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PowerPoint Parties Are the Party Trend You Have to Try: Here's How to Host One

PowerPoint nights are the new fun way to party together. Try these clever PowerPoint party hosting tips and ideas for creating winning presentations.

Lauren is a former editor at Real Simple and currently serves as a senior digital editor for Better Homes & Gardens.

All get-togethers are great, but PowerPoint parties have been particularly popular for livening up both in-person and virtual parties over the past few years. PowerPoint nights give everyone something to contribute to the party's success (beyond a hostess gift ). And they're great for connecting with far-flung friends or family, as you can easily host it over Zoom or video chat.

And the cool thing: All you need is a computer, a screen, and your friends' creativity to host a PowerPoint night that'll leave everyone laughing (and likely, looking to host their own PowerPoint party in the not-so-distant future).

If you're ready to jump on the PowerPoint party trend, here's everything you need to know to host one of your own, plus a ton of ideas for PowerPoint presentations that will make you the hit of any party you attend.

What is a PowerPoint Party?

A PowerPoint party takes the meeting and school presentation staple—the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or slideshow—and makes it something fun, playful, and party-appropriate. PowerPoint party attendees craft and give presentations on topics of their choice. Drinking, themed costumes, Q&As, and other fun add-ons may also be included.

A PowerPoint party can also be done with Google Slides, Keynote (the presentation software from Apple available on iOS devices), or any other presentation tool—Microsoft PowerPoint is not required.

First popularized in 2018 , the PowerPoint party is best kept to a small group of people—it's not an activity for a crowded rager—and can be enjoyed virtually or in person.

How to Host a PowerPoint Party

To plan and host your very own PowerPoint party, first gather a select group of people who you think will enjoy the party. PowerPoint parties aren't for everyone, or for every occasion—it's something best left for smaller groups of adults, young adults, and teens. If you want to include younger kids, consider pairing them with an adult or an older child with experience giving presentations who can give them a little help, and if you want to have larger groups, consider dividing them into teams to create presentations.

When you invite people, explain the expectations of the party. What's the time limit or slide limit on each presentation? What's the dress code? Is the PowerPoint party themed?

The Drink, Talk, Learn (DTL) PowerPoint party—in which everyone simply chooses a topic they're passionate about, with no themes or restrictions—is the classic option, but if you want to do a themed PowerPoint party, check out some clever PowerPoint night ideas below. If you're worried about people having the same topic, ask that everyone submit their topics to you ahead of time to avoid any duplicates.

If you're attending a PowerPoint party, your presentation can be whatever you want it to be. (Most PowerPoint parties should be goofy, either in the topic or presentation.)

Use PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote, fill your slideshow with images, charts, graphs, quotes, gifs, videos, and whatever else makes your point, and have fun with it. And don't be afraid to use all those weird effects that the apps offer that you never get to use in everyday work life. (Why not make that slide spin off into the ether?)

If you're hosting the party virtually , send around the link to join the video call early to avoid any technical difficulties. You can allow everyone to share their screen when they're presenting, or you can collect all the presentations and serve as the presenter.

Don't load up your slides with text. Use your slideshow for images, graphs, and keywords or phrases that help make your point. When you're presenting, don't just read what's on the screen; try to use notecards to make your argument. To ensure you rule at the PowerPoint party, take your presentation for a spin or two to fine tune what you want to say.

PowerPoint Night Hosting Ideas

To make your PowerPoint party even more fun or interesting, try adding some of these ideas to your gathering.

Turn the presentations into a drinking game

Have presenters take a sip of their drink every time they say "um" or another filler word, for example, or ask them to finish their drink in its entirety if their presentation extends beyond the allotted time. (Always drink responsibly, of course.) You could even pick an uncommon word or phrase—like pink umbrella, for example—and if anyone works it organically into their presentation, the whole party has to drink.

Create a dress code

Take the party up a notch by enforcing a themed dress code. If everyone is presenting about historical figures, have them dress up like their chosen figure. You could also ask everyone to wear business attire or dress entirely in one color.

Consider assigning topics

While it's fun to let them use their imagination and share a wide array of presentations at your PowerPoint night, assigning a topic theme or a specific topic can give your party more structure, and challenge your guests a little too. They'll have to work up a passion for their given topic, and you can laugh at their efforts to make their presentations entertaining. (Bonus points if you choose extremely obscure topics, like how staples are made or where sand comes from.)

Give out prizes

To get everyone invested in your PowerPoint party, make it competitive. Find a great prize and create a scoring sheet with points for the quality of presentation, the strength of argument, choice of images, outfit choice, adherence to the time limit, and whatever other details you think are important. Have everyone score their fellow presenters (all in jest) after their presentation. The winner at the end gets the prize.

There isn't just a single Oscar awarded, is there? Consider offering prizes in an array of categories at your PowerPoint party— the wildest use of PowerPoint effects, most dedicated presenter, best costume, etc.

25 PowerPoint Party Theme Ideas

Ready to host your very own themed PowerPoint party? Here are a few PowerPoint night ideas beyond the classic Drink, Talk, Learn party to get you started.

Drunk History

Presenters choose a historical figure or event and present about it. Have everyone dress like their figure or era, and encourage people to have a drink or two before their presentation to really make it interesting.

The Best [Whatever] of All Time

Every presenter picks a movie, TV show, video game, board game, fictional character, food, city, etc., and everyone makes the case that their pick is the best one of all time. Keep topic selections within the same genre to spark a little friendly competition.

Conspiracy Theories

Have everyone select a conspiracy theory and present it with the goal of convincing everyone that it could indeed be true.

Assigning Characters

All presenters pick a category—it could be dogs, foods, characters in a movie, TV show, or book, whatever—and explain who everyone would be in each group. (This is best done within a close-knit group of friends.) Presenters could explain which Harry Potter or The Office character everyone might be, or which type of pasta noodle they'd be. The opportunities are endless.

Who Survives?

Rate your friends on their survival skills in a number of dangerous events, such as The Hunger Games, a slasher movie, or a zombie apocalypse. Be sure to share how each pal at the PowerPoint party meets their bitter end, and who will survive the longest (and how).

Over/Underrated

Each guest shares their hot take on something that's overrated or underrated—and shares their reasoning behind it. It can be something from pop culture, foods, a beauty product, a fashion trend, or even a hobby.

Cast the Movie of Your Life

Who'd play your parents, your friends, your mate—and you! (Be sure to assign celebs for each of the attendees that you know, of course.)

Your Biggest Regrets

Reveal it all, from highlights-gone-wrong to spring break shenanigans to major parenting fails.

Rank dog breeds, highlight why lizards reign supreme, or go ahead and list the magical pets you'd love to have (hello, unicorns!).

How to Hacks

Share your skills! Take your friends step by step through concocting your signature cocktail, getting killer deals on travel, or crafting cool nail art.

The Perfect Undercover Names

Give every member of the crew their own secret agent moniker and highlight their spy-worthy skills, whether it's their next-level driving or ability to keep a (top) secret.

When Your Favorite Shows Jumped the Shark

Narrow it down to the key moment that the show in question started its decline in quality—and make your case for it.

Crystal Ball Prognostication

Imagine where you and your friends will be in five, 10, or 20 years from now. (The funnier your predictions, the better!)

Worst Gift Ever

Chronicle the weirdest gifts you (or people you know) received—and why they're bad. Don't forget photos!

Your Dream Wedding

Even if you're already paired off, pop in what you'd want to do to celebrate your wedding now if money was no object.

Bucket Lists

A PowerPoint party is the perfect opportunity to see which ones you share with your friends—and start making plans to cross them off together.

Guilty Pleasures

Share your favorite guilty pleasure(s), and lay out the argument why others should indulge as well.

Me in the Multiverse

Take a cue from Everything Everywhere All at Once and imagine what your alter egos are doing in alternate realities.

Junk Drawer Archaeology

Dive into the depths of your junk drawer and share the weirdest/smartest/oldest finds.

Confessions

Time to come clean on sins from your past or present, and plead your case for why it had to be done.

Friends Trivia

No, we're not talking about what the mail label says on Chandler Bing's TV Guide (though it's Chanandler Bong, if you need it for your next trivia night). Instead, quiz other guests to see how much they remember about each other.

Word to the Wise

Keep your friends from learning the hard way by sharing a life lesson you've learned.

Share your biggest (and ideally, weirdest) fears, and why you're not a fan.

Two Truths and a Lie

Turn the classic party game into a PowerPoint party presentation—and see who knows you best.

Share the tales (and ideally, photos!) of projects you envisioned, and how they went wrong.

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How to have the most banger PowerPoint at the PowerPoint party

Rule number one is you gotta have fun

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In the early days of the pandemic, at-home PowerPoint Zoom parties were all the rage . The idea was simple: Each attendee creates a PowerPoint on something they want to rant about, then presents it to the group. As in-person gatherings slowly returned, TikTok continued to popularize the trend, as friend groups took videos of their own PowerPoint parties. There are no hard-set rules on what topics to cover, so people can get very creative with their presentations .

While there are plenty of articles out there offering ideas for prompts or tips on hosting PowerPoint parties , there are very few out there delineating just how to pull off a presentation with pizzazz. I’d like to offer some tips and tricks, based on a real presentation I gave at my own Discord party.

Have a clear, central thesis

No one wants to listen to you ramble about something that you aren’t passionate about! The first thing to do after being invited to a PowerPoint presentation party is to pick a topic that really matters to you. For instance, in the below example, I made a whole PowerPoint based on the fictional men I am in love with, a subject on which I could absolutely talk about at length.

You’ll want to make sure to elaborate on your title in a further slide. This is also a good chance to start really showing your expertise. In my case, this meant delineating some parameters and illustrating the taxonomy of fictional men I am attracted to.

Reiterate your main point in a simple form

Think of this as the last sentence of your intro paragraph in a paper you turn in for school. This is what you want in people’s minds when you continue on with the presentation. Ideally, keep it punchy and short, and if you can make it sound like a meme, then it’s more likely to stick in people’s facts after the example.

Provide examples to support your argument

Each slide should bolster your central thesis. Some people may opt for a narrow scope, which is completely valid. I like to cast my net wide in order to show just how all-encompassing my theory is. In this particular presentation, I used Jeff Winger from Community , Han Solo from Star Wars , Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds , and Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening to illustrate my taxonomy. A wide gamut of entertainment! (Also, this way it wasn’t just anime boys — that’s a separate article).

Use your bullet points as a starting point, not the whole spiel

The slides themselves should merely be a tool to aid your presentation. Use them wisely. I find it most effective to put something bold and eye-catching as a bullet point to grab attention and then expand on that in your speech. When I say, “Every time he says something stupid, I want to rail him” on a slide about Shigure Sohma from Fruits Basket , I use that simple sentence as a launching point to discuss his complicated motives and compelling allegiances throughout the anime.

Embrace visual aids

A picture is worth a thousand words and therefore, eight pictures of handsome men is equal to a very long article or short story! In this slide about Roy Mustang and Howl Pendragon , I mostly wanted to illustrate different moments where they fulfill the two seemingly contrasting categories of fictional men I have described. No bullet points are needed, because I can poetically wax on about how both these men use a playboy persona to cover up a seething rage and mission that might see them going too far.

Finally … have no shame

The worst thing you can do in front of an audience is be forgettable. Whether you totally ace your presentation with suave charisma or whether you laugh through the entire time — as long as you make a splash, you’ve won. Embrace whatever weird topic you’ve chosen. Own it. You too could be writing about it for a website one day.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Polygon

• To all the anime boys we’ve loved before
• The ships that get our hearts racing
• The Polygon staff makes Valentine cards from their favorite villains
• Who is your video game Valentine?
• Every romanceable character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, ranked
• Hades is about erotic punishment
• How to understand and play dating sims
• The Outer Worlds’ daddy priest and disaster lad make me miss RPG romance
• The Emily Is Away trilogy makes DMing your crush into a doomed game
• Hando: A brief history of Star Wars fanfic and a universe’s beloved, queer ’ship
• The best romance movies you can watch right now
• Ranking the Cookie Run: Kingdom characters by how ‘hot’ they are for Valentine’s Day
• How to get into romance books — and why you should

50 Creative Ideas For Your Next PowerPoint Night

TikTok is the newest, hippest (just ask any twenty-something year old) social media platform and arguably the biggest thing since Instagram’s launch in 2010. The platform boasts over 1 billion users and has been downloaded an upwards of 200 million times in the United States alone. You can find all sorts of videos on TikTok from food recipes and fashion, to presentation tips. Its diverse, entertaining, short-form content is what makes the app so favorable across many different age groups and demographics. 

Many trends and recommendations have come to light because of the ever-popular social media app like dances, sounds, and meals. But another TikTok trend that has taken millennials and Gen Z by storm is PowerPoint nights. PowerPoint nights became especially popular in 2020 during the pandemic when friends and family were looking for ways to connect with one another via technology. Essentially, friends create presentation decks about cheeky topics (unrelated to work or school) and present them to each other either in-person or through video calls. Oftentimes served with plenty of snacks and beverages, PowerPoint nights have become a new Friday night “thing” to do. A trend we can get behind. 

And of course, we’re thrilled that it put presentations on the map for something fun other than board meetings and thesis assignments. 

So we’re tapping in. Here are 50 creative ideas for your next PowerPoint night. Extra points if you use Beautiful.ai and tag us on TikTok. 

• Your colleagues as The Office characters
• Dating app contenders 
• Hot takes on a new album from your favorite artist
• Your Spotify Wrapped list
• Bachelor/bachelorette (or other reality TV show) predictions
• A song to describe each person in your friend group and why
• Suggest locations for your next friend trip
• Everyone’s love language
• Fantasy football updates
• Everyone’s favorite movies, ranked
• Water bottle brands ranked
• The best restaurants in a 30 mile radius according to you
• Dream wedding destinations
• Your friends as Disney characters
• The best nostalgic shows for your generation
•  Things you would do if you were president 
•  Pet names that you love and hate
•  The best and worst managers or bosses you’ve ever had
•  Your favorite memory with each friend
•  The best iPhone/android apps you can’t live without
•  Each friend’s toxic trait
•  Fashion trends you can’t get behind
•  Friend trivia or two truths and a lie
•  Office gadgets that just make sense
•  A [insert name] starter pack for all of your friends
•  Give each friend a superpower and explain why
•  Your colleagues as an alcoholic beverage
•  Things you hate: and everyone has a chance to try to change your mind
•  Everyone’s enneagram types
•  Unpopular opinions: things you like that no one else does
•  The emojis you need in the next update
•  The top 10 best celebrity couples
•  Things that just make sense to have in your home
•  Band names each friend would name their band
•  Things from Amazon that you would recommend to a stranger
•  Your friends as fast food restaurants
•  A song for every milestone in your life
•  How each person’s road trip snack preference defines them
•  The first five things you’d spend money on if you won the lottery
•  Bucket list items
•  Local coffee shops, ranked
•  The best and worst things about everyone’s jobs
•  Give all your friends a new name and persona
•  How everyone’s zodiac signs fit their personality
•  Your group as Friends characters
•  Holidays ranked from worst to best
•  Celebrities that would play your friends in a movie or TV role
•  Things you’d rather be doing than your current job
•  Each of your colleagues as dog breeds
• The best (most useful) things you’ve learned from TikTok

Want to create a viral-worthy presentation in half the time? Let DesignerBot take the wheel . While PowerPoint night topics are subjective, DesignerBot can help you pull in facts, images, or information on your topic. For example, for a presentation on "water bottle brands ranked" you can enter the prompt "top 10 water bottle brands" and watch DesignerBot generate the deck for you like magic. You can then edit the slide(s) to reflect your personal rankings and thoughts without wasting time sourcing brand names, photos, or logos. You might even ask DesignerBot to pick a PowerPoint night topic for you— the possibilities are endless.

