Powerpoint Karaoke -- More Fun Than Pie Charts

Who really wants to hear about ERP and supply chain software and BI apps after a two-week holiday vacation? Not me. Not just yet.

So let's talk about presentations so bad that they could make others laugh. Here's a great way to use Microsoft's PowerPoint software to strike back at (and make fun of) all of those horrible and monotonous PowerPoint-driven presentations you've had to endure through the years.

It's called PowerPoint Karaoke. The game has been around for a couple of years now and is quite popular at techie events. According to a recent article on Boston.com, the PPT Karaoke "phenomenon has been spreading geek to geek and conference to conference since it was invented by a German artists' group in 2005." (So forgive me if you've already heard about this.)

Essentially, instead of trying to sing to the Eagle's "Hotel California" or Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," players deliver impromptu speeches from PowerPoint slides that are brand-new to them. The slides should come from all walks of the business and non-business world—grabbed from the Web, your boss's last snooze fest of a presentation, an acquaintance's new business plan, your father's retirement party photos, or go to Slideshare.net and create your own.

You'll need some willing participants (how about using it at your next offsite or team-bonding meeting), a bunch of random slides from all kinds of presentations, a laptop that attaches to a projector and somewhere to display the slides.

Just like singing karaoke, experts say, everyone seems to have a lot more fun with PowerPoint karaoke after they've had a few cocktails, though it's obviously not absolutely necessary to have some fun.