PowerPoint Karaoke: Rules, tips, and free slide decks

Do you love PowerPoint presentations and improv comedy? If so, PowerPoint Karaoke is probably the perfect activity for you.

This article explains how to play PowerPoint Karaoke and provides several free PowerPoint Karaoke presentations you can download to try with your friends.

{toc}

What is PowerPoint Karaoke?

PowerPoint Karaoke is an improv game where players take turns presenting slides they have never seen before.

The twist is that in contrast to a "normal" presentation, PowerPoint Karaoke slides are typically filled with nonsensical claims, images, and data, so players need to quickly adapt what they are saying in order to make the “best” presentation. 

“Best” is obviously a subjective measure, so this can lead to funny and unpredictable presentations, and this makes it a great activity for team-building, theatresports, conferences, and other types of improv comedy situations.

What are the rules of PowerPoint Karaoke?

There are many different ways to play PowerPoint Karaoke, and they typically involve two teams presenting a nonsensical slide deck to an audience or judge who picks the "best" presentation.

To play PowerPoint Karaoke, you need:

• Two or more teams or players who will present slides on different topics
• Two or more presentations (one per team) that the presenters have not seen before
• Audience engagement to judge the performance of each team

Here are some variations of how you can play.

Rules for Classic PowerPoint Karaoke

The rules for PowerPoint Karaoke involve multiple teams each selecting a presenter, slide decks that auto-advance, and a judging system to determine the winning presenters or team.

• Players break into two (or more) teams
• Each team nominates a presenter and chooses a presentation for the other team to present. The presentations should be about 10 slides long
• Once the presentations are selected, the presentations begin
• Each presenter starts, and every 20 seconds, their slides automatically advance
• Once the presentations are over, the audience or judge chooses the best presentation

Alternative Rules for PowerPoint Karaoke

• Taboo PowerPoint Karaoke - This variation of PowerPoint Karaoke adopts the rules from the card game Taboo and adds a challenge where presenters are not allowed to use any of the words from a list of “Taboo” words
• PowerPoint Against Humanity - This variation of PowerPoint Karaoke is interactive and involves each player inserting slides into opponents presentation to come up with a final presentation
• PowerPecha- This variation involves presenting an actual presentation on a certain topic in “Pecha Kucha” style. Preferably it involves matching up someone with an in-depth presentation that is completely unrelated to their area of expertise. (PS: Here are some ideas for informative speeches if you need inspiration)

Free slide decks for PowerPoint Karaoke

The best presentations for PowerPoint Karaoke typically have the following characteristics:

• They start with a strong title slide to help the presenter set a direction for their presentation. Some of the best starting points are strong points of view on persuasive topics or very esoteric scientific findings
• The slides are filled with unrelated images, graphs, and diagrams that will make the audience laugh. (Team photos, memes, inspirational posters, and inside jokes are all great content for PowerPoint Karaoke since they help the presenter connect with the audience)
• Let the person know when they are on the last slide, so they can end their presentation
• They are similarly predictable and unpredictable between players

Here are 5 free slide decks you can download for your next game of PowerPoint Karaoke.

1. How Gen-Z should invest their money (by Taylor Swift)
2. what i do at work
3. Best Ways to Extend Your Life
4. String theory for kindergarteners
5. Timelines in Christopher Nolan movies

Try it now!

Imagine you are on stage and just got the title slide for "Timelines in Christopher Nolan Films." What are you going to say next? This will set the stage for the theme of your presentation. Now fast-forward and imagine you are on the slide with pictures of the Pope - how does this tie back to the theme of your presentation? 

Like any improv game, try to always "Say Yes" and move with the flow of the slides. You can always add more information, tell more stories, and build up your narrative.

Tips for PowerPoint Karaoke

• Use your body - Gestures, movement, and acting things out is a great way to get laughs and get into your presentation
• Just start talking - Say something, even if it’s gibberish. Don’t worry about the words you’re saying. Have fun, and just go with the vibes!
• Decide on your style - Pick a style for your presentation and try to keep it up through your PowerPoint Karaoke slot
• Relate to yourself and the audience - Find ways to bring the story, slides, and pictures back to yourself and your audience

Using AI for PowerPoint Karaoke

Need a bunch of presentations for a PowerPoint Karaoke event?

Unfortunately, our AI can’t present for you, but you can use the Plus AI PowerPoint maker to quickly generate slides with different styles and content. Or you could use our presentation idea generator to come up with ideas for new slide decks.

FAQs

• Can I download a free PowerPoint Karaoke slide deck? Here are some links to PowerPoint Karaoke slides on Taylor Swift, work, and life extension that you can download for free. You can also use Plus AI to quickly create new slides for PowerPoint Karaoke. One fun tip: Try uploading a very technical scientific paper to our Word to PPT converter.
• What are some good ideas for PowerPoint Karaoke topics? The best PowerPoint Karaoke presentations have a strong point of view with very little supporting information. Here is a list of unique presentation ideas that you could convert into PowerPoint Karaoke topics by adding a bunch of pictures!
• Is PowerPoint Karaoke the same as Battle Decks? Yes, Battle Decks is another name for PowerPoint Karaoke. The name Battle Decks seems to be more popular at corporate events while PowerPoint Karaoke is more popular with the improv crowd.

Conclusion

PowerPoint Karaoke can be a great team activity, as long as everyone embraces the embarrassment. If you know a bunch of presentation nerds, it can be a very fun way to bond over presentations and slideshows.