science

PowerPoint karaoke

PowerPoint karaoke is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PowerPoint karaoke rather than just read about it. In short: PowerPoint karaoke, also known as PPT-oke, battledecks or battle decks, is an improvisational activity in which a participant must deliver a presentation based on a set of slides that they have never seen before. Its name is derived from Microsoft PowerPoint, a popular presentation software, and karaoke, an activity in which a performer sings along with a pre-recorded backing track (although there is usually no musi…

Key takeaways

PowerPoint karaoke belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PowerPoint karaoke to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PowerPoint karaoke from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PowerPoint karaoke, also known as PPT-oke, battledecks or battle decks, is an improvisational activity in which a participant must deliver a presentation based on a set of slides that they have never seen before. Its name is derived from Microsoft PowerPoint, a popular presentation software, and karaoke, an activity in which a performer sings along with a pre-recorded backing track (although there is usually no music or singing involved in PowerPoint karaoke). The effect is intended to be comical, and PowerPoint karaoke can be considered a form of improvisational theatre, or a type of Theatresports game. The presentation can either be a real slideshow on an arcane topic, or a set of real slides from different presentations that are nonsensical when assembled together, or slides that are nonsensical on their own (in some cases created by randomly downloading images from the internet and adding unrelated text). In some cases, the presenter is given a theme beforehand that they must attempt to tie all the slides into.

History PowerPoint karaoke originated in October 2005 in Karlsruhe where engineering students would download a random slide deck and present it during a party. It then spread to students of the Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur, a collective of writers and artists in Berlin. A variation of this game called That Talk's Today?! was invented by an improv troupe known as Senseless Death in 1995, where a performer was asked to leave the room, while an MC and the audience quickly constructed slides, including graphs and acronyms. The performer was then given a topic on which to speak, using the never-seen slides.

Other uses The term "PowerPoint karaoke" is also sometimes derisively used to refer to presenters who face the screen where their PowerPoint slides are being projected and proceed to read them, boring and effectively ignoring their audience. Spanish conceptual artist Rubén Grilo used "PowerPoint Karaoke" as a title for a show at MARCO in June 2011. British philanthropist and raconteur Senor Cucumber used Power Point Karaoke as a tool to convey his economic principles during The Impossible Lecture in Skipton, England in July 2012. The video game Talking Points in The Jackbox Party Pack 7 is based on PowerPoint karaoke. One player presents a slideshow presentation created in real time by a second "assistant" player, using a user-generated title and provided transition phrases and pictures. A form of PowerPoint karaoke is frequently played in teams of two on Impractical Jokers. The Jokers have to deliver often nonsensical PowerPoints to rooms full of professionals, whilst attempting to maintain both a sense of order as well as composure. In 2023, the first World Championship of PowerPoint Karaoke took place at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. Dutch comedian and improv artist Andries Tunru won the first title. Wildcard contestant Franklin Maduro took the title in 2024. In 2025, Minna Taylor and Nathan de Groot will host Slide Slam: The World Championship of PowerPoint Karaoke in Amsterdam on April 7.

See also PechaKucha Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PowerPoint karaoke

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PowerPoint karaoke claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PowerPoint karaoke before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PowerPoint karaoke ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PowerPoint karaoke

In research: PowerPoint karaoke appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PowerPoint karaoke in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PowerPoint karaoke is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2005 introductions, German inventions, Microsoft Office, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PowerPoint karaoke outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PowerPoint karaoke in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PowerPoint karaoke means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PowerPoint karaoke out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PowerPoint karaoke in simple terms?

Why does PowerPoint karaoke matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PowerPoint karaoke?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PowerPoint karaoke.