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

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How to host a PowerPoint party and have a virtual game night using the Microsoft Office program

• PowerPoint parties are a type of virtual party game that involves presenting a PowerPoint on a topic you're passionate about — or know little about.
• You can host a PowerPoint party from any device that will run the Microsoft program, including computers, tablets, and smartphones. 

In the world of remote gaming and virtual game nights, PowerPoint parties have become increasingly popular. But what exactly are they — and how do you host one? 

Here's everything you need to know about the newest — and slightly odd — party game experience. 

What is a PowerPoint party

A PowerPoint party is a relatively new trend utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint software for social fun instead of its usual business and academic associations. 

Before the party, each participant prepares a PowerPoint presentation on a topic of their choice. During the party, participants take turns presenting their PowerPoint topic to the other partygoers for a set number of minutes. After presenting, the participant must be prepared to answer questions from the other partygoers. 

The result is a unique social engagement that brings together strangers and old friends alike.

How to host a PowerPoint party

If you have the hardware required to connect a laptop to a TV (such as an HDMI cable or a Google Chromecast), you can easily host a PowerPoint party in your home or office. 

But in the age of remote connection and the time of COVID-19, PowerPoint parties can easily be adapted explicitly for virtual gatherings. Applications like Skype , Zoom , and Google Meet allow many people to participate in the same video call. 

You can also use them to share screens, making them perfect choices for remote PowerPoint parties. All you'd need to do is invite the attendees to join the video call.

Hosting and presentation tips for your next PowerPoint party

If you're considering hosting a PowerPoint party, here are a few tips and tricks to help make it a success. 

Set house rules

Depending on the group you're hosting, you may want to set house rules for the presentations in order for everyone to enjoy themselves to the fullest. Consider establishing the amount of time each presentation runs well before the party begins so that participants can prepare accordingly. 

You can set other various house rules, like "Everyone who attends must present." You might want presentations to adhere to a particular theme or avoid specific topics that might cause partygoers' discomfort. Or you might require all guests to wear silly hats because why not. 

Pick a topic that's unique to your interests

Since you're going to be speaking at length about your topic, select one that you're deeply familiar with and passionate about. The best PowerPoint party topics are those which are fresh, compelling, and teach partygoers something they've never known before.

Don't take yourself too seriously

Remember, this is for fun! You don't have to worry about the depth of your presentation or what other partygoers will think. Just have fun and come prepared to learn something new about everyone else in the room.

Related coverage from  Tech Reference :

How to do a voiceover on a powerpoint presentation and add pre-recorded audio to your slides, how to convert a powerpoint to google slides in 2 different ways, how to add music to a powerpoint slideshow to make your presentation more engaging, how to draw in microsoft powerpoint to create custom designs on slides through the desktop app and online, the 48 best powerpoint keyboard shortcuts for making great presentations quickly and easily, watch: watch: meet the last family practicing this 400-year-old indian art form.

• Main content

200+ Mind-Blowing PowerPoint Night Ideas (Templates Included)

Zhun Yee Chew

Have you ever imagined that the presentation program known as PowerPoint, typically associated with school, teaching, and work presentations, could become a favorite social gathering tool for millennials and Gen Z? PowerPoint night ideas have taken TikTok’s “For You” page by storm, with someone ingeniously reimagining PowerPoint as a fresh and innovative way to bring people together.

In this article, we’ve meticulously curated an extensive collection of over 200 power-packed PowerPoint night ideas (including some inspired by TikTok ) that are certain to inject boundless amusement and fun into your gatherings. Whether you’re hanging out with friends, spending time with family, bonding with colleagues, connecting with classmates, or even making new acquaintances, these ideas will add a spark to your get-togethers. Plus, we’re offering free downloadable PowerPoint night templates to help you get started.

Get ready to jump aboard this trend and experience this new way of bonding with your loved ones, friends and colleagues! We have something for everyone!

What is A PowerPoint Night?

A PowerPoint night is a social event or gathering where friends, family members or colleagues come together to collaboratively create and share PowerPoint presentations on a range of topics in a lively and entertaining fashion. Unlike the formal presentations you might prepare for a class, PowerPoint night themes tend to be less academic and factual, focusing instead on personal narratives, opinions, cherished memories, and shared experiences among friends, family, and loved ones. With the primary goal of fostering stronger connections and fostering interactions filled with laughter, the themes of these presentations are inherently more light-hearted and joyful.

Without further ado, let us dive straight into the PowerPoint night ideas. Find what you need depending on who you are with – friends, families, siblings, other half, colleagues, classmates, or new acquaintances .

PowerPoint Night Ideas that Guarantee Endless Fun!

Powerpoint night ideas for friends.

• Never Have I Ever: Share amusing and surprising “never have I ever” stories.
• Nostalgia Collection: Gather old photos and go through them together.
• Personal Favorites Showcase: Each friend highlights beloved books, movies, music, etc.
• Passion Unveil: Each friend to share their hobbies and interests (pro tip: choose the ones that your friends don’t already know).
• Would You Rather: Engage in imaginative “Would You Rather” scenarios.
• Bucket List: Set the bucket list goals you want to achieve together with your friends.
• Friendship origin: Describe your first meeting and initial impressions.
• Google Search Guesses: Guess recent Google searches of your friends.
• Unbelievable Stories: Share unbelievable personal stories you have encountered.
• Best & Worst Dates: Discuss your best and worst date experiences.
• Reality Show Fits: Match your friends with reality shows.
• Song Descriptions: Describe each friend using a song and reason.
• Dream Trip Spots: Suggest future travel destinations for your friends group.
• Nostalgic TV Picks: Share your favorite shows from childhood.
• Job Confession: Discuss the highs and lows of each of your previous jobs.
• Best Year & Why: Reflect on your best year of life.
• Middle School Cringe: Reveal cringy middle school photos.
• Celebrity Lookalikes: Compare each friend to a celebrity.
• Fashion Fails Awards: Decide on the ugliest outfit awards.
• $10 Million House: Describe your dream mansion with a budget.
• Superhero Alter Egos: Cast each friend as a superhero.
• Insta Pic Ratings: Rate each other’s Instagram photos.
• Caption Critiques: Review and rate Instagram captions.
• Dream Emojis: Invent emojis you wish existed for fun.
• Fictional Podcasts: Describe imaginary podcasts for each friend.
• Comfort Movie Picks: Reveal top comfort movies you love.
• Best Hookup Stories: Recount top memorable hookups.
• Top Dislikes: List your five least favorite things.
• Change My Mind: Challenge your friends to change your mind on your dislikes.
• Animal Antics: Show funny animal videos you love.
• Movie Remake Rants: Discuss the worst movie remakes.
• My Personal Evolution: Journey to becoming your current self.
• Social Media Blunders: Laugh at your most embarrassing social media moments.
• Hogwarts Sorting: Sort friends into Hogwarts houses and reasons.
• Amazon Review Laughs: Share the most hilarious Amazon product reviews.
• Friendship Scandals: Playfully speculate on scandalous stories if friends were famous.
• Astrological Compatibility: Examine astrological birth chart matches (or mismatches).
• Niche Future Predictions: Predict friends’ futures in quirky and unique ways.
• Future Kid Names: Guess what names friends would pick for their future kids.
• Friend Starter Packs: Create humorous starter packs for each friend.
• Regrettable Moments: Reveal things you regret and wish you hadn’t done.
• Personal Aesthetic: Showcase your aesthetic using three photos.
• Friend Name Alterations: Suggest new names for your friends based on their personalities.
• Toxic Trait Revelations: Playfully disclose each friend’s most toxic trait.
• Phone Notes Expose: Share amusing notes from your phone.
• Red Flag Crushes: Recall previous crushes and their red flags.
• Having Kids: Discuss your opinions about having kids and have friends weigh in.
• Job Swaps Daydreams: Share what you’d rather be doing than your current job.
• Favorite Memories: Each friend recounts a cherished memory.
• Spirit Animal Choices: Describe the chosen spirit animal for each friend.
• Friends as Kardashians: Imagine your friends as the Kardashians.
• TikTok Insights: Share things you learned from TikTok.
• High School Musical Friends: Casting your friends as high school musical characters.
• TV Show Fits: Match your friends to TV shows you think they would thrive on.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For Families

• Tech Blunders: Share funny tech blunders in the family.
• Family History: Uncover family heritage, roots, and stories.
• Culinary Heritage: Share family recipes and cooking customs.
• Family Milestones: Commemorate family members’ achievements and significant moments.
• Talent Show: Share individual talents and abilities (pro tip: share hidden talents your family members don’t already know about you).
• Dream Family Destinations: Share desired travel spots for family vacations.
• Top Family Film Picks: Present favorite movies for cozy movie nights.
• Awkward Family Captures: Laugh at cringeworthy and funny family photos.
• Cherished Family Customs: Discuss special traditions and rituals.
• Epic Family Fails: Share hilarious and memorable mishaps that brought your family closer.
• Parenting Bloopers: Celebrate funny and endearing moments from your parents’ adventures.
• Silly Family Superlatives: Present light-hearted awards like “Best Morning Bedhead” or “Snack Master.”
• Kitchen Catastrophes: Share amusing cooking disasters in the family.
• Pet Antics: Document your family furry friends’ mischievous moments and quirky behaviors.
• Bedtime Chronicles: Share amusing bedtime stories and night routines that make you all laugh.
• Gardening Goofs: Share gardening mishaps in the family.
• Family ‘Survivor’ Moments: Discuss the funniest survival strategies each family member has.
• Family Impersonations: Each family member imitates another’s quirks or catchphrases for laughs.
• Parenting 101: Each family member offers humorous “parenting advice” based on their experiences.
• Family Doppelgängers: Compare family members to famous celebrities or fictional characters.
• Tech Time Travel: Share screenshots of your family’s early social media posts and online interactions.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For Siblings

• Pre-College Insights: Share things you wish you knew before attending college.
• Ex Analysis: Dissect past relationships of each sibling for fun.
• Childhood Chronicles: Share funny, embarrassing, or memorable stories from your childhood.
• Siblings’ Bucket List: Share bucket list goals you want to achieve together as siblings.
• Sibling Show and Tell: Each sibling presents an item that holds special meaning.
• Sibling Showdowns: Relive playful sibling rivalries and competitions from childhood.
• Siblings vs. Technology: Share tech-related mishaps and funny text conversations.
• Siblings in Sync: Compile synchronized dance routines or synchronized silly faces.
• Sibling Slang: Share inside jokes, phrases, and slang unique to your sibling dynamic.
• Pet Peeves: Discuss quirky habits and behaviors that annoy each other.
• Siblings’ Secret Talents: Reveal surprising talents or skills that your siblings possess.
• Sibling Photo Recreations: Recreate old photos with a hilarious modern twist.
• Siblings’ Prank Wars: Present the most epic pranks you’ve played on each other.
• Sibling Impersonations: Take turns imitating each other’s mannerisms and quirks.
• Siblings’ Guilty Pleasures: Share guilty pleasures and quirky interests you secretly enjoy.
• Sibling Comedy Roast: Playfully roast each other with good-natured humor and jokes.
• Siblings Through the Ages: Present a timeline of your evolving sibling relationship with photos.
• Siblings’ Room Tour: Give a tour of your siblings’ childhood bedrooms, highlighting their quirks and treasures.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For Couples

• Love Language Exploration: Delve into understanding and satisfying each other’s love languages.
• Love Story Timeline: Chronicle your relationship journey through anecdotes and photos.
• Fantasy Getaway: Design a presentation detailing your dream vacation as a couple.
• Bucket List: Showcase shared ambitions and experiences on your bucket list.
• Creative Date Night Ideas: Compile a list of date night ideas.
• Adventurous Date Night Ideas: Propose exhilarating and daring date night escapades.
• Future Visions: Reveal individual and collective aspirations for your journey ahead together.
• Love Letters Memory Trail: Go through the love letters you have exchanged in the past.
• Fantasy Escapades: Present an imaginative shared fantasy or dream adventure.
• The Art of Flirting: Share playful techniques to keep your connection lively.
• Intimate Poetry Sharing: Exchange heartfelt and passionate poetry compositions.
• Inner Desires Revealed: Share your innermost fantasies.
• Life’s Profound Insights: Share acquired wisdom and life lessons with each other.
• Would You Rather (Couple Edition): Play a light-hearted “Would You Rather” game tailored for couples.
• Boredom Buster Ideas: A list of fun activities when you run out of date ideas.
• Dream Wedding Destinations: Explore fantasy wedding locations and venues.
• Instagram Recreation Fun: Couples recreate friends’ Instagram photos for laughs.
• Met Gala Outfit Dreams: Share creative ideas for Met Gala attire.
• First Night Scenarios: Re-imagining scenarios for the first night spent together.
• Ex Comparisons: Playful discussion of past relationships.
• Shared Interests Exploration: Discover common hobbies and passions.
• Celebrity Power Couples: Discuss and rank top celebrity relationships.
• Aging Transformation Revelations: Predict and share how you’ll look in old age.
• Cooking Together Adventures: Ideas for shared cooking experiences and meals.
• Couples’ Game Night Picks: Recommend the best games for entertaining nights.
• Ideal Relationship Presents: Brainstorm perfect gifts for partners.
• Guess My Likes and Dislikes: Let your partner guess the things you like and dislike most. (Pro tip: surprise each other with your favorite likes to show appreciation.)
• Admitted Annoying Habits: Confess and discuss personal bad habits.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For Colleagues

• Workplace Superlatives: Give out awards for “Best Desk Decor,” “Snack Guru,” and more.
• Workplace Humor: Create a humorous presentation about office life and inside jokes.
• Work-Life Balance: Discuss strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
• Colleague Cocktails: Match coworkers to cocktail personalities and explain why.
• Dream Escapes: Share preferred activities over current work tasks.
• Office Character Match: Compare colleagues to “The Office” TV show characters.
• Job Highs and Lows: Share best and worst aspects of your jobs.
• Insta Pic Ratings (office edition): Rate coworkers’ Instagram photos with humor.
• Caption Critiques (office edition): Evaluate colleagues’ Instagram captions in a friendly manner.
• Bold Unpopular Views: Share personal opinions that go against the norm.
• Diary Delves: Reveal intriguing and amusing diary entries.
• Lottery Dreams Unveiled: Present extravagant plans if you won the lottery.
• Initial Impressions: Discuss first impressions of your colleagues and how they evolved.
• Office Fashion Faux Pas: Share and laugh at hilarious outfit choices and fashion mishaps.
• Email Etiquette Funnies: Present amusing email chains and memorable communication blunders.
• Cubicle Cribs: Show off creative desk setups and personalized workspaces.
• Desk Drawer Revelations: Share surprising and unusual items found in colleagues’ desk drawers.
• Conference Call Chronicles: Relive funny moments from virtual meetings and video calls.
• Workplace Pet Peeves: Discuss quirky habits and behaviors that amuse or annoy.
• Office Meme Masterpieces: Create and showcase memes inspired by office life.
• Office Confessions: Reveal humorous secrets, confessions, and funny anecdotes about the workplace.
• Colleague Catchphrases: Highlight phrases and sayings that have become synonymous with your team.
• Impersonation Challenge: Take turns imitating colleagues’ voices, habits, or signature moves.
• Hilarious Meeting Re-enactments: Act out funny scenarios from past meetings.
• Office Déjà Vu: Highlight situations that always seem to happen in the office.
• Mugshot Gallery: Present colleagues’ favorite mugs and the stories behind them.
• “If Colleagues Were Characters”: Match colleagues to fictional characters that best represent them.
• Office Screensavers: Share humorous or creative screensavers from colleagues’ computers.
• Job Title Makeovers: Playfully redefine job titles to capture the essence of each role.
• Alternate Universe Careers: Describe what alternative careers each colleague might pursue in a parallel universe.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For Classmates

• Future Forecast: Forecast friends’ aspirations and future paths.
• Passion Projects: Share your personal interests, hobbies, and passion-driven projects.
• Hidden Talents: Share your lesser-known talents and exceptional abilities.
• Emoji Wishlist: Suggest emojis you wish to see in updates.
• Snacks on the Go: Interpret road trip snack choices as personality traits of your classmates.
• Yearbook Image Ratings: Evaluate and rate yearbook photographs and have a good laugh together.
• Personal Hue Spectrum: Share color palettes that reflect each person’s personalities.
• Youthful Lessons: Explore crucial lessons learned during our younger years.
• Life Hacks: Share useful hacks for school challenges.
• Classroom Confessions: Share humorous and memorable confessions from your time in class.
• If Classmates Were Animals: Match each classmate to an animal based on their personality.
• Classmates’ Superlatives: Give out playful awards for “Class Clown,” “Tech Guru,” and more.
• Classroom Quirks Showcase: Highlight quirky habits and behaviors that define your classmates.
• Classmates’ Nicknames: Share the creative nicknames classmates have given each other.
• Classroom Antics Timeline: Create a timeline of funny and unexpected classroom moments.
• Inspirational Figures: Introduce individuals who serve as your sources of inspiration.
• Future Plans: Reveal post-graduation objectives, wanderlust, and individual dreams.
• Study Session Mishaps: Share and relive funny and chaotic moments from study sessions.
• Study Strategies: Provide strategies for successful learning and time utilization.
• Classmates’ Role Reversal: Imagine each classmate in a different role or profession.
• Classmate Epic Fails: Share hilarious stories of classmate mishaps and blunders.
• Classmate Time Travel: Imagine each classmate in a different era of history.
• Classmate News Flash: Create satirical news headlines featuring your classmates.
• Classmate Trivia Challenge: Create trivia questions based on quirky classmate facts.

