Month: February 2014

I discovered a new concept today – even though it’s been around for a while now, it’s still new to me :) It’s called Powerpoint Karaoke. It’s a spin-off from the traditional Karaoke, however instead of singing songs, the participants must present an impromptu presentation based on a random presentation, projected on a screen, to an audience. The presentations can come from a sampling of images collected locally or by randomly downloading from the Internet.

The rules:

1. Participants get five minutes to speak
2. The slide decks are made by the facilitator/host
3. The slides auto advance every 15 seconds
4. There are no other rules
5. Audience votes on the winner

You have to play for comedy. There is no way to take the slides seriously since by design they are ridiculous. At best you are making the audience laugh, at worst they watch in silence as you struggle on stage. It’s purely stunt presenting. No one is there to learn or be inspired, at least not directly. There’s an element of wanting to watch cars crash in this event. It’s all in good fun, but also schadenfreudian. There is no way to be good at this. This is liberating. It really is more like experimental theater than anything like a public speech.

Here’s an example of 4 battle decks. Enjoy :)