PowerPoint Karaoke: Rules, tips, and free slide decks

Do you love PowerPoint presentations and improv comedy? If you said yes, PowerPoint Karaoke is a mashup of slides and improv, so it might be the perfect activity for you.

This article explains what is PowerPoint Karaoke and how to play. There are also links to several free PowerPoint Karaoke presentations you can download to try by yourself or with friends.

{toc}

What is PowerPoint Karaoke?

PowerPoint Karaoke is an improv game where players take turns making a presentation based on slides they have never seen before.

The fun twist is that in contrast to a "normal" presentation, PowerPoint Karaoke slides are typically just filled with nonsensical information or images, and 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 social gatherings.

What are the rules of PowerPoint Karaoke?

There are many different ways to play PowerPoint Karaoke, but they typically involve opposing teams making a presentation using nonsensical slides, and an audience or judge picking the side that was able to turn the slides into a better story.

To play PowerPoint Karaoke, you normally need:

• Two or more teams or players who need to make presentations 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 classic PowerPoint Karaoke setup involves 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 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 it 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 the presenters’ 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 pick a presentation theme. 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 slides 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 close their presentation
• They are similarly predictable and unpredictable between players

Here are 4 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

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 slides for a PowerPoint Karaoke event? Unfortunately, our AI can’t present for you, but you can use our AI PowerPoint maker to quickly generate slides with different styles and content. 

It’s especially great for variants of PowerPoint Karaoke where you need everyone to quickly come up with a new slide or you need a quick overview on a new topic.

FAQs

• How can I download a free PowerPoint Karaoke slide deck? Here are some links to free PowerPoint Karaoke slides on Taylor Swift, work, and life extension that you can use at your next gathering. 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 nonsensical information and pictures!
• Is PowerPoint Karaoke the same as Battle Decks? Yes, Battle Decks is another name for PowerPoint Karaoke. Battle Decks is the name that's used more frequently at corporate events while PowerPoint Karaoke appears to be more popular with the improv crowd.

Conclusion

PowerPoint Karaoke is a great team activity, and as long as everyone embraces the embarrassment, it’s a fun way to bond over presentations and slide shows.

(By the way, if you’re a nerd who likes making and presenting slides for fun, you should check out Plus AI, an AI presentation maker for professional presentation makers.)