class city. The time constraints seem irrelevant when presenters are forced to compete for attention from the audience, whom are encouraged to talk with their neighbors, heckle the speakers and visit the bar when the boredom becomes overwhelming.

Laura Henderson’s presentation on “Growing Place: The Slow Food Edible Garden at the White River State Park” took home the $10,000 prize. Henderson spoke confidentially as the previously boisterous crowd listened — hands quietly on their knees — to her proposal of a community-run garden at White River State Park, which would connect Indianapolis communities and restaurants to a local, sustainable food supply.