Chances are that many of you have seen a Tik Tok of a group of friends getting together to share a PowerPoint they made on the TV. PowerPoint nights are becoming an increasingly common way for friends to hang out and share a variety of things. Be it niche interests, fun anecdotes about their personal lives, or even silly fun facts that they may not know. I myself have participated in several PowerPoint nights with friends, using it as a great excuse to lore dump and rant about some of my favorite things. The whole idea of a PowerPoint night is fascinating, from the PowerPoints themselves, to the presentations, and beyond. Let’s break down this idea and how anyone can join in on the fun.
What is a PowerPoint night?
In the broadest sense, a PowerPoint night is a get-together with friends where everyone presents a PowerPoint they made about the topic of their choice. There is room for variety in this, such as requiring each person to make their presentation on a time limit or even shuffling the presentations and assigning everyone a random PowerPoint. I’ve done the latter one myself, which makes for a very exciting time. Regardless, the premise is the same in that it allows friends to come together and talk about things that they normally may not get to. It also allows people to talk in length, mostly uninterrupted, about the things they find fascinating. Regardless, the gist is that it’s a group of friends sharing things together and having a fun, low-stakes get-together that has more structure than just a general chatting session.
What can a PowerPoint be about?
The simple answer is anything! I’ve participated in a few PowerPoint nights and have seen and presented on a variety of topics, like timelines for Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the Mega Man franchise and even the Madagascar series. A friend of mine was assigned a presentation on the family trees in Game of Thrones, which was made extra special due to his complete lack of knowledge of the series. I’ve seen a presentation on speaking Dutch, one on some wacky little-known mammals and I even gave one doing an embarrassingly deep dive into my tastes in fictional characters.
PowerPoints can also be about one’s personal life, like sharing funny vacation photos, ranking exes from worst to best dancers, or any other silly topic. Nights like this are a great way to catch up with friends and share the latest and greatest life updates. The purpose is to share with friends something important to you, personal or not.
How do I host a PowerPoint night?
The first step is to gather a group of friends and pick a night in advance when everyone can meet. In my experience, such nights are planned a month or two in advance to give everyone time to pick and prepare their topic. Plans for ordering food, bringing snacks, and the location are also best planned ASAP. A place with a TV to hook up a laptop to and plenty of seats to make things easy for everyone.
Next, you need to pick the rules for everyone’s presentations. Rules can range from time limits (10-15 minutes has been my preferred time), general themes if desired (TV shows, niche interests, etc.) and if PowerPoints are going to be shuffled around (making for some potentially wacky times if someone is presenting on something they know nothing about). These rules are best if they’re treated as general guidelines, as the goal should be to have a good time, not to time everyone and cut them off as soon as they hit the allotted amount. Rules about content can also be made, like if NSFW themes are allowed or if anyone has any specific triggers, allowing everyone to participate without worrying about any topics. Overall, the purpose is to prepare everyone for the production of their presentations, so they know what they’re making and what they’ll be viewing.
Lastly is the long-awaited PowerPoint night! Everyone arrives with a device they can hook up to a TV or a way to screen share/cast to show everyone. Presentations can go in a set order or be up to chance by using a spinner. Regardless, everyone will take turns presenting their PowerPoints, sharing and joking about their topic of choice with the group.
Tips for PowerPoints
Picking a topic is one of the hardest parts, either because you have too many ideas or don’t know quite what direction to go in. My main suggestion is to just start! I’ve had ideas that shift as I’ve worked on them, and some PowerPoints I’ve started have spun off into multiple different topics. I have entire PowerPoints that I’ve made for fun simply because I thought of another fun topic. I’m the kind of person who loves to go deep and crazy with super niche topics, so narrowing down and finding something specific can be hard but worthwhile.
If coming up with a worthy topic is your issue, look no further than to the things you love! Make a presentation persuading your friends to watch your favorite show. Do a deep dive into why a character is overrated. Share some of the embarrassing things you were into when you were a kid. Go on a rant about your least favorite snow cone flavors. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to talk about but don’t feel like anyone would care, now is the time to talk about it, since everyone is now obligated to listen. All jokes aside, this is the perfect time to break out the things you love and share the parts that make up you.
Over my college career, I’ve had many chances to make PowerPoints, but they are usually required to be very polished and professional. This is a chance to make a PowerPoint where you can use all manner of fun tools. Transitions and animations are a great way to add humor and personality, be it the ridiculously complicated origami crane transition or the ability to make all of your pictures explode into little pictures.
Using GIFs, videos and sound bites is also a lot of fun, especially when it comes to silly sound effects and repeating explosion GIFs. This is a chance to let loose and include some truly silly images and memes about your topic. Hearken back to 2012, when you, as a child, discovered the joys of transitions in your school’s computer lab.
Interactive elements or slides where information is slowly revealed are another good way to keep the audience engaged and develop your points over the course of the presentation. I’ve had huge four-way Venn diagrams where each sector has its own transition and information. Introducing information bit by bit makes things fun and easy to digest.
Final Thoughts
Once you’ve participated in a PowerPoint night of your own, it’s easy to see why it’s become a trend as of late. Tik Toks and stories of friends and strangers show these get-togethers and wacky parties that allow friends to come closer together and rant about the weird things they love. It’s the perfect time to catch up with friends, bond with coworkers and get to know the people around you more. This is also an activity that works well remotely, allowing you to screen share on a video call and catch up with friends who live far away. If any of these things sound worthwhile to you, then gather a group of friends, order a pizza or two, and share a silly PowerPoint about the things that are meaningful to you.