PowerPoint Night Ideas For New Friends

• New Friend Fun Facts: Present unique and surprising facts of yourself to each other.
• Two Truths and a Lie: Create slides with two true statements and one false statement about yourself. Your new friend guesses which is the lie.
• First impression: Share your first impressions about each new friend in a friendly manner.
• Fantasy Friend Day: Imagine your dream day together, from activities to destinations.
• Friendship Compatibility Test: Design a humorous compatibility quiz to determine how well you match.
• New Friend Travel Plans: Imagine and present your dream travel itinerary together.
• Personal Timeline: Create a visual timeline of your life, including significant events, milestones, and hobbies.
• Favorite Things Presentation: Compile images and descriptions of your favorite books, movies, foods, places, hobbies etc.
• Guess My Passion: Present photos and clues about a particular hobby or interest, and your new friend guesses what it is.
• My Name in…: Explore the history and meaning of your name in different languages and cultures.
• Personality Collage: Create a collage of images, symbols, and quotes that reflect your personality and values.
• My Best Day Ever: Design a presentation detailing your ideal day, from morning to night.
• Cultural Exchange: Present aspects of your culture, traditions, or customs that you’d like to share.
• Alternate Reality Self: Imagine an alternate version of yourself with different interests and experiences.
• In a Parallel Universe: Discuss how your life might differ if you made one pivotal decision differently.
• My Superhero Alter Ego: Describe the traits and powers your superhero self would possess.
• If I Could Time Travel: Explain which historical era you’d visit and what you’d do there.
• If I Could Swap Lives: Discuss whose life you’d want to experience for a day and why.
• Emoji Biography: Craft a biography using emojis to depict important milestones and experiences.
• Word Cloud of Traits: Generate a word cloud highlighting personality traits that describe you.
• Guilty Pleasures: Reveal guilty pleasures you enjoy, whether it’s movies, music, or quirky habits.
• Fantasy Adventure Partner: Describe the fantastical adventures you’d embark on with your new friend.
• Book or Movie Character: Explain which fictional character you feel most connected to and why.
• My Personal Mantra: Share a phrase or quote that inspires and motivates you.
• If I Were a Food: Describe the type of food you’d be based on your personality.
• Mars Spirit Animals: Choose a unique planet and assign hilarious “spirit animals” for each other.
• Fantasy BFF Swap: Present the perks and challenges of swapping best friends for a day with your new friend.

Funny PowerPoint Night Ideas

• Driver Ratings: Rate each friend’s driving skills with anecdotes.
• First Horror Movie Victim: Predict who’d go first in a horror film.
• Jail Time Predictions: Guess how each friend would end up in jail.
• Body Swap Adventures: Describe what you’d do in your friend’s body.
• Crying Locations Ratings: Rate places where you’ve cried before.
• Kidnapper’s Change of Heart: Explain why a kidnapper would return your friends.
• Bank Heist Roles: Assign roles for each friend in a hypothetical bank heist.
• Santa’s Existence: Proof that Santa does exist.
• Cartoon Villains: Match your friends with cartoon villains.
• Hunger Games Survival: Estimate the survival time and downfall of each friend in Hunger Games.
• Problematic Scale: Playfully rate how problematic each friend is.
• Gender Swap: Imagine how friends would be as the opposite gender.
• Conspiracy Theorist Tales: Invent conspiracy theories about each friend.
• Comical Anecdotes: Exchange funny and cringe-worthy tales.
• Hilarious Memes: Share recent funny memes you’ve encountered.
• Funeral Planning: Plan a light-hearted and unique funeral for yourself.
• DIY Disasters: Show before-and-after photos of DIY projects that didn’t quite go as planned.
• Text Comedy Revealed: Share amusing text message exchanges.
• Extreme Makeover: Present outrageous and funny makeovers you’d give to each other.
• My Secret Lair or Hideout: Share the most absurd and extravagant places you’d hide out in as a secret agent.
• Hair Horror: Share the worst hairstyles throughout history.
• Career Misinterpretations: Explain what you think each friend does for work.
• Yearbook Ratings: Rate yearbook photos with humor.
• Pick-Up Line Extravaganza: Share both terrible and hilarious pick-up lines.
• Weird Global Foods: Share unusual foods from around the world.
• Fashion Fails: Showcase fashion faux pas and “Worst Outfit” moments.

10 Tips for An Unforgettable PowerPoint Night

Now that you have an exciting array of PowerPoint night ideas in your arsenal, let us make sure you combine them with the following tips to ensure your PowerPoint night is an unforgettable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

1.     Select Diverse Topics : Pick a mix of fun, informative, and personal subjects to appeal to everyone’s interests.

2.     Interactive Elements : Infuse interactive elements in your PowerPoint presentations like quizzes, polls, or challenges to actively engage the audience and spark conversations.

Read this Expert Guide to  Interactive PowerPoint  for more expert tips, tutorials and free templates for interactive PowerPoint presentations, with a free 60+ pages playbook for download.

3.     Add a Personal Flair : Encourage sharing personal stories, anecdotes, or cherished memories to forge deeper connections among participants.

4.     Timekeeping : Use a timer to help keep everything on track and ensure seamless transitions between presentations.

5.     Variety of Formats : Be flexible and embrace diverse presentation styles—blend informative pieces with humor, storytelling, or even interactive games to keep things fresh.

6.     Clear and Concise Content : Keep your slides straightforward and succinct. Use bullet points, short sentences, and key phrases to convey your message with precision.

7.     Visual Appeal : Infuse your slides with fun and engaging images, graphics, and icons to elevate the visual appeal.

8.     Minimal Text : Cut down on excessive text and use only essential keywords and phrases to complement your spoken presentation. (Remember, this is not a lecture or class presentation!)

9.     Engaging Fonts : Opt for easy-to-read fonts that are pleasing to the eye. Stick to a maximum of two font styles for a polished and unified appearance.

10.  Audience-Focused : Tailor your content to your audience’s interests and questions. Address their needs to keep them fully engaged and invested.

In a fast-paced digital world quick with fleeting connections, PowerPoint nights stand as investments that hold a value beyond mere currency. These gatherings are more than just presentations; they are windows into the soul of friendships, families, and colleagues. So, whether you’re bonding with loved ones, rekindling old friendships, or strengthening workplace camaraderie, remember that a PowerPoint night isn’t just about the slides—it’s about the stories, the connections, and the joy that unfolds with each click. So, we hope you make good use of the ideas above to create an epic PowerPoint night, because you are not just creating presentations, but moments that will be cherished for a lifetime.

For alternative social gathering ideas, check out our 350+ funny trivia questions bank . And for more PowerPoint game ideas, check out our PowerPoint Jeopardy template and PowerPoint Trivia template !

About Zhun Yee Chew

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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?

10 PowerPoint Party Ideas | How to Create One for Free in 2024

Lakshmi Puthanveedu • 28 Mar 2024 • 5 min read

📌 We’re all familiar with get-togethers for movie marathons or virtual reality gaming sessions.

But there’s a new trend joining the party scene: PowerPoint parties ! Intrigued? Wondering what they are and how to throw one? Keep reading to unveil the fun and unique world of PowerPoint parties!

Table of Contents

What is a powerpoint party, how to host a powerpoint party.

• #1 Celebrity Lookalikes
• #2 Your friends as drunk types
• #3 Cartoon characters
• #4 Friends in Reality TV Shows
• #5 Who To Play Shrek in a Live-Action Film?
• #6 Your Friend Circle as High School Musical Characters
• #7 5 Best College Nights
• #8 The 5 Worst 2000 Trends
• #9 Conspiracy Theories
• #10 Your Friends as Getaway Drivers

Key Takeaways

Frequently asked questions.

It is a trend to use Microsoft PowerPoint software for fun activities rather than its traditional business and academic associations. In this game, participants prepare a PowerPoint presentation on a topic of their choice before the party. Participants take turns presenting their PowerPoint theme to the other participants for a set number of minutes during the party. Following the presentation, the participant must be ready to answer questions from the other attendees.

👏 Learn more: Be More Creative with More Funny PowerPoint topics

Powerpoint parties became quite popular during the COVID-19 lockdown when the distance kept people from each other. These parties allow you to interact with friends virtually without physically being in the same room with them. You can host a PowerPoint party using Zoom or another virtual meeting software, or you can do it in person.

If you are away from a group of people you love and care about, throwing a PowerPoint party is a fantastic and unique bonding experience that will allow you to share some laughs even if thousands of miles separate you.

If you’re attending a PowerPoint party, you can present whatever you want. Use PowerPoint, Google Slides, or AhaSlides interactive add-ins to create your slideshow, then fill it with images, charts, graphs, quotes, gifs, videos, and whatever else you think will help you make your point. (Most PowerPoint parties, whether in topic or presentation, should be silly.)

🎊 Create Interactive Google Slides Easily in Simple Few Steps

One presentation tip: Use your slideshow to display images, graphs, and keywords or phrases that support your point. Don’t just read what’s on the screen; try to make your case with notecards.

Start in seconds.

Get started with your Powerpoint Party by free templates from AhaSlides. Sign up now and take what you want, to host up to 7 people, 100% free!

PowerPoint Party Ideas

We have compiled a list of unique PowerPoint party ideas to get you started. Use these to develop the theme for your own PowerPoint party.

There are several categories to choose from, depending on the mood of your night. Your concept should be unique (in sound), relatable to your group, and surprising enough to stand out.

Enforcing a themed dress code will take the party to the next level. If they present a historical figure, have everyone dress up. You could also request that everyone dress in business attire or a single colour.

Celebrity Lookalikes

If you nail this topic, you’ll win PowerPoint night. Nothing beats putting the puzzle pieces together to make your friend look exactly like Buford from Phineas and Ferb. Celebrities – celebrity lookalikes , do not have to be real people; cartoons are also available. Let’s use this to make some lasting comparisons and inside jokes. So, Start thinking!

Your friends as drunk types

The emotional drunk, the sloppy drunk, and the hungry drunk—the list goes on. Insert some amusing photos of your wild drunken nights, and there you have it.

Which cartoon characters do your friends most closely resemble?

Make sure to distinguish this category from celebrity impersonators. It is where individuals’ personalities come into play. “My friend personifies Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, and she behaves exactly like her. This PowerPoint presentation party will bring out some hilarious reactions.” This topic discusses physical and clothing similarities.

Friends in Reality TV Shows

Since reality television is a neglected realm in the world of PowerPoint nights, this presentation idea is gold. Consider this an opportunity to reflect on some of the most “quality” and “talented” television personalities. Your best friend would crush on Kim Kardashian or channel their inner Snooki from Jersey Shore. Whatever the case may be, there is a show for everyone.

Who Do You Think Would Play Shrek in a Live-Action Film?

Look no further for a more comedic approach to presentation night. Not only is Shrek a funny category in and of itself, but casting a live-action movie with no restrictions on who you choose is a winning formula. Be sure to think that only the Shrek cast is available. The films Ratatouille, Madagascar, and Ice Age are all noteworthy. Nonetheless, kudos to the genius behind this brilliant idea.

Your Friend Circle as High School Musical Characters

Taylor Mckessie and Sharpay Evans are in every friend group. Can you imagine a world without them? This topic will always be a hit on a PowerPoint night, whether you are a basketball player or a theatre kid. The classics must not be tampered with at all.

5 Best College Nights

It will be such a fan-favourite idea for PowerPoint party sessions. There’s no better feeling than walking down a memory lane that spirals into a 30-minute session of animated storytelling about that exact moment. Make a compilation of your most iconic Snapchat moments and epic videos to create the presentation of a lifetime. The night will bring back laughter, tears, old jokes, and the mutual agreement that your PowerPoint is the night’s highlight.

The 5 Worst 2000 Trends

This concept allows you to take a trip down memory lane. To review the iconic fashion fails of the 2000s, dust off your yearbooks and dig out your photo albums. You already know what they are. Do you remember crimped hair, cargo pants, or jelly sandals?

Conspiracy Theories

Who doesn’t like conspiracy theories? Pick out the most intriguing theories, ranging from the Illuminati to UFO sightings, and put them on the slide show. Trust me; it will be a rollercoaster ride.

Your Friends as Getaway Drivers

We’ve all got friends who drive like getaway drivers without being asked, and now is the time to acknowledge them. Agility, speed, and the ability to manoeuvre quickly through traffic without causing an accident are counting here. Let’s channel our inner “Baby Driver” and get this PowerPoint night started!

Virtual parties are the best way to connect with friends, family, and colleagues. The number of opportunities is endless regarding fun PowerPoint party topics. So, let’s get the party started!

What is Powerpoint Party?

PowerPoint party is a party where participants can join in, craft and give presentations on topics of their choice, with so many activities, including drinking, spinner wheel , live WordClouds , public Q&As , online quizzes , themed costumes…

What should be avoided during PowerPoint presentation?

There are few things that you should avoid when presenting, including: avoid excessive text, overloading slides with visuals, reading off the slides, lack of structure and organization, present too much information… overall lack of engagement with the audience.

Lakshmi Puthanveedu

A small-town girl enthralled by culture, languages, and sunsets. Casual artist and musician looking to make memories every step of the way. Now changing the way humans live and have virtual interactions with AhaSlides.

More from AhaSlides

How To Throw A Zoom PowerPoint Party With Your Friends

The longer people spend in quarantine, the more creative they become when it comes to thinking of safe and fun ways to keep interacting with their friends. Video conferencing apps like Zoom have played a big part in this. And while you may have already taken advantage of the app in regard to video chatting with friends, Zoom users have come up with another fun and innovative way to use the app: PowerPoint parties! Zoom PowerPoint parties are meant to add an educational aspect to video calls with friends — but they're way more fun than they sound.

What Is A Zoom PowerPoint Party

Zoom PowerPoint parties are pretty straight-forward. Everybody in the "party" prepares a short presentation on something they're interested in or care about. And then, when everyone gets on a Zoom call, they present that PowerPoint to the group.

OK, I know what you're thinking. Why would anyone want to do voluntary work on a PowerPoint? But the great thing about Zoom PowerPoint parties is they're supposed to be lighthearted and funny, and they can be about virtually anything you want them to be about. Some people who have shared their own PowerPoint party ideas have included ones on Netflix's Tiger King , " Why Birds Aren't Real ," and " Hot Cartoon Characters ." The possibilities are endless.

Schedule The Due Date

If you want to have a Zoom PowerPoint party with your friends, it's pretty simple to do so. It's most important to first set a date and time for the presentations to take place. While many people have had a lot more free time due to practicing social distancing guidelines, you still want to factor in time that they probably don't want to spend working on an nonessential PowerPoint. Setting a deadline three days to a week later could be most practical.

Once everyone's agreed on a due date, you can go ahead and schedule a meeting on Zoom. You can do this by going to the Meetings tab on the left side of the screen on your desktop or on the home screen on your smartphone app. Here, you'll see an option to Schedule A Meeting. Select this and then fill out all of the information required, including the date, time, and topic of the meeting. You'll even be able to invite attendees to the meeting by typing in their email.

Choose Your Topic

After sorting out when your PowerPoint presentations are due, it's time to start planning out your topic and creating your slides. This is all up to you. Whatever topic you're passionate about or just really want to annoy your friends with is exactly what you should do your presentation on. Do you have a hunch that the moon landing never happened? Have you created a sure-fire system to dealing with ghosting? Do you know why Mr. Krabs has a whale as a daughter? Now is the perfect time to explore and share all of those burning thoughts.

Create Your Powerpoint

Unlike real PowerPoint assignments, you can have as much fun with your slides as you want. Do you want to use all of the animations and special effects you were told to avoid in school? Great. Do you want your entire PowerPoint to be made of blank white pages with a single word on each slide? Fabulous. You have all the liberty in the world to do what you want with your PowerPoint slides. Just remember that the point of Zoom PowerPoint parties is to teach your friends about something, so creating your PowerPoint in a way that does this best is probably the most ideal. Adding pictures, videos, and screenshots of tweets will go a long way.

Present Your PowerPoint

Once everything is in line and your due date rolls around, it's time to present your masterpiece to your friends. To do this, make sure everyone hops on the Zoom call you scheduled. This can be done by going into the emailed invitations and clicking on the link there. People can also join the meeting by copying the Meeting ID also provided on the email and entering that in once clicking on Join A Meeting on the Zoom app.

After everyone has signed on, the PowerPoint party can begin. Whoever wants to go first can do so by sharing their screen . To do this, you have to click "Share Screen" at the bottom of your Zoom call window. Then, when you are shown options of which windows you want to share, tap on your PowerPoint screen. This will allow everyone in the call to see your PowerPoint. Click on the Slideshow tab and then Begin within your PowerPoint. After this, your presentation can begin. You'll be able to verbally present as your friends see your PowerPoint. Once you've finished your turn, just hit Stop Share at the bottom of your screen. Then, the next person can follow this same process to present their PowerPoint.

Whether you choose to use flashcards, notes, or just do your presentation off the dome, remember that the main objective is to have fun and interact with your friends. And if you can end up convincing one of them that Nick Jonas is in fact the hottest Jonas brother, well then that's just a plus.

This article was originally published on April 8, 2020

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Home / AI Writing / 75 Unique & Creative Ideas For Your Next PowerPoint Night

75 Unique & Creative Ideas For Your Next PowerPoint Night

Who knew that the presentation program we all know and love would take over our ‘For You’ pages on TikTok with hilarious PowerPoint night ideas? From high school to the workplace, we’ve all had to create compelling slides to communicate our ideas, but now TikTok has shown us a whole new dimension of fun!

Picture it: you and your friends huddled around a projector, laughing until your sides hurt as you click through hilarious slides.

Want to join in on the fun? Check out our list of some of the best and funniest PowerPoint night ideas below! Trust us, it’ll be a night to remember!

75 Mind-Blowing Ideas for PowerPoint Night

How awesome is it that presentations can actually be fun and not just something you have to do for work or school, right? Get ready to channel your inner comedian or storyteller, because we’ve got 75 funny PowerPoint night ideas that are sure to make your night memorable:

• Dream wedding destinations
• Rating Disney Princes
• Rating friends as drivers
• Your friends as Spongebob Characters
• Everyone’s worst ex
• Your friends’ celebrity lookalikes
• Guessing your friends’ most recent Google searches
• Predictions of who Pete Davidson will date next
• Everyone’s favorite movies ranked
• Your favorite memory with each friend
• Best conspiracy theories
• Ideas for your future homes
• Best board games and why they’re the best
• Everyone’s love language
• The best TV shows to binge-watch
• Your favorite artists and why
• The funniest memes you’ve seen recently
• The best books you’ve ever read
• Places you’d love to travel to
• Best road trips you’ve ever taken
• Things that have happened to you that no one believes
• Your colleagues as an alcoholic beverage
• Things you hate— and everyone has a chance to try to change your mind
• Everyone’s enneagram types
• Best TV series finales
• Your favorite TV show characters and why
• Rating fast food restaurants
• Recreating your friends’ Instagram photos
• Why (fill in the blank) is overrated
• List of shower thoughts
• Your friends’ selfies as Vogue covers
• 15 Best Celebrity Couples
• Casting celebrities to play everyone in a movie
• Predicting your friends’ futures
• A song for every milestone in your life
• Your group as Friends characters
• The emojis you need in the next update
• The best and worst apps you’ve downloaded
• The best and worst dates you’ve been on
• Best and worst trends on TikTok
• Best YouTube channels to binge-watch
• Favorite childhood memories
• The best books you’ve read in the last year
• Give each friend a superpower and explain why
• Guess the celebrity based on childhood photos
• Hot takes on a new album from your favorite artist
• Life hacks that have changed your life
• How to survive a zombie apocalypse with your friends
• Things you wish you knew before college
• Things you wish you knew before your first job
• Things you wish you knew before your first relationship
• The best and worst pickup lines you’ve ever heard
• The most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you
• Your favorite guilty pleasure song
• Your favorite fictional character and why
• What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
• Favorite board games ranked
• Each friend’s spirit animal and why
• Things you’ve always wanted to learn how to do
• A song to describe each person in your friend group and why
• Things you would do if you were president
• Holidays ranked from worst to best
•  Things you’d rather be doing than your current job
• Things you would do with a million dollars
• Your friends as ice cream flavors
• Your favorite childhood snacks and drinks
• Reality shows each friend would do best on
• What you would do if you were in your friends’ bodies for a day
• Your friends as dog breeds
• An analysis of everyone’s exes
• Who each friend was in a former lifetime
• Ranking all the cartoon characters you’ve had crushes on
• Historical figures you could date
• The role everyone would play in a bank heist
• Which Taylor Swift era everyone is

8 Tips To Host The Best PowerPoint Night For Your Friends & Family

Alright, so now that you have all these amazing ideas, how can you use them effectively to have an awesome PowerPoint night with your friends? Here are some tips and tricks for you:

1. Have plenty of snacks and drinks

PowerPoint nights are incomplete without some yummy snacks and beverages. Grab your favorite chips, dips, and drinks, and enjoy the night!

2. Keep it short and sweet

Remember, nobody wants to sit through a long and boring presentation, so keep it short and sweet.

3. Get creative

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your presentation. Use images, videos, and sound effects to make your presentation more engaging and entertaining.

Bonus: 6 Different Types of Presentation Styles

4. Keep it light

While it’s fun to poke fun at each other, it’s important to keep the tone light-hearted and avoid any hurtful or offensive content. Remember, the goal of the night is to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.

5. Use lots of visuals

Remember, this is supposed to be a fun night, so make your presentation visually appealing! Use funny memes, pictures, and videos to keep your audience entertained.

Bonus: Free Graphic Design Tool: Create Stunning Visuals

6. Choose a Theme

One way to make your PowerPoint Night more cohesive and enjoyable is to choose a theme. This can be anything from pop culture to personal experiences. Themes help to give your presentation a sense of direction and can make it easier to come up with ideas.

Bonus: Create impactful AI presentations with our range of presentation templates

7. Have fun!

This is obviously a no-brainer, but always remember to have fun! PowerPoint night is all about letting loose and having a good time with your friends.

8. Use an AI Presentation Maker to Make Things Easier

Creating a PowerPoint night presentation doesn’t have to be stressful. Simplified’s free AI presentation maker has got you covered! In just minutes, you can create beautiful and engaging slides that match your chosen theme, with a single prompt in seconds.

Plus, with our extensive library of images, icons, and fonts, your creativity can run wild. And we certainly can’t forget about the animation options that can add that extra pop to your presentation!

Get started today!

Make Your PowerPoint Nights Unforgettable with Simplified Presentation Maker!

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35 PowerPoint Night Ideas to Try That Will Steal Audience’s Attention

Nurma Febriana

• Published on May 17, 2022

Table of Contents

Do you want to do something entertaining like PowerPoint night ideas? But you don’t have to leave the house or worry about facing large crowds. Now, we revert to every activity we did at the beginning of the lockdown (other than the aimless Zoom happy hours, please!). 

We should be grateful to Omicron for being present with us. You’re not alone if you’ve done a virtual game night or movie night in the past couple of weeks. 

There are plenty of ways to plan an entertaining PowerPoint night with your friends. They’re easy enough for you to run virtually.

A PowerPoint party is a breakthrough for the participant to create and present their topic choice at its core. You can make topics as funny, fun, or niche as possible using Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slide. Also, you can now convert jpg to ppt PowerPoint file using online JPG to PowerPoint converter if you want to represent your images in slides.

Powerpoint night ideas have been a popular TikTok trend for college friends groups and sororities who want to make additional presentations outside of the ones they have to do in class

Creative ideas for TikTok users include the way they present the material (lots of pictures, hand gestures, outspoken honesty, and even costumes). PowerPoint night videos are all over TikTok now; they will improve your hangout. It would help if you tried it.

If you have a lot of friends, limit the number of slides so it doesn’t feel like a three-hour lecture. And if you have a built-in group of roommates, you can take turns presenting on your TV screen using an HDMI cord or Chromecast. It is a straightforward way to keep yourselves busy for the night (add wine and make it a drinking game if you wish). 

Get fancy with your PowerPoint skills—we’ve got you covered with these PowerPoint night ideas

The key is to be creative with the topic you present or a specific topic about the Taylor Swift conspiracy; you and your friends can create a competition, create a score sheet and award the grand prize winner at the end! Ready to play?

Here are the top fresh PowerPoint night ideas for your next PowerPoint night that will steal the show.

Your friend as the Shrek character

Cast everyone as all creatures from afar, like making a pretty solid group Halloween costume.

Friends group trivia game

You can see if everyone at GC can answer the most obscure questions about each other. You can have everyone send it to whoever made the presentation.

Predictions of who Pete Davidson will date next

Your job is making a case for Pete and Jason Momoa. According to memes circulating ft, Pete is with a newly single Jason Momoa. 

Explain that image

You can dig through social media archives by dragging random photos from V far back in everyone’s Facebook history. You provide details about the photo-taking (who/what/where/when/why).

Everyone’s worst ex

It can be a conversation starter. Then you need to know your group of friends and their history very well.

Taylor Swift’s song describes everyone

Someone would be “Teardrops on My Guitar,” and someone would be “ME!”.

American girl doll rice purity scores

Just so you know, this virtuous Doll serves as our childhood material mentor, but in the words of wisdom from Cobra Starship’s hit song, “Good Girls Go Bad.” We also know Kit Kittredge isn’t that innocent; he’s just pretending. But the blonde bob, lavender cardigan, and flat-panel floral skirt fooled no one.

Recasting your friends as high school musical characters

Each group of friends has Taylor Mckessie and Sharpay Evans. This topic will always be a hit on PowerPoint night ideas for you, a basketball athlete, or a theater kid.

Your friend’s celebrity lookalikes

You will be on top of PowerPoint night ideas if you understand this topic and put together pieces that your friend looks precisely like Buford from Phineas and Ferb (true story) because cartoons can be a target too. Start thinking!

Who will you play in Shrek live-action?

Shrek is in a funny category, and this topic is a winner. This topic is a genius idea. Shrek did a lot of comedy on presentation night. In addition to the Shrek cast, there are also Ratatouille, Madagascar, and Ice Age actors.

Which reality TV show each friend would thrive on

Do you want the presentation night to be golden? Reality TVs are PowerPoint night ideas. Take the topic to reflect on some of the most “qualified” and “talented” TV personalities.

What cartoons would each of your friends best fit?

This topic takes physical similarities by adding substance to the argument. In this topic, personality plays a role.

See also: You Won’t Be Able to Memorize Your Presentation Material in 2022

Five best nights on campus.

This Idea is sure to become a fan favorite. Because this Idea will spark conversation, laughs, and a mutual agreement that your PowerPoint was the best of the night. Compile your most iconic Snapchats and epic videos to make people remember your PowerPoint presentation night.

Which side of TikTok will be the former US President?

As everyone knows, TikTok can be weird because of the many segments and avenues that can lead you to content you never imagined you would see. So, this brings us to your PowerPoint evening idea.

Top 10 worst trends of the 2000s

With the people hyping up the Y2K trends , this Idea allows you to take a trip down memory lane. I talked to my roommate about how I wore jean shorts over my pink leggings in high school. Then, I paired it with a green top to look like a watermelon.

The only trend of the 2000s was Lip Smackers. This Idea would be fun for you to come.

Disney characters you would not let hold my drink at a party

You can use Disney characters in your PowerPoint night ideas, like mystical and magical Disney. You might be able to name five to 10 slightly sketchy Disney characters. For example, you can use the Baboon character from The Lion King. Now activate that Disney+ account and explore those childhood classics!

Predicting your friend’s futures

You can get creative and make each of your friend’s future starter packs for your PowerPoint evening. It is an easy and fun topic to dive into & test your best friend’s knowledge.

Rating your friend’s drunk snacks

You can include ideas, for example, when you open the refrigerator. You will find some food for reference ideas.

The spicy Cheetos are the only thing that will make the night right for some. There was a pizza roll and a bag of Skittles. For example, make a literal video of someone eating a bowl of turkey with a spoon or eating a piece of bread.

Whatever floats your boat, put it in PowerPoint night ideas.

Rating the most attractive fast-food mascots

This topic is entirely out of the box. This Idea is a new contribution to the world of PowerPoint night ideas.

Rating your friends as getaway drivers

We all have friends who are currently driving like runaway drivers without being asked (the sound of a car swerving). Now is the time to allow them to maneuver quickly in traffic without causing accidents. Channel the “Driver” idea in this PowerPoint night!

Which old flame of Jose Rizal would your friends’ date?

Jose Rizal is more than just a revolutionary writer, sports fan, and lover. Rizal likes many of these women for different reasons. According to him, every woman is a unique individual.

Recasting Four Sisters and a Wedding, but it’s you and your friends

This iconic film will have you laughing at one scene and crying the next because there are more characters than just the four sisters—and you might relate to one feeling a little more than the other.

See also: Data Presentation: Best Ways to Display Data Visually in 2022

An in-depth analysis of your friend group’s reactions to different types/amounts of alcohol.

You can use PowerPoint night ideas with varying types of alcohol according to How I Met Your Mother episode 22 of Season 6, entitled: The Perfect Cocktail .

Different people react to alcohol (and other types of alcohol) differently. Therefore, take this opportunity to use all the photos and videos of your friends, but in an analytical, scientific, research paper way.

Which atomic model best suits your friend’s personality?

We are all material, so it’s time to get personal on this PowerPoint night’s atomic (and perhaps philosophical) level. Everything that occupies space and has weight is called matter. The matter consists of atoms.

What would your friends do if they were on ASAP?

ASAP has provided entertainment for over 20 years with a variety of shows. What would your friends do if they were on stage?

Apart from roles, it also takes a hard-working and dedicated crew to produce such a show. Maybe you can take PowerPoint night ideas to another level and turn them into a variety show. 

The Taylor Swift song era that best describes your friend’s romantic past and present (or lack thereof)

The Powerpoint topics are specifically for everyone out there. They travel down memory lane and rediscover past emotions. Meanwhile, Taylor and his fans are preparing for the release of Red (Taylor’s Version).

Ranking who would most likely help you hide a body (and what their plan would be)

Are you and your friends For-Lifers? (For this purpose, it is a joke only for entertainment among friends)

What art period/movement would your friends in thrive?

Interesting Bob Ross Powerpoint topic is suitable for art. Be it in self-created art or the world scene during the period/movement.

Do you give off “Sinigang” or adobo energy?

The topic of Powerpoint Sinigang or adobo to explain it to some people gives a different vibe.

Who your friends’ perfect ka-love team would be (and if they would end up dating off-screen)

Celebrities are constantly trying to develop the on-screen couple with the best chemistry. Stars or your group of friends can do the match.

History drunk

The presenter selects a historical figure or event as the topic of the evening’s PowerPoint. For example, asking everyone with their personality or period style to drink alcohol before a presentation is fun.

The greatest ever

Each presenter selects a movie television show, game town, or food town in the same genre to encourage a friendly contest.

Theorems about conspiracy theories

Choose alternative conspiracy theories to convince everyone.

Writing characters

Presenters choose groups: dogs, characters from television, movies or books, and food, and explain who will be in each group. For example, the presenter can describe the Harry Potter characters.

Superlative, adult edition

Give each of your friends the best adult version, e.g., the Irish are going out of the party, they might order takeout even after an entire Trader Joe’s ride, etc.

And those are 35 topics for PowerPoint Night Ideas that can be your reference.

See also: Zoom Presentation Tips to Inspire Your Audiences

What are the most creative powerpoint night ideas .

PowerPoint night ideas are a trend on TikTok that involves you and your friends creating funny slideshows about hot takes, ratings, and other nuances, then presenting.

The whole point of PowerPoint night is to be as creative as you want to be and have fun with your topic.

Let’s visit RRSlide to download free PowerPoint templates . But wait, don’t go anywhere and stay here with our Blog to keep up-to-date on all the best pitch deck template collections and design advice from our PowerPoint experts !

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PowerPoint parties are still bringing friends together, one hyper-specific subject at a time

For McCall Mirabella’s 21st birthday party last month, she asked guests to bring only one gift: A PowerPoint presentation.

Mirabella, a TikTok and YouTube personality with over 1.3 million followers across both platforms, assembled her closest friends and asked them to present a slideshow on anything they could think of. The only criteria was “the sillier, the better.”

Her guests delivered. One attendee ranked the attractiveness of 10 animated characters while another humorously explored the disparate stages of being high. Mirabella herself presented her predictions for how long her friends would survive in the Hunger Games (and how they’d meet their violent ends , seemingly a popular template for a PowerPoint party).

Such are the delights of PowerPoint presentation nights, which boomed in popularity during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic but are still charming partygoers (this, in spite of its regular use in corporate offices the world over). Through a silly slideshow, groups of friends get to know each other’s niche interests, secret pastimes and frequently hilarious takes on their friends’ quirks and strengths.

Seeing the people she loves get worked up over assigning each other Taylor Swift songs that match their personalities or fictional crimes that would land them in prison is a joy specific to slideshow-centric parties, Mirabella said.

“They’re so unserious,” she said of PowerPoint nights she’s attended and hosted. “Most of the time, people are left crying from laughing so hard, or bent over wheezing.”

PowerPoint parties got popular during the pandemic, but they’ve delighted friends for years

PowerPoint nights involve little more than an HDMI-compatible TV, a slideshow and a willingness to razz your friends or reveal your hidden passions. The software itself is nearly 40 years old , and it’s since become a staple in many offices and classrooms, but the ingenious PowerPoint party turns the familiar tech into a medium for comedy and comradery.

The concept of the PowerPoint party was formalized in 2012, when three students at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, hosted a “Drink, Talk & Learn” event. Guests of these early parties had to show up with a presentation on the arcane subject of their choice, like the moral alignment of Sonic the Hedgehog character Shadow, per Buzzfeed News .

The theme steadily grew more popular and by 2018, more PowerPoint enthusiasts in the US had caught on. Soon, everyone from software engineers in Seattle to students in Boston were presenting slides on hyper-specific subjects to a small crowd, often with a drink in hand.

In the Harvard Crimson’s account of one local PowerPoint party, a student presented his argument for why King Claudius is the true hero of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” a divisive take if there ever was one. The presenter told the school paper that his zeal for the topic had been relegated to “a rant to my friends up until now. Finally, I can present it to strangers.”

When Covid-19 arrived in 2020 and millions of Americans isolated in their homes, virtual PowerPoint parties became a safe, distanced way for friends to update each other on their lives and provide much-needed levity. Groups separated by the pandemic shared their screens on Zoom or even rallied their housemates to turn an ordinary night in isolation into an opportunity for a private TedTalk.

Tantalizing snippets from these presentations landed on TikTok (users rarely spill the juicy contents of the slideshows beyond their uproarious titles),  inspiring other users to host their own get-togethers. The subjects are typically zany, lighthearted takes on the idiosyncrasies of a group of friends — like how they’d each fare during a zombie apocalypse — and minor passions or dubious theories like the “real” (read: fictional) reason the dinosaurs died .

Since the party format took off in 2020 (and has since amassed over 40 million views on TikTok under related hashtags ), TikTok users have tested crafty new variations of the typical slideshow gathering and polled users on different platforms, like Reddit , for unique suggestions for presentations. Take the host who ambushed their guests by forcing them to present someone else’s PowerPoint on a subject they knew nothing about, like the hapless friend who bluffed their way through a presentation on how to pick stocks. A group in Philadelphia creates slideshows for their single friends to catch fellow singles’ attention. One creative TikTok-er even came out to their family in a PowerPoint on Christmas.

Though Microsoft PowerPoint software isn’t a requirement for these presentations — competing services like Prezi, Canva and Google Slides are also popular — Microsoft issued its own advice for hosting a premier PowerPoint party. Among its suggestions: Take advantage of those wacky transitions so photos can boomerang across the screen and titles can disappear with a click.

Since her cousins introduced her to PowerPoint parties during a sleepover eight months ago, Mirabella’s presentations have only improved in quality and theatricality. Her recent Hunger Games-themed slideshow included multimedia elements like Taylor Swift entering the fictional arena for a brief halftime performance to break up the bloodshed. Her friends voted it the best presentation of the night.

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Handbook: Financial statement presentation

Handbook | November 2023

Latest edition: In-depth guide on presentation and disclosure requirements, plus considerations under SEC regulations.

Using detailed Q&As and examples, we explain various presentation and general disclosure requirements included in the Codification (i.e. ASC 205 to ASC 280), other broad topics (e.g. related parties under ASC 850 and subsequent events under ASC 855) and SEC regulations. This November 2023 edition incorporates updated guidance and interpretations.

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In the financial statement process, considerable time is devoted to determining what items get recorded and how to account for them, but the critical final mile is determining how they need to appear – i.e. how they are presented and disclosed.

Once the debits and credits have been settled, presentation and disclosure is how that information is conveyed to financial statement users in a transparent, understandable and consistent manner. Disclosure goes ‘behind the numbers’ and is necessary to fully understand the financial statements.

ASC 205 to 280 in the FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification® are dedicated to presentation and disclosure and provide the baseline requirements. Other ASCs address more detailed requirements, specific to certain transactions or industries. For SEC registrants, there is yet more guidance that contains many additional requirements, and which has helped shape practices over the years for all other entities.

In this Handbook, we pull together many of the general requirements and practices to provide you with a fuller picture of how the different financial statements are constructed and how they interact with one another. 

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V. I.   Lenin

On the question of party unity [1].

Published: Proletary , No. 20, October 10 (September 27), 1905. Published according to the text in Proletary . Source: Lenin Collected Works , Progress Publishers, 1972 , Moscow, Volume 9 , pages  327-328 . Translated: The Late Abraham Fineberg and Julius Katzer Transcription\Markup: R. Cymbala Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive (2004). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source. • README

On our part, we can only welcome the perfectly clear and definite presentation of the question by the Central Committee—either fusion with the Party on the basis of the decisions of the Third Congress, or a unity congress. The Organising Committee will have to make the final choice. If it rejects entry into the Party on the basis of the decisions of the Third Congress, then the preparation and elaboration of the terms for a unity congress should be begun at once. To this end, both sides should first of all declare formally and quite explicitly that in principle the convening of two congresses at the same time and in the same place has been deemed necessary; secondly, it should likewise be formally established that all organisations in each section of the Party must unreservedly submit to decisions of the congress of their own section. In other words, both congresses should be of binding and not merely advisory significance to their respective Party sections; thirdly, the basis on which the congresses are to be convened should be definitely established in advance, i.e., what organisations are to send delegates and how many delegates with the right to vote each may send (for the section of the Party that has recognised the Third Congress, points 2 and 3 have already been defined in the Rules of the R.S.D.L.P. as adopted by that congress); fourthly, negotiations should at once be started on the time and place of the congress (the congresses themselves will decide as to the terms on which they will fuse, and the time of fusion); fifthly, it is extremely important that work should at once begin on drawing up a most explicit and detailed draft proposal on fusion, which should be submitted for decision to both congresses. This is a matter of imperative   necessity. The experience of other parties and of our own shows clearly that unless a draft proposal or draft proposals for fusion are prepared, published, and thoroughly discussed beforehand, it will be quite impossible for the congresses to come to a decision on so difficult a question.

So, it is now up to the Organising Committee, and its decision will be eagerly awaited by all who favour unity.

[1] On the Question of Party Unity —it was under this headline that Proletary , No. 20 of October 10 (September 27), 1905 published the following documents: minutes of the third conference of representatives of the R.S.D.L.P.’s Central Committee and the Mensheviks’ Organising Committee as elected at the Geneva Conference, and the Central Committee’s comments on these minutes. In its appraisal of the Mensheviks’ behaviour at the joint conference and the demands presented by them, the Central Committee pointed out that their policy was the same as it had been prior to the Third Congress, and that it was leading to “the greatest chaos and anarchy, to the disintegration of the Party”.

The documents were published with a note “From the Editorial Board” written by Lenin.

NASA ambassador to attend family-friendly solar eclipse party in Harrisburg

• Updated: Mar. 26, 2024, 12:39 p.m. |
• Published: Mar. 26, 2024, 11:58 a.m.

The last glimmer of the sun is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) NASA

• Sean Adams | [email protected]

The upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8 will make for quite a spectacle, and Whitaker Center in Harrisburg will host a special event to celebrate.

The Total Solar Eclipse Party will be held starting at 2:30 with a presentation from one of NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors, Kristin James. Attendees can learn the science behind solar eclipses prior to the preparations to view the eclipse itself, which will begin around 2:50 p.m.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Great Moscow Show Trials

Oct 12, 2013

110 likes | 298 Views

Great Moscow Show Trials. Prelude to terror. Alleged Komsomol (Young Communist League) plot against Stalin by students in Gorky Hundreds of former oppositionists arrested and “auditioned” for roles

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• poor safety conditions
• monstrous falsification
• third moscow
• second show trial
• general staff

Presentation Transcript

Prelude to terror • Alleged Komsomol (Young Communist League)plot against Stalin by students in Gorky • Hundreds of former oppositionists arrested and “auditioned” for roles • Secret police officials arrested and ordered to testify as part of fulfilling of their “duties” to the USSR • Valentine Olberg promised freedom and promotion for confessing that Trotsky asked him to kill Stalin • Olberg, along with fellow secret police agents Fritz David and Konon Berman-Yurin became defendants in 1936 trial

First show trial:August 19-24, 1936 • “The Case of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Centre” • Judge Vasily Ulrich, prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky • Allegations • Under orders from Trotsky, defendants created a counter-revolutionary organization that “strived to seize power at all costs” • Accused helped Leningrad group murder Kirov, plotted to kill Stalin and top Party leaders • To accomplish these murders Trotsky and his son Sedov sent German terrorists Berman-Yurin, Fritz David, N. Lurye and Olberg to the USSR • Principal defendants: Zinoviev (pictured), Kamenev, Smirnov, 13 more • All confessed. Two “witnesses,” Yakovlev and Safonova (Smirnov’s wife) testified that they were also involved in the plot. • All were convicted and shot the next day. World reaction was largely approving, except there was concern about the near-exclusive reliance on confession. • “Witnesses” were tried separately and shot. • During the trial accused implicated persons who would be tried later: • 1937 trial: Pyatakov, Radek, Sokolnikov and Serebryakov • 1938 trial: Bukharin and Rykov

Second show trial:January 23-30, 1937 • “The Case of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Centre”(also known as the “Pyatakov-Radek” trial) • Judge Vasily Ulrich, prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky • Allegations: Defendants were members of a group that worked withthe 1936 defendants, caused wrecking, sabotage and murder infurtherance of a plot between Trotsky, Germany and Japan tooverthrow the Soviet government and restore capitalism. • Principal defendants: (Clockwise from top left) Pyatakov, Radek,Sokolnikov, 14 more • All confessed. Five “witnesses” testified that they were also involved. • Corroborated the testimony of the principal defendants • Used to counter criticisms of the 1936 trial’s reliance on confessions • All were convicted. Thirteen were sentenced to death and shot. • Radek, Sokolnikov, one other got 10 years; another got 8 years • Radek and Sokolnikov mysteriously died in prison within two years • Four of the witnesses were tried separately and shot • The fifth witness, a German expatriate, was turned over to theGestapo. He then disappeared.

The Dewey Commission • Reports in 1937 & 1938 by "Commission of Inquiry into the ChargesMade against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials“ • Sponsored by wealthy American supporters of Leon Trotsky • Chaired by renowned academic John Dewey • Open hearings, interviewed Trotsky and many other witnesses • Concluded that the trial was completely falsified • Trotsky had never been in Paris, so he could not have met with witness Romm • Pyatakov did not meet Trotsky in Oslo, as there were no winter plane landings • The coffee house next to the Hotel Bristol could not exist as the meeting place for Romm and Sedov, as the hotel did not exist • Former Soviet inmates furnished detailed accounts of abuse and torture • Foreigners who had worked in the Soviet mines spoke at length about poor safety conditions and the unrelenting pressure to increase output • Mother of one of the defendants spoke of a woman mentioned in his confession: “She was an old woman who never left Riga, and had nothing whatever to do with politics. I often sent Valentine to her to collect money. For this reason I think that he mentioned the first name that came into his head, happening to recall the old lady.”

Aftermath of the second trial; preparing for the next • Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Commissar of Heavy Industry commits suicideshortly after 1937 trial • Realizing their peril, Nikolai Bukharin (Lenin’s top economist, opposedend of NEP and forced industrialization) and Alexei Rykov stronglyprotest their innocence at Party meetings, accuse Stalin of wrongdoing • Special Party Committee assigned to investigate reports thatboth were Rightist conspirators and knew of the Trotskyite center • Bukharin and Rykov arrested “on the spot” • Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization (“The Generals’ Trial”) • Eight top members of the General Staff including Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky (pictured) accused of conspiring with Trotsky and conducting espionage for Germany. Based strictly on confessions. • Linked to Radek’s mention of Tukhachevsky at 1937 trial • Each convicted of treason and executed in June 1937

Third Moscow show trial:March 2-13, 1938 • “Case of the Anti-Soviet Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites”(also known as the “Rykov-Bukharin trial”) • Judge Vasily Ulrich (bottom, reading the verdicts),prosecutor Andrei Vyshinsky (top, video link) • Allegations: At the direction of Trotsky, accused helpedGerman, Polish and Japanese intelligence commitwrecking in industry, transport, agriculture anddistribution, and commit murder and terrorism, withthe goals of overthrowing the government, dismembering theUSSR and restoring capitalism. • Twenty-one defendants. Main accused were Bukharin, Rykov,Yagoda (former secret police chief). • Yagoda testified he told his Leningrad agent not tointerfere with the murder of Kirov. He also testified that herecruited physicians to murder high Party officials throughpoisoning and incorrect treatments. • Physicians Bulanov, Levin and Pletnev confirmed Yagoda’s testimony in their confessions. • Principal defendants plus fifteen others were shot; three lesser accused got 25, 20 and 15 years. http://youtu.be/nFB9G1HINXI

A legacy of falsification • World reaction to the trials was largely positive • American Ambassador Joseph Davies was at the 1937 trialand said it was just. He later financed “Mission to Moscow,”a film that glorified Stalin. • N.Y. Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who won thePulitzer and denied the Ukraine famine of 1932-33,denounced the show trial defendants in his reports. He also liked Stalin. • End of the Purges • Propelled by the trials, spy and wrecker hysteria swept the USSR. Citizens and bureaucrats denounced each other. Secret police competed in making arrests. During 1937-38 authorities arrested 1,372,832 persons for counter-revolutionary crimes. A staggering 681,692 were shot. • Ordinary citizens became upset; many technical experts were liquidated • In 1939 Stalin ended the purges by having secret police arrested for railroading innocents • A majority of the nearly two-thousand delegates to the 1934 Party Congress were arrested as counter-revolutionaries. Ninety-eight of 139 members of the 1935 Central Committee, the second-highest stratum of the Party, were shot.

Why did Stalin do it? • Stalin died on March 5, 1953. Vyshinsky, now U.N.Ambassador, died twenty months later. • Shortly after Stalin’s death the USSR’s new leader,Nikita Khrushchev, ordered the execution of Stalin’s last secretpolice chief, Lavrentiy Beria. In 1956 he went after the old guard. In a major address to the Party known as the “secret speech” (image and video above) he condemned Stalin’s cult of personality and the injustices: “Many thousands of honest and innocent Communists have died as a result of this monstrous falsification of such ‘cases,’ as a result of the fact that all kinds of slanderous ‘confessions’ were accepted, and as a result of the practice of forcing accusations against oneself and others.” • Why did Stalin stage the show trials? • Paranoid of plots by those who had disagreed • Get rid of possible competitors to the Soviet throne • Install a new Communist cadre loyal only to him • Convince the world of the threat posed by Germany and Japan • Russia still backwards, would need aid if attacked • But America and England very isolationist http://youtu.be/UQAqkhb82jsSecret Speech section begins at 7:40

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• Open access
• Published: 30 March 2024

Cigarette craving in virtual reality cue exposure in abstainers and relapsed smokers

• Benedikt Schröder 1 ,
• Agnes Kroczek 2 , 3 ,
• Leon O. H. Kroczek 1 ,
• Ann-Christine Ehlis 2 , 4 ,
• Anil Batra 2 , 3 , 4 &
• Andreas Mühlberger   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8352-0946 1  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  7538 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Health care

Cue exposure therapy (CET) in substance-use disorders aims to reduce craving and ultimately relapse rates. Applying CET in virtual reality (VR) was proposed to increase its efficacy, as VR enables the presentation of social and environmental cues along with substance-related stimuli. However, limited success has been reported so far when applying VR-CET for smoking cessation. Understanding if effects of VR-CET differ between future abstainers and relapsing smokers may help to improve VR-CET. Data from 102 participants allocated to the intervention arm (VR-CET) of a recent RCT comparing VR-CET to relaxation in the context of smoking cessation was analyzed with respect to tolerability, presence, and craving during VR-CET. Cue exposure was conducted in four VR contexts (Loneliness/Rumination, Party, Stress, Café), each presented twice. Relapsed smokers compared to abstainers experienced higher craving during VR-CET and stronger craving responses especially during the Stress scenario. Furthermore, lower mean craving during VR-CET positively predicted abstinence at 6-month follow-up. Attempts to improve smoking cessation outcomes of VR-CET should aim to identify smokers who are more at risk of relapse based on high craving levels during VR-CET. Specifically measuring craving responses during social stress seems to be well suited to mark relapse. We propose to investigate individualized treatment approaches accordingly.

Introduction

Craving is a diagnostic criterion for substance-use disorders according to DSM-5 and is defined as longing or urge for the substance, which can occur at any time but is more likely in an environment where the substance was previously obtained or consumed 1 . Most theoretical models of addiction consider craving as a central motivational component of ongoing substance use and closely linked to relapse 2 . Among smokers, craving is typically increased in the presence of smoking-related stimuli 3 , rises in phases of abstinence 4 , and is reported as the most distressing symptom of a smoking cessation attempt 2 . However, as reviewed for several substance-use disorders 5 and also specifically with respect to smoking 6 , there are inconsistent results as to whether craving is able to predict relapse. Tiffany et al. 2 (p. 181) suggest that conflicting findings might be explained partly by the fact that the association of craving with maintained substance use and relapse only exists when “the conditions of craving assessment and/or induction are maximally representative of the natural expression of craving.” However, this representativeness is limited in clinical settings by the fact that they do not provide a typical context of consumption.

Cue reactivity (CR) is a motivational response to drug-related cues and is considered a core characteristic of addiction as drug consumption is strongly influenced by cues (e.g. environments, objects, emotions) previously associated with the drug's effects through classical conditioning 7 . CR consists of three modalities: a physiological reaction, a behavioral reaction (e.g. drug-seeking), and craving 8 . Of these, self-reported craving is most commonly used as a measure of CR and was found to be a stronger indicator of CR than physiological variables 7 .

Drawing from the successful treatment of anxiety disorders through exposure 9 , cue exposure therapy (CET) has been proposed in the treatment of substance use disorders to reduce CR and ultimately the probability of relapse since both disorders have in common that conditioning processes were proposed to be responsible for their maintenance and to be targeted during treatment 10 .

CET aims to reduce the conditioned response (i.e. craving) to conditioned stimuli (e.g. smoking paraphernalia) through extinction learning, which is supposed to be achieved by repeated confrontation with the conditioned stimuli without smoking 9 . Despite this plausible treatment rationale, CET has not yet proven to be a consistently effective intervention in the treatment of substance use disorders 11 , 12 , 13 . A possible cause for this could be that traditional CET in substance use disorders usually presents substance-related stimuli in a clinical setting in the form of images, videos, or tactile objects such as wine glasses or bongs, which is accompanied by relatively low ecological validity 14 . It has been argued that this limitation might be overcome by applying CET in virtual reality (VR-CET) because in addition to substance-associated objects, environments and social contexts, including interactions (e.g. consumption offers) and emotional triggers, can be presented that more closely reflect real-life situations 15 , thus promoting both cue and contextual extinction 9 , 14 . This is important as craving usually increases due to a complex combination of environmental cues, emotional states, reactivation of autobiographical experiences, and sensory information 16 . Accordingly, VR cue exposure reliably induced craving across various substance use disorders including nicotine 17 .

Early treatment studies supported the feasibility of VR-CET in smoking cessation and found concomitant decreases in craving 18 and lower smoking rates and craving in smokers receiving VR-CET and nicotine replacement therapy compared to nicotine replacement therapy alone 19 . In addition, a preliminary study with a small sample size compared cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) alone with VR-CET alone and found both treatments comparably effective 20 . Another study, though without a control group, reported that VR-CET reduced the number of smoked cigarettes per day, carbon monoxide in exhaled air, and craving across exposure sessions 21 . Surprisingly, however, a recent RCT with a long follow-up period found that CBT combined with VR-CET was not superior to CBT alone in terms of abstinence rates and thus could not demonstrate specific efficacy of VR-CET 22 . A question important for understanding the effect of VR-CET that has so far remained unaddressed in the aforementioned VR-CET studies, is whether individuals who later achieve abstinence differ in terms of their craving from those who do not. In addition, there is a lack of research examining potentially relevant aspects of VR-CET aside from craving such as emotion induction, self-efficacy, presence, and tolerability.

The goal of the present study was to identify possible differences in the course of craving during VR-CET in future successful abstainers compared to relapsing smokers in order to obtain indications for future improvements of VR-CET, and to clarify the predictive ability of craving in ecologically valid contexts. In addition, we aimed to evaluate the scenarios used for VR-CET in terms of emotion induction, presence, and tolerability.

We hypothesize that smokers who relapse within 6 months after completing treatment in principle experience stronger craving in VR-CET than those who maintain abstinence. We additionally hypothesize that craving during VR-CET is predictive for future medium-term relapse.

Design and participants

This study analyzes data from participants allocated to the intervention arm of a bicentric RCT (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03707106), which investigated the efficacy of cue exposure therapy in virtual reality (VR-CET) in the context of smoking cessation. In this RCT, VR-CET was compared to an unspecific relaxation intervention (control group). Both arms were incorporated into an already evaluated cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation group therapy. The study protocol 23 and the primary results are reported elsewhere. All participants provided written informed consent, and the RCT was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine at the University Hospital of Tuebingen (no. 836/2016BO1) and by the Ethics Committee of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) (no. AM022017). The study was conducted according to the approved procedures. Inclusion criteria were being between 18 and 70 years of age and smoking a minimum of 10 cigarettes daily for at least 2 years. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, participation in another smoking cessation program within 6 months before assignment, current diagnosis of a psychiatric disease including current depression or substance use disorder (other than nicotine), and lifetime diagnosis of psychosis, bipolar affective disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder.

The intervention arm included a total of 122 randomized participants of which 102 participants received the allocated VR-CET (n = 20 dropped out before the start of the intervention). As the present study focuses on the processes during VR-CET, the current sample consists of the 102 participants who received VR-CET, including 43 female (42.2%) and 59 male smokers (57.8%) aged M = 45.67 years (SD = 13.40; range 20–68 years). On average participants attended three out of a total of four VR-CET appointments (M = 3.00, SD = 1.03). Prior to starting smoking cessation, participants in the analyzed sample reported to smoke M = 17.93 cigarettes per day (SD = 5.81) and they scored at M = 4.46 points (SD = 2.04) on the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence 24 (FTND). The mean age at smoking initiation was 17.44 years (SD = 4.78). The exhalation carbon monoxide (CO) level at the beginning of smoking cessation was M = 17.23 (SD = 11.09). Among this sample, 24 participants (23.5%) remained continuously abstinent 6 months after treatment while 78 participants (76.5%) relapsed (intention to treat). Prior to the smoking cessation intervention, abstainers and relapsed smokers did not differ significantly in terms of cigarettes per day ( p  = 0.739), FTND scores ( p  = 0.169), age of regular smoking onset ( p  = 0.713), age at time of study inclusion ( p  = 0.849), and CO level at the first appointment of smoking cessation ( p  = 0.647). In addition, abstainers and relapsed smokers did not differ significantly regarding gender ( p  = 0.317).

During treatment, in the days before the first VR-CET session, 81 participants were abstinent (validated by results of < 10 ppm in CO measurement) and 16 participants still smoked. In the days before the second VR-CET session, 71 participants were abstinent and 5 participants smoked. In the days before the third VR-CET session, 64 participants were abstinent and 8 participants smoked. In the days before the fourth VR-CET session, 61 participants were abstinent and 9 participants smoked.

Apparatus and VR scenarios

VR was presented with the VIVE Pro head-mounted display (HMD; HTC Corporation, Taoyuan, Taiwan). Integrated headphones played the sound. Hardware to run the VR included the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card (Nvidia Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, United States), the Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7740X CPU @ 4.30 GHz (Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, United States), 16 GB DDR4 RAM, and the Samsung SSD 850 hard disc (Samsung Group, Suwon, South Korea). The VR environment was controlled using CyberSession Research 5.8 (VTplus GmbH, Würzburg, Germany). Participants used a gamepad (F710 Wireless Gamepad, Logitech international S.A., Apples, Switzerland) to navigate within the VR. Experimenters were able to follow participants' view and audio via a separate computer screen and speaker (set to the lowest volume and turned in the direction of the investigators away from the participants to avoid double hearing of the audio for participants).

A total of four virtual environments were presented, each lasting between approx. 13 and 18 min. All environments included standardized pre-recorded instructions that were played via the headphones. Two of the VR environments described below (Loneliness/Rumination and Stress) were created using the Steam Source engine (Valve Corporation, Bellevue, WA, United States) at the Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy) at the University of Regensburg. Another two VR environments (Party and Café) were created with Unreal Engine 4 (Epic Games, Raleigh, NC, United States) by VTplus GmbH (Würzburg, Germany).

Each VR environment contained three-dimensional smoking-related stimuli (e.g. cigarette packs, loose cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays). The cigarette packets were individually configured to the participants' preferred smoking brand from a list of 21 tobacco brands. If the own brand was not included, the preferred brand among the existing brands was selected. The RCT did not assess how frequently this occurred. Inquiries among investigators indicated that the participants' own brand was mostly available for selection in VR, which is supported by the fact that the brands available for selection included the 9 largest cigarette brands in Germany in terms of market share 25 .

