During the Covid lockdown in 2020, people were searching for all kinds of ways to stay connected with their friends. One of these ways was “Powerpoint Nights” where the group Zoom calls and each friend shares their screen to present a slideshow on whatever topic they want, no matter how serious or silly. My friends and I did them all the time, and we still do them now. Even after lockdown, people continued having slides night in person, which made them even more fun.
I’m someone who always picks their ideas last minute because I can’t figure out what I want to do. If you’re stuck and need some inspo, here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling.
- Which celebrity or character you all would date
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My friends and I love daydreaming and making up hypotheticals that would literally never happen, and this is the perfect way to do it. Think about which characters or celebrities your friends are most compatible with, and put their pictures side by side, and list out why you think the two would go together. It’s an easy way to get the group engaged in silly arguments and you get to see if the group agrees with you or not.
- starter packs
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One idea is to make “starter packs” for each friend. You make a collage of different things they like, inside jokes, quotes they always say, or things they always wear. You can make it as detailed or as basic as possible. Just include all the things that are unique to your friends!
- Analyzing your crushes
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This can be listing out your real crushes or fictional crushes, and it can be current or from when you were younger. It’s always fun to sit and judge your friends’ tastes or see what they have to say about yours. I recently did this idea with my fictional crushes from elementary and middle school and my friends kept laughing and bringing it up for the rest of the night (and they still laugh about it to this day).
- You guys in your favorite book, movie, or show
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This one is always my go-to when I’m stumped. Pretend you and your friends have been transported into the world of any piece of media you choose — however, I will say that it’s more fun to use something everyone likes and is collectively familiar with, that way it’s more enjoyable and you don’t have to waste time explaining anything. Talk about what you’d do during key plot points, what the interactions with other characters would be, and more! Really make it immersive and make it feel like you guys are really characters in whatever it is you choose.
- explaining something you love or hate
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I love doing a deep dive into the stuff I’m interested in, and I love hearing other people info dump about things that they like or why they don’t like them as well. It can literally be anything; why you love your favorite food, why you can’t stand a certain character, or giving an in-depth analysis or review on a movie you love.
- Spotify wrapped for fictional characters
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We all love Spotify Wrapped season (and it’s here now!), and you can take it to another level by asking each friend for one fictional character and including your own choice as well. You can explain what you think each character’s top five genres, artists, and songs would be, along with how many minutes of music they would have listened to for the year. This one is sooo fun because you get to dive into the characters’ backgrounds and personalities, so curating what they’d listen to is like a little game!
Here’s a cute PowerPoint template that matches Spotify Wrapped perfectly!
- Life recap
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This is a good one if you guys haven’t seen each other in a while or you’re long-distance and can’t catch up as often as you’d like. Just a general overview of how you’ve been doing, and any news, drama, or gossip you haven’t told them yet. I also find that presenting on this topic is a lot more fun when you purposefully keep some stuff secret to surprise your friends with it during your presentation.
- assigning everyone fanfic tropes
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We’re all aware of the cliche tropes, tags, and scenarios: friends to lovers, workplace romance, academic rivals, the infamous “being sold to One Direction”…the list goes on and on. You can assign your friends some of these, and if you wanna make the party even more fun, you can leave it up to the rest of the group to create a plot or scenario using the tropes you assigned each person.
You can some different ideas for tropes and character types here!
- “He’s a 10, But…”
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If you’ve never heard of this game, you give a scenario where a guy is a perfect 10, but he has some sort of ick or quirk that might put you off (i.e. “He’s a 10, but he’s a hardcore mama’s boy” or “He’s a 10 but he mansplains every single thing”). You either think the quirk is no big deal and he remains a 10, or you can knock him down a few points. You can spark some fun debates between the group because everyone’s ratings and opinions for each scenario will definitely be different.
- Assigning everyone aesthetics
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If you’re feeling creative and have the time, you can assign aesthetics to everyone based on what you think best fits their personality. You can make a cute little collage with different outfits and accessories to really tie the whole presentation together.
I’ve done a few of these, and some ideas I listed because my friends used them at our parties. They are tried and true, and will definitely get the party going. You can make these as personal and detailed as you want, but if you’re a minimalist, that’s okay too! Find a cute template and get to work.