Each guest gets five slides and five minutes to make an airtight case for something absurd. Topics can be assigned or self-selected, but the best ones combine conviction with spectacularly low stakes.
Before guests arrive
- Send the five-slide limit and required elements before guests build anything.
- Test the projector, adapters, audio, and slide handoff on the actual screen.
- Print a score sheet with confidence, evidence, visual chaos, and persuasion.
The three moments
Set useful constraints
Cap presentations at five slides. Require one chart, one suspicious citation, and one final recommendation.
Build a real judging panel
Score confidence, evidence, visual chaos, and whether anyone’s mind was actually changed.
Award the wrong winner
The audience selects Best Research, while the host reserves the right to award Most Concerning Conclusion.
Host-ready schedule
Your run of show
Explain the rules and draw presentation order.
Run the first half with a hard five-minute limit per speaker.
Take a ten-minute intermission while judges total early scores.
Finish the talks, reveal awards, and name the most concerning conclusion.
Plan the handoffs
A presentation party that stays on schedule
Choose the format before invitations go out. Prepared talks suit guests who enjoy making something; improvised slides suit a group that prefers to arrive with nothing to do. Offer a judging or timekeeping role for anyone who does not want to present.
- Prepared format: ask for five slides and a five-minute talk, with files sent the day before. Use one host laptop to avoid repeated cable swaps.
- Improvised format: the host makes neutral, fictional slide decks; give each willing speaker a minute to preview theirs. Avoid personal photos or private messages as surprise material.
- No-screen fallback: print five numbered prompt cards per speaker and run the same rules as a tabletop pitch.
Size the running order
Budget about seven minutes per speaker: five for the talk and two for applause, scores, and handoff. Six speakers therefore need roughly 42 minutes before the introduction, breaks, and awards. With a larger group, use pairs or shorten talks rather than quietly doubling the evening.
Check the actual playback setup
Open every deck on the host laptop, verify text at the back of the room, and test any audio at a comfortable level. Keep a PDF backup for a static-slide version. Microsoft documents PowerPoint PDF export; animations and live demonstrations should be planned separately rather than assumed to survive that fallback.
Microsoft: save PowerPoint presentations as PDF
A scorecard guests can understand
Use the four announced categories, each scored from one to five: confidence, evidence, visual chaos, and persuasion. Publish these before the first talk. Resolve ties with a shared award, and let each speaker decline recording or posting.