Development of VR environments was based on a survey of participants in a smoking cessation course 23 . In the following we describe the four VR scenarios used for cue exposure in detail (see Fig.  1 for screenshots of the scenarios). (1) Loneliness/Rumination: Before the VR session, investigator and participant select the most burdensome concern from the participant's daily life based on results of the German version of the Worry Domains Questionnaire 26 (WDQ-D) already completed at baseline. After putting on the HMD, the participants are instructed to explore the VR environment consisting of a living room and a balcony freely for one minute using the gamepad. Participants are then assisted in sitting down and are instructed to describe the selected concern and the associated mood, thoughts, feelings, and physical experiences. They are further instructed to ruminate on the selected concern (worry induction). Participants sit alone on a sofa while smoking paraphernalia (cigarette pack, lighter, six loose cigarettes) are displayed on a table in front of them. In the direction of the participants' view, there is a window facade with an open door to a roofed balcony. On a table on the balcony an ashtray is placed and there is another pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Rain is visible and audible through the windows. Slow piano music comes from a stereo. Following worry induction, participants are instructed to inspect the smoking paraphernalia in detail (specifically to perceive the color of the lighter, the color and the logo of the cigarette pack, and to count the number of cigarettes). The scenario lasts approx. 18 min. (2) Party: Participants are immersed in a virtual barbecue party and are informed that they will receive cigarette offers and that their task is to firmly refuse them. Initially, participants are given one minute to freely navigate within the VR environment. After that, the participants are assisted to sit down. In VR, participants are placed at a table together with five virtual agents (two female, three male), three of whom are currently smoking. Two other characters also light a cigarette in the course of the scenario. Three characters drink beer, one red wine, and one water. There are cigarette packs, lighters, and ashtrays on the table. The terrace is surrounded by a garden, a barbecue is next to the table, and the sun is shining. The smokers talk about the pleasure of smoking and how well smoking fits the current situation. One character offers the only character not yet smoking a cigarette, which the character refuses on the grounds that he has recently quit smoking. One smoking character replies that he had already tried to quit, but wonders why he should put himself through this strain when he enjoyed smoking so much. While the four smoking characters continue to talk about the pleasurable aspects of smoking, the previously declining character changes his mind saying he wants a cigarette after all and starts to smoke as well. Over the course of this scenario, participants receive four offers of cigarettes, at about 3.5, 6, 6.5 and 7 min after the start of the scenario. Overall, the scenario lasts approx. 13 min. (3) Stress: This scenario is based on the Trier Social Stress Test paradigm 27 (TSST), which has already been able to generally induce psychosocial stress in previous VR adaptations 28 and also specifically in smokers 29 . In the present adaptation, participants begin this scenario in a standing position in an office space. In the room there is a desk and several chairs. One end of the room consists of a glass front with an open door to a terrace surrounded by trees. On the terrace the sun is shining and one character is smoking next to a floor-standing ashtray. Additionally, there is a closed opaque door next to which hangs a sign that states "Interviews". Participants are again informed that they should decline cigarette offers during the course of the scenario. They are further informed that they participate in an interview for their dream job and should now prepare to give a talk about their own strengths and their particular suitability for the job. It is announced that this talk would subsequently be presented to an application committee of three psychologists trained in behavioral observation. The participants are also informed that there are three other applicants, one of whom is currently in the interview room, another is smoking on the terrace, and one has not yet arrived. After two minutes of preparation time, the third applicant enters the room, mentions how nervous she is, notices the character smoking on the terrace and states that she now also needs a cigarette. Before going to the terrace, she also offers a cigarette to the participant. Once the offer is declined, she answers that she has enough cigarettes in case the participant wants one later and starts smoking next to the character already standing on the terrace. Next, a character from the interview room approaches the participant and informs that the preparation time is over and that she is now accompanying the participant to the committee. Participants are then led into the interview room and are asked to stand in front of a committee (three persons) and a camera. Subsequently, participants perform their presentation for two minutes while standing in front of the expressionless committee. If participants finish their presentation before the end of the two minutes, one committee member asks to continue the presentation stating there is still time available (triggered by the investigator). Upon completing the presentation, a previously unannounced arithmetic task is introduced by the committee. Participants are instructed to continuously subtract 17 from 2023 and to calculate as quickly and correctly as possible. The arithmetic task lasts two minutes and participants are prompted by the committee to start over at 2023 if they made a mistake. After these tasks, participants find themselves together with the two smoking competitors on the terrace. The competitors talk about the relaxing and rewarding effect of smoking during this stressful situation and one competitor offers the participant a cigarette a total of three times, at about 4, 10 and 10.5 min after the start of the scenario. Overall, the scenario lasts approx. 17 min. (4) Café: Participants begin this scenario standing on a terrace of a café and are informed that they will receive cigarette offers which they should refuse firmly. Participants are given one minute to freely navigate within the VR environment. Next, the participants are assisted to sit down at a table of the café. Four characters (two female, two male) are already sitting at the table. On the table there are plates with cakes, cups, two ashtrays, two cigarette packs and lighters. The weather is good. A park and a lake are visible in the background. The characters first talk about the beautiful weather, about the nice atmosphere at the lake, and about the delicious cake and coffee. They further talk about how well-fitting cigarettes and coffee are and the four characters start smoking. One character offers the participant a cigarette. After the participant's refusal, the characters express their opinion that one should not forbid oneself every pleasure in life and that smoking is part of the enjoyment at that particular moment. More conversation follows about a previous overnight stay together at a mountain hut, where they had always gone out together to smoke. In addition, they talk about earlier bar visits when it was still allowed to smoke in bars and how pleasant those times were without smoking restrictions. They state, that for them, smoking is associated with freedom, which they do not want to be taken away. During the conversation described above, the first offer of cigarettes is followed by an additional two offers. The offers occur at about 3, 4.75 and 9.25 min after the start of the scenario. Overall, the scenario lasts approx. 16 min.

Screenshots of the virtual environments used for cue exposure. Persons depicted are virtual agents and not real persons.

This description focuses on the VR-CET intervention arm (see Fig.  2 for a schematic overview). The overall procedure of the RCT can be found elsewhere 23 . After random allocation to VR-CET, a 6-week group-based cognitive behavioral smoking cessation program 30 , 31 started in group sizes of 6 to 8 participants and with weekly appointments. Each group session lasted 90 min and was scheduled for late afternoon or evening. In session 2, the treatment rationale for CET was introduced. In addition, session 2 involved scheduling a date to quit smoking in the upcoming week prior to session 3. VR-CET took place individually in sessions 3 to 6 and lasted an additional 40 min per session. With two VR systems per study center, part of the participants completed the VR-CET before the group session and part of them afterwards. VR-CET took place in a separated room for each participant. The investigator being in the same room as the participant repeated the CET rationale, assisted in putting on the HMD, informed about steering in VR, selected the tobacco brand, noted the participants' answers to rating questions, and controlled the VR. Controlling the VR involved starting and stopping of the VR session as well as reacting to the participants' voice by continuing to the next part of the VR scenario by button press whenever interactions between the participants and the VR such as rejecting cigarette offers took place. Each VR-CET session included the successive completion of two scenarios. VR-CET started with the scenarios Loneliness/Rumination and Party, followed by Stress and Café in session 4. Session 5 was identical to session 3, while session 6 was identical to session 4. After each VR session, participants completed the VR-related questionnaires.

Sequence of treatment weeks and VR-CET sessions.

Measures of the RCT included in the present analysis consist of questionnaires, rating questions, and the clinical outcome measure.

Questionnaires: At study inclusion, participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a smoking questionnaire documenting smoking history and current smoking behavior, the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence 24 (FTND), and the German version of the Worry Domains Questionnaire 26 (WDQ-D). After each session of VR-CET, the experience of presence during VR was measured with the Igroup Presence Questionnaire 32 (IPQ). The potential occurrence of cybersickness symptoms (i.e. headache, nausea, vertigo) was assessed with a brief version of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire 33 (SSQ-b).

Ratings: All rating questions should be answered by the participants with a number between 0 (lowest rating) and 100 (highest rating). To check whether the scenarios induced the target emotions (worry in Loneliness/Rumination, stress in Stress, and sociability in Party and Café), the intensity of each emotion was rated at the end of each scenario using the following questions: “How worried were you in the situation?”, “How stressed were you in the situation?”, and “How much sociability did you feel in the situation?”. Craving ratings (4 to 6 ratings depending on the scenario) were presented before, during (e.g. after having received cigarette offers) and after each session of VR-CET with the question “How strong is your current desire to smoke a cigarette?”. At the end of each VR scenario, an additional craving rating phase existed with a total of 8 craving ratings conducted at 30-s intervals during which the VR environment continued to be presented. If the study participants' answer was 0 two times in a row, the remaining questions of the craving rating phase were skipped. For the analysis, the remaining values following a two-time response of 0 were set to 0. In the course of the scenarios Loneliness/Rumination, Party and Café, craving was rated a maximum of 12 times each, and in the Stress scenario a maximum of 14 times. Each scenario included an initial craving rating at the beginning (rating 1). In Loneliness/Rumination this was followed by a craving rating after describing the selected concern (rating 2), a craving rating after ruminating over the concern (rating 3), and a further rating after inspecting the smoking paraphernalia (rating 4). Ratings 5 to 12 consisted of the concluding craving rating phase. In Party, following the initial craving rating, further ratings took place after the first, second, and fourth cigarette offer (rating 2 to 4). Ratings 5 to 12 were again the final craving rating phase. In Café, the initial rating was followed by ratings that took place after each of the three cigarette offers (rating 2 to 4). Ratings 5 to 12 were again the final craving rating phase. In Stress, after the initial rating (rating 1), further ratings were asked for after the first cigarette offer (rating 2), after being informed about the end of the preparation time (rating 3), after the completion of the interview in front of the committee consisting of the presentation and arithmetic task (rating 4), and after the second and third cigarette offer (ratings 5 and 6). Ratings 7 to 14 were the final craving rating phase. In addition to the IPQ, which measured presence after each VR session (i.e. after two VR scenarios), presence ratings were also presented at the end of each VR scenario using the phrase “Between 0 and 100, how strongly do you agree with the following statement: In the computer-generated world, I had the impression of being there. 0 means not at all and 100 means very strongly.” Finally, the question “How confident are you not to smoke in a similar situation?” was used to rate self-efficacy.

Clinical outcome: Continuous abstinence was assessed 6 months after the end of treatment adhering to Russel Standard 34 (RS). RS includes self-reported smoking less than 5 cigarettes during the follow-up period and results of carbon monoxide (CO) measurement below 10 ppm at final follow-up.

Data reduction and statistical analysis

The lme4 package (v.1.1–34) 35 was used to analyze linear mixed-effects models in the R environment (v.4.3.1). The random effects structure was determined with model convergence as a requirement and based on Likelihood ratio tests 36 . F -tests with Satterthwaite approximations for degrees of freedom 37 were used to evaluate significance for main effects and interactions in linear mixed-effects models. Post-hoc tests were conducted with the R package emmeans (v.1.8.7) 38 and corrected for multiple comparisons according to Holm 39 .

For a manipulation check, ratings regarding emotion induction were modeled by including the main effects emotion (treatment coding: Worry = reference, Stress, Sociability) and scenario (treatment coding: Loneliness/Rumination = reference, Party, Stress, Café) as well as their interaction as fixed effects. Random intercepts were included per participant and s cenario was included as random slope per participant in the final model.

Self-efficacy ratings were modeled by including the main effects scenario (treatment coding: Loneliness/Rumination = reference), presentation (coding: first = reference, second) and group (coding: abstainers = reference, relapsed smokers), as well as their interactions as fixed effects. Random intercepts were included per participant in the final model.

Presence ratings were modeled by including the main effects scenario (treatment coding: Loneliness/Rumination = reference), presentation (coding: first = reference), and group (coding: abstainers = reference), as well as their interactions as fixed effects. Random intercepts were included per participant, and s cenario and presentation were included as random slopes per participant in the final model.

Craving ratings were modeled by including the main effects scenario (treatment coding: Loneliness/Rumination = reference), presentation (coding: first = reference), group (coding: abstainers = reference), and within-scenario time (modelled as orthogonal polynomials relating to linear and quadratic effects of test position within a session). The linear effect of within-scenario time describes the linear course of craving within a scenario. To have the additional possibility to model the steepness of the increase and decrease of craving within a scenario, we also included the quadratic effect of within-scenario time (referred to as within-scenario time 2 ). In addition, the model included the interactions of presentation , scenario , group and within-scenario time (linear and quadratic). In the final model, random intercepts were included per participant and random slopes were included for s cenario , presentation and their interaction. In addition to the main analysis of craving, which included all participants, we conducted an exploratory analysis of craving with the same model, however including only abstinent participants at the time of each VR session. This aimed to account for the fact that some participants were still smoking after the planned quit day (see section Design and Participants above), which might alter craving and bias results.

To analyze the prognostic value of craving during VR-CET on abstinence/relapse, two binomial logistic regression models were calculated in R. In the first model, mean craving across all VR-CET sessions was entered as a predictor. To additionally investigate whether the extent of craving reduction had predictive value, a second model was tested in which the average difference between maximum and last craving rating across VR-CET sessions was entered as a predictor. Likelihood ratio tests were used for overall model estimations. In case of significant model estimations, the model was applied to predict abstinence/relapse based on an optimal cut-off for the craving marker (i.e. simultaneously maximizing specificity and sensitivity), which was calculated with the R package OptimalCutpoints (v.1.1–5) using the Youden index method 40 . In the prediction, participants with values above the optimal threshold were classified as relapsing, participants with values less than or equal to the threshold as abstinent.

The remaining statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, United States). SSQ-b results and presence ratings were non-normally distributed (tested by Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests and visual inspection of the histograms) and non-parametric testing (Wilcoxon test, Spearman correlation) was used. Alpha level was 5% in all statistical analyses.

Emotion induction of VR scenarios

For the purpose of a manipulation check we analysed whether induced emotion differed as a function of VR scenario. The linear mixed-effects model revealed a significant interaction between emotion and scenario , F (6, 1491.80) = 106.61, p  < 0.001, indicating that different scenarios induced different emotions. Follow-up pairwise comparisons indicated that the emotions targeted in each scenario were rated significantly higher than the remaining two emotions (for descriptives see Table 1 ). In Loneliness/Rumination, worry was significantly higher than stress (b = 8.71, SE  = 2.35, t (1416) = 3.71, p  < 0.001) and sociability (b = 35.33, SE  = 2.35, t (1417) = 15.01, p  < 0.001). In Party, sociability was significantly higher than worry (b = 26.47, SE  = 2.35, t (1418) = 11.25, p  < 0.001) and stress (b = 17.15, SE  = 2.35, t (1417) = 7.30, p  < 0.001). In the Stress scenario, stress was higher than worry (b = 20.13, SE  = 2.51, t (1416) = 8.03, p  < 0.001) and sociability (b = 27.69, SE  = 2.52, t (1418) = 10.98, p  < 0.001). Finally, in Café, sociability was higher than worry (b = 28.87, SE  = 2.53, t (1417) = 11.41, p  < 0.001) and stress (b = 25.83, SE  = 2.53, t (1417) = 10.21, p  < 0.001). Supplementary Table S1 provides a full model summary.

Self-efficacy in VR scenarios

When asked to rate their confidence about not smoking in a similar (real) situation, participants reported high self-efficacy in the scenarios across both presentations with Café descriptively receiving the highest ratings ( M  = 82.62, SD  = 60.07), followed by Stress ( M  = 80.00, SD  = 18.20), Loneliness/Rumination ( M  = 75.88, SD  = 22.93), and Party ( M  = 70.38, SD  = 24.16). The linear mixed-effects model yielded neither significant main effects for scenario , F (3, 507.23) = 2.05, p  = 0.101, presentation, F (1, 532.10) = 0.98, p  = 0.323, or group, F (1, 98.99) = 2.65, p  = 0.106, nor significant interactions ( p s > 0.201). Supplementary Table S2 provides a full model summary.

Presence during VR

Another analysis investigated the effect of abstinence group, VR scenario, and number of presentation (first, second) on presence ratings in the virtual environment. The linear mixed-effects model revealed significant main effects for scenario , F (3, 96.11) = 9.24, p  < 0.001, and presentation , F (1, 64.37) = 33.28, p  < 0.001 (for descriptives see Table 2 ). Main effect group and interactions were not significant ( p s > 0.110). Follow-up tests for the main effect scenario indicated that Loneliness/Rumination received significantly higher presence ratings than Stress (b = 10.37, SE  = 2.84, t (84.8) = 3.66, p  = 0.002) and Café (b = 8.73, SE  = 2.55, t (82.1) = 3.43, p  = 0.003), whereas Loneliness/Rumination and Party did not differ significantly (b = − 1.76, SE  = 2.29, t (84.4) = − 0.77, p  = 0.853). Party received significantly higher presence ratings than Stress (b = 12.13, SE  = 2.46, t (81.9) = 4.93, p  < 0.001) and Café (b = 10.49, SE  = 2.50, t (82.4) = 4.20, p  < 0.001). Stress and Café did not differ significantly (b = − 1.64, SE  = 2.05, t (76.5) = − 0.77, p  = 0.853). With respect to the main effect presentation , follow-up tests indicated that presence decreased significantly from the first to the second run of each scenario (Loneliness/Rumination: b = 10.55, SE  = 2.92, t (233) = 3.62, p  < 0.001; Party: b = 11.92, SE  = 2.90, t (235) = 4.11, p  < 0.001; Stress: b = 11.87, SE  = 3.20, t (251) = 3.71, p  < 0.001; Café: b = 9.05, SE  = 3.21, t (253) = 2.82, p  = 0.005). Supplementary Table S3 provides a full model summary.

