Slideshow and tell: Why PowerPoint parties are addictively fun – and here to stay

It’s the end of the year. I haven’t seen my friends in ages, and we’re finally planning a gathering after rescheduling for the fifteenth time, thanks to our busy and unpredictable lives as Functioning Adults in Society. We’re not quite sure what to do, but someone throws out the best suggestion: a PowerPoint party.

While versions of PowerPoint parties have been floating around since the mid-2010s, particularly in the United States, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of us were stuck indoors and forced to get creative in how we socialised, that the idea took off. 

Being the social creatures we are, we adapted. We figured out new ways to play and connect. There were a lot of online games like Skribbl, Kahoot, Pictionary, Hangman, and even a digital version of the adult party game Cards Against Humanity. 

And then there was the PowerPoint party – because all you really need is a computer and a bit of creativity.

What’s remarkable, though, is how PowerPoint parties have endured, five years since the pandemic started.

In 2025, PowerPoint parties are still going strong, often as the main event or at least a key component of any friend reunion, especially if you haven’t seen each other in a while. I, for one, am a big fan of the format and have attended – and presented at – a few myself.

Even brands and bookstores are getting in on the fun. Take Wormhole, a local online bookstore, or the random individuals who organise PowerPoint parties for strangers. You just sign up, either as a presenter or participant, and show up at a venue to revel in the communal joy of it all.

Wormhole ran their first PowerPoint party in 2023, and people loved it so much they brought it back in 2024. In the first half of 2025 alone, they've hosted two parties, each with over 70 attendees and about 10 presenters. 

The fact that all the tickets sold out within minutes of being released tells you everything you need to know: we’re all just looking for a good time, and the PowerPoint party, as a lot of Gen Z folks would say, is delivering.

HOW POWERPOINT PARTIES WORK 

All you need are two things: A computer and enough creativity.

Bonus items: a screen large enough to hold your larger-than-life ideas, and a willing, participatory audience that’ll cheer you on (even when you start second-guessing your entire existence mid-slide).

For friend gatherings, there’s an unwritten rule: everyone in the group must present. This rule gets a little more relaxed at stranger parties or in larger groups, like the ones at Wormhole’s parties.

Planning my own PowerPoint party with five friends (myself included) was easy. A little coercion here and there was needed at first, but everyone got into the zone of presenting fairly quickly. We all had something we wanted to talk about, whether it was a straightforward topic like “Three Things You Don’t Know About My Childhood” or a bit more adventurous, like “Who Among Us Would Survive The Hunger Games”.

The key is to participate. And in 2025, when everyone’s still trying to find meaningful (or at least mildly entertaining) ways to connect, participation – or even just the willingness to participate – is all the social capital you need to bond with someone you barely knew five minutes ago.

WHAT’S TO LOVE ABOUT POWERPOINT PARTIES

But why are PowerPoint parties even a thing in the first place? As an extrovert who feeds off the energy of those around me and lives for meaningful interactions, the first and most obvious reason is that they’re just really socially engaging and fun.

But even if you’re not an extrovert, even if you’re not the funniest person in your friend group (listen, I’ve been there), you can still thrive at a PowerPoint party.

Remember how I said the most important ingredient is just the willingness and desire to participate? I meant it. You don’t have to be incredibly funny, witty, ridiculously charismatic, or beautiful (though, of course, when has that ever hurt?). 

You just need to want to do it. And if you’re with the right people – none of that toxic group energy here – everyone will give you their full attention and join in the fun.

At the party I hosted, one of my close introverted friends, who usually refuses to elaborate on anything in a group setting larger than two people (yes, really), was the one who ended up giving a whole presentation on what would happen if our friend group were thrown into The Hunger Games. She inadvertently roasted and lifted each of us in the same breath. It was glorious.

These parties are also wildly versatile. There’s no end to the types of topics you can present. Most friend groups use them as a way to catch up after not seeing each other in ages, which is why you’ll often find presentations about love lives (or lack thereof), career updates, and other life milestones. But if that’s not your vibe, no worries. 

Your topic can be anything. Like which Singapore neighbourhoods are the most overrated and why is it always somewhere in the East, which Mediacorp show deserves a rerun, or how to survive Singapore’s erratic weather without aircon. 

It’s all about presenting on whatever you think is fun, weird, or important, even if it’s only important to you. 

So if, say, you’ve got a “Roman Empire” that’s been living rent-free in your head, or you’ve fallen down a hyper-specific internet rabbit hole and want to scream about it to anyone who’d listen, this is your moment.

One of my friends once spent five uninterrupted minutes passionately ranking Wingstop flavours – a hill she’s still very willing to die on.

These parties are also a great way to break the ice, especially among strangers. In the Wormhole PowerPoint party, a few people who had lived in Australia for a while ended up becoming friends after sitting through a presentation on the differences between Singaporean and Australian small talk. 

Sometimes, all it takes is the person next to you yelling or laughing too hard at a hilarious slide for you to strike up a conversation, and suddenly, you’re friends. That’s the beauty of these parties and other in-person gatherings fuelled by hobbies, like game nights, running clubs and book clubs. The charm of these programmes is found in the unexpected way you make friends, bonded by an activity all of you genuinely enjoy and possibly find new ones together. 

The best part? It’s comically easy to pull off. You don’t even have to prepare much. Take it from me and my friends, who spent about 15 minutes of our gathering in our respective corners rushing to create five-minute presentations on topics ranging from “How I Got Into Running as Therapy” to “Cars That Look Objectively Cool and Why.”

It’s meant to be low-stress and high-fun. You know how your taking the time to create PowerPoint decks for work slowly drains the soul out of your body and how every slide can feel like a mini existential crisis because it’s just so stressful (even if you must do it, and you still do)? 

PowerPoint parties flip that script. They subvert the dreaded format we usually associate with corporate life and turn it into something joyful and silly.

They’re light-hearted, a little chaotic, and a brilliant means to lovingly laugh at ourselves, at our lives, and at each other.

POWERPOINT PARTIES ARE HERE TO STAY 

To the uninitiated or an onlooker, it may seem extremely strange that people who want to gather and relax together would spend anywhere between 15 minutes to even an hour preparing for a PowerPoint party, choosing deck designs, crafting content, maybe even rehearsing. After all, it’s still a presentation, and presentations usually mean effort.

And yes, though I’m a huge fan, I can see PowerPoint parties may not be for everyone. If you’re feeling socially burnt out or just want a night of passive, camera-off Zoom lurking, the pressure to be “on” for a PowerPoint party might feel like a bit too much. 

Not everyone loves public speaking, even in a low-stakes setting, and if the group dynamic isn’t warm or supportive, it can veer into awkward territory. It’s also easy for louder personalities to dominate, which is why the best parties are the ones where everyone gets a chance to shine, even the quiet ones.

When done right, they’re a joy and can even be weirdly therapeutic. They lie in that sweet spot between nostalgia (who else remembers school presentations like Show and Tell?) and novelty (you’re finally presenting on something you actually like).

So if you’re having a gathering soon, whether it’s for an upcoming festivity (it’s okay that Hari Raya’s almost over), a discussion on (ahem) politics, or a long overdue get-together between friends, this is your sign to try out a PowerPoint party.

Instead of presenting on KPIs or your company’s quarterly growth, you can talk about something that actually lights you up – whether it’s favourite ghost stories that haunt our local beaches, niche Singapore reddit drama, or your very specific beef with the MRT's Circle Line. 

Of course, if quarterly growth is your Roman Empire, by all means, present on that too. Trust me, there will likely be someone in the room who'll find it fascinating.