Virtual PowerPoint Parties Are Now A Thing, & They're A Great Way To Get Creative

Switching up your group calls can be as easy as hosting an out-of-the-box party. Some users have been creating fun PowerPoints to share with their friends — and it's aptly called, a PowerPoint party. These themed chat nights let you get some quality time in with your BFFs from a distance. If you're wondering where to start, here's how to host a PowerPoint party for a creative get-together.

Zoom PowerPoint party photos are began flooding the Twitterverse in early April 2020, and if you've seen them, you're probably wondering what it's all about. It's not clear where the recent trend originated, but it has emerged due to the ease of screen sharing features on video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. But unlike the PowerPoints you create in school, these aren't supposed to be entirely serious. Instead, people hosting PowerPoint parties are creating slideshows about subjects they enjoy, making their presentations comedic and entertaining, all while trying to convince their friends of their viewpoint.

To get going, first you'll need to get a group of friends to agree to join a PowerPoint party and explain how it works. If you'd like, you can make up your own rules by choosing a theme or keeping the options pretty open.

Next, you'll need to choose your video conferencing platform. While many users are using Zoom to host their PowerPoint parties, you can use any video chat service that lets you share your screen. This includes Skype, using Facebook Messenger's video chat extension for your computer, and Google Hangouts, to name a few.

Make sure everyone has a way to create a PowerPoint. They can use Microsoft Office if they have it or a free PowerPoint service such as Prezi or Canva. Once everyone has what they need to create a PowerPoint, set a time for your party. If you want to keep people's presentations shorter, you can enforce a time limit.

Finally, you'll get to the fun part, which is choosing a topic for your PowerPoint presentation. It can be literally anything, including random topics like the best cartoon characters or which Real Housewife is your favorite. It can be as enlightening or as ridiculous as you want. Some of these examples from Twitter users who've participated in PowerPoint parties might lend some ideas:

"Which members of One Direction could I defeat in martial combat?"

"Taco Bell foods and their moral alignments."

"Why HSM was not fabulous: a dissection of why Sharpay Evans was the true victim."

After you've chosen your PowerPoint topic, experience the joy of creativity by crafting your presentation using a combination of text, images, GIFs, videos, tweets, and more.

Finally, when the due date arrives and you're all logged onto your desired video conferencing platform, you can choose who is presenting first. When they're ready to share, they'll share their screen. For example, you can do this on Zoom by selecting which window you want your friends to see, and get started on the PowerPoint. On Google Hangouts, you can present and share your whole screen. At the end of your PowerPoint party, you can have a voting period to decide who gave the best or most convincing presentation.

It's a bummer when you can't together IRL with your pals, but PowerPoint parties are a great way to get your creativity flowing and foster your connections with your friends. What else brings people together like a healthy debate after a presentation on how Rose could have totally let Jack float on that door?