To assess presence across VR sessions, we furthermore used the IPQ (range from − 3 to 3). Presence as measured with the IPQ was M = 0.18 (SD = 1.06) in session 1 of VR-CET, M = − 0.31 (SD = 1.17) in session 2, M = − 0.36 (SD = 1.29) in session 3, and M = − 0.31 (SD = 1.28) in session 4. To validate presence ratings for each scenario, we averaged the single-item ratings of each scenario presented within one VR session and compared these values to the IPQ scores of each VR session by conducting Spearman correlation coefficients. This yielded significant and large positive correlations between the presence measured by single-item ratings and the presence measured via IPQ, indicating the validity of the single-item ratings (session 1: r (95) = 0.70, p  < 0.001; session 2: r (78) = 0.79, p  < 0.001; session 3: r (62) = 0.83, p  < 0.001; session 4: r (60) = 0.82, p  < 0.001).

Tolerability of VR scenarios

Across the scenarios, symptoms of simulator sickness such as headache (M = 0.33, SD = 0.46), nausea (M = 0.18, SD = 0.40), and vertigo (M = 0.56, SD = 0.61) were reported to a low degree, indicating good tolerability of the VR scenarios. The scale for each symptom category ranged from 0 (no symptoms at all) to 3 (severe symptoms). Future abstainers and relapsed smokers did not differ significantly with regard to the severity of symptoms ( p s > 0.455).

Course of craving during VR-CET

The linear mixed-effects model for craving ratings yielded significant main effects of group , presentation , scenario , within-scenario time , and within-scenario time 2 , significant two-way interactions of presentation  ×  scenario , presentation  ×  within-scenario time , presentation  ×  within-scenario time 2 , and scenario  ×  within-scenario time , and significant three-way interactions of presentation  ×  scenario  ×  within-scenario time , presentation  ×  group  ×  within-scenario time , and scenario  ×  group  ×  within-scenario time 2 (statistical results shown in Table 3 ). All other effects were not significant.

The main effect group indicated that smokers who relapse experience stronger craving throughout VR-CET than those who maintain abstinence, thus confirming our hypothesis (see Fig.  3 for an overview of craving ratings during the course of the VR-CET; for a presentation of craving by scenario, including specific events within the scenarios, see supplementary Fig. S1).

Within and between scenario craving ratings during the course of the VR-CET for abstainers and relapsed smokers. Fifth and tenth craving rating is marked on the x-axis for each scenario. Error bars show standard errors.

In the following, we first describe the additional effects that include the factor group , second the effects that include the factor presentation (without group ), and third the effects that include the factor scenario (without group and presentation ).

Post hoc tests for the three-way interaction of presentation  ×  group  ×  within-scenario time indicated that, relative to relapsed smokers, abstainers tended to have stronger linear decreases in craving in the first presentation of scenarios, b = − 3.43, SE  = 1.62, t (6580) = − 2.11, p  = 0.069 ( p  = 0.035 without adjustment for multiple comparisons), whereas this effect was not significant for the second presentation (b = 2.32, SE  = 1.92, t (6601) = 1.21, p  = 0.228). Post hoc tests for the three-way interaction of scenario  ×  group  ×  within-scenario time 2 indicated that the quadratic trend of within-scenario time was stronger in relapsed smokers relative to abstainers in the stress scenario, b = 4.95, SE  = 1.86, t (6571) = 2.67, p  = 0.031, whereas this effect was not significant in the remaining three scenarios ( p s > 0.320). This means that relapsed smokers showed more craving directly following the stress induction.

Post hoc tests with respect to the interaction of presentation  ×  scenario indicated that craving during the first presentation was significantly higher compared to the second presentation for all scenarios (Loneliness/Rumination: b = 16.35, SE  = 2.75, t (86.8) = 5.95, p  < 0.001; Party: b = 17.92, SE  = 2.45, t (83.7) = 7.32, p  < 0.001; Stress: b = 6.18, SE  = 2.37, t (65.2) = 2.60, p  = 0.023; Café: b = 5.02, SE  = 2.24, t (70.4) = 2.24, p  = 0.028) and that this decrease was more pronounced in the scenarios Loneliness/Rumination and Party than in Stress and Café (Loneliness/Rumination compared with Stress: b = 10.17, SE  = 3.61, t (72.6) = 2.82, p  = 0.019; Loneliness/Rumination compared with Café: b = 11.34, SE  = 3.48, t (76.9) = 3.26, p  = 0.007; Party compared with Stress: b = 11.74, SE  = 3.29, t (69.4) = 3.57, p  = 0.003; Party compared with Café: b = 12.91, SE  = 3.28, t (70.8) = 3.93, p  = 0.001; no significant differences for comparisons of Loneliness/Rumination and Party, p  = 1.000, and Stress and Café, p  = 1.000). The interactions of presentation  ×  within-scenario time and presentation  ×  within-scenario time 2 , indicate that the linear and quadratic course of craving differed across presentations. Post hoc comparisons revealed that the second presentation of scenarios resulted in smaller linear decreases in craving, b = − 6.37, SE  = 1.26, t (6596) = − 5.07, p  < 0.001, and in terms of the quadratic effect, in a flatter increase and decrease of craving, b = 3.46, SE  = 1.22, t (6580) = 2.83, p  = 0.005. In addition, the three-way interaction of presentation  ×  scenario  ×  within-scenario time indicates that the presentation  ×  within-scenario time effect described above, differed between scenarios. Whereas in Loneliness/Rumination, the difference in the linear course of craving between first and second presentation was not significant, b = 4.84, SE  = 2.58, t (6583) = 1.88, p  = 0.060, for all three remaining scenarios, stronger linear decreases of craving were observed in the first compared to the second presentation (Party: b = − 16.67, SE  = 2.62, t (6597) = − 6.36, p  < 0.001; Stress: b = − 7.24, SE  = 1.88, t (6620) = − 3.84, p  < 0.001; Café: b = − 6.43, SE  = 2.86, t (6608) = − 2.25, p  = 0.060).

The interaction of scenario  ×  within-scenario time results from a more negative linear decrease of craving in Party compared to Stress, b = − 9.33, SE  = 1.62, t (6611) = − 5.78, p  < 0.001, in Party compared to Café, b = − 5.20, SE  = 1.94, t (6609) = − 2.68, p  = 0.030, in Loneliness/Rumination compared to Stress, b = − 5.87, SE  = 1.60, t (6607) = − 3.68, p  = 0.001, and in Café compared to Stress, b = − 4.13, SE  = 1.71, t (6621) = − 2.42, p  = 0.0495. Finally, the main effect scenario results from higher craving in Loneliness/Rumination than in Stress, b = 7.57, SE  = 1.90, t (79.7) = 3.98, p  < 0.001, in Loneliness/Rumination than in Café, b = 9.91, SE  = 1.86, t (73.5) = 5.33, p  < 0.001, in Party than in Stress, b = 5.63, SE  = 1.77, t (80.8) = 3.18, p  = 0.006, and in Party than in Café, b = 7.97, SE  = 1.55, t (75.6) = 5.13, p  < 0.001. Loneliness/Rumination and Party ( p  = 0.204), and Stress and Café ( p  = 0.129) did not differ significantly. Supplementary Table S4 provides a full model summary.

An identical analysis, including only abstinent participants at the time of each VR session, is detailed in the supplementary materials (see Table S5 and Fig. S2) and yielded basically similar results.

Predictive ability of craving on abstinence

Two binomial logistic regressions with mean craving across all VR-CET sessions and with the difference between maximum craving and the final craving rating averaged across all VR-CET sessions as predictors for the likelihood of abstinence at 6-month follow-up were performed. The overall model evaluation for the first model using mean craving as a predictor was statistically significant, χ 2 (1) = 12.69, p  < 0.001, R 2 N  = 0.176. Mean craving was positively associated with relapse ( β  = 0.058, SE  = 0.019, z  = 2.98, p  = 0.003, OR = 1.06). Applying Youden’s criterion yielded an optimal cut-off for mean craving of M  > 12.63 for predicting relapse. This way, the model correctly classified 17 of 24 future abstainers (70.8% specificity) and 55 of 78 future relapsing smokers (70.5% sensitivity) resulting in overall 72 of 102 correct classifications (70.6% accuracy).

The overall model evaluation for the second model using the difference between maximum and final craving rating as a predictor was statistically not significant, χ 2 (1) = 0.691, p  = 0.406, R 2 N  = 0.010.

To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to analyze craving ratings during VR-CET prospectively with regard to subsequent abstinent and relapsing smokers. In addition, we investigated further parameters of the VR-CET scenarios, namely emotion induction, self-efficacy, presence, and tolerability, which might influence their efficacy.

The analysis of craving across the virtual exposure sessions with respect to future abstainers and relapsed smokers revealed three interesting patterns: First, future relapsed smokers showed generally higher craving than future abstainers which also predicted relapse. Second, relapsed smokers showed stronger increases in craving elicited by the Stress scenario than abstainers. Third, abstainers tended to down-regulate craving faster within the first presentation of scenarios. Regarding the first aspect, smokers that relapsed within 6 months after end of treatment showed higher craving levels than future abstainers during VR-CET. While craving generally decreased across VR-CET (which is in line with previous reports 21 , 22 and also consistent with the CE rational), it remained consistently higher in relapsing smokers. This is in line with previous findings from the neuroimaging literature, which found increased brain activation in substance use disorders with respect to substance-related cues in cue-reactivity tasks in relapsing individuals relative to individuals who remained abstinent 41 . Additionally, our results are consistent with an analysis of several nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) trials, which found that low craving was associated with a higher likelihood of sustained abstinence 42 . The differences found in craving between future abstainers and relapsing smokers appear even more relevant as the two groups did not significantly differ in any other smoking parameter such as cigarettes per day, Fagerström score or carbon monoxide levels. Furthermore, high craving was a significant prognostic factor for higher relapse probability. This effect was small, however, demonstrating the need for further research in identifying additional predictors of relapse. As reviewed by Wray et al. 6 , cue-induced craving during classical cue-reactivity assessment was only rarely a significant predictor of treatment outcome in previous studies, which contrasts our finding. One reasons for this difference could be, in accordance with the argumentation of Tiffany et al. 2 , the higher correspondence of the situation of the craving assessment and real-life situations by using VR. Therefore, the predictive effect of craving may be still larger if presence in VR could be further increased. Another reason could be that the VR-CET sessions took place after the smoking cessation program’s planned quit date, thus craving during VR-CET was assessed in a phase in which the majority of the participants had achieved abstinence. This could have been beneficial for the prognostic capacity of craving, as it was argued that the combination of substance-related cues and abstinence is better suited for detecting craving as an indicator of relapse than during periods of nicotine saturation 43 . Taken together, the first pattern implies that participants with high craving should be considered a high-risk group for relapse and therapy should be individualized accordingly. This could include both increased discussion of coping strategies for craving in the CBT component of treatment and possibly a stronger recommendation of additional NRT.

Second, future relapsed smokers showed a stronger craving response to the stress induction in the Stress scenario than future abstainers. This suggests that reducing the craving response to stress should be an important therapeutic goal in smoking cessation, which is in line with previous research underscoring the particular role of stress by reporting that stress increases cigarette craving and promotes relapse 44 , 45 . The fact that craving amplitudes generally attenuate across presentations is consistent with the rational of CE and suggests that reducing the craving response to stress may be achieved by further runs of the Stress scenario. In addition, participants with a strong craving response to stress might benefit from an intensification of stress management and the development of further coping strategies as part of the CBT component of smoking cessation. Future trials should examine whether these considerations translate into higher efficacy of VR-CET.

Third, the linear decrease in craving within a scenario significantly differed as a function of whether a scenario was presented for the first or the second time and whether participants would remain abstinent. Thus, the linear within-scenario decrease in craving may affect treatment success as future abstainers tended to down-regulate their craving more quickly. However, this finding should be treated with caution for three reasons. First, whereas there was a trend of faster craving regulation by future abstainers in the first presentation of scenarios, this was not the case with respect to the second presentation (although floor effects in the second presentation may have contributed). Second, this three-way interaction did not show up significantly in the supplementary analysis that included only abstainers at the time of VR-CET as linear within-scenario craving reductions of future abstainers and relapsed smokers were more similar than in the main analysis. And third, the importance of the role of within-scenario craving decrease is reduced by the fact that the regression analysis examining the difference from maximum craving to the last craving rating did not significantly predict abstinence.

As part of the VR-CET, participants were confronted with a variety of smoking related situations. The Loneliness/Rumination scenario featured an intensive cue exposure with detailed observation of smoking paraphernalia while simultaneously inducing worry. The Party scenario, like the Stress and Café scenario, included interactions with smoking characters who offered cigarettes to the participants, whereby the presence of alcoholic beverages and witnessing a relapse were distinctive features. The stress scenario required participants to complete a job application presentation and an unannounced math task while smoking was presented as a beneficial coping strategy and reward by other characters. Finally, the Café scenario included coffee as a typical smoking associated stimulus and a conversation of smokers about smoking as a feeling of freedom and enjoyment in life. These scenarios were able to induce the specific intended emotions (worry, stress, sociability), which demonstrates the usefulness of VR for CET as it enables the presentation of substance-related cues in emotional contexts thus increasing ecological validity compared to traditional CET paradigms. This is in line with previous research that found VR to be generally effective in inducing emotions 46 and showed that different emotional states can be induced with relative distinctness 47 . With regard to the general decline in craving across the VR scenarios, we can only speculate whether certain elements of the scenarios were particularly important or whether it was the variety that was decisive (see also limitations below on order effects). However, the Stress scenario stands out because of the most pronounced increase in craving after the stress task, which only disappeared for future abstainers in the second run. Particularly the elements of stress relief and reward after completing a task, which are not present in the other scenarios, may lead to this sharper increase in craving. This notion is in line with Fagerström 48 who emphasizes the importance of the rewarding function of smoking.

In terms of self-efficacy, participants reported high levels of confidence in not smoking in similar situations in the future for all scenarios without significant differences between future abstainers and relapsed smokers. This conviction is understandable because treatment-seeking participants must exhibit a certain level of self-efficacy expectancy to enroll in treatment in the first place, because the majority of participants had already achieved abstinence at the time of VR-CET, and because the question about self-efficacy was asked at the end of the scenario, which virtually had just been successfully completed without smoking. Nevertheless, the results suggest that therapists should remain cautious and not base therapeutic actions on self-efficacy as the majority of participants later relapsed, although self-efficacy was high during VR-CET.

With respect to presence (the sense of being there), VR scenarios generated moderate levels of presence. Party and Loneliness/Rumination induced significantly higher levels of presence than Café and Stress, and presence generally decreased in the second compared to the first presentation of scenarios. Both measures of presence (single item rating and IPQ) were highly correlated, indicating validity of the single item measure. Presence is regarded as an indicator of felt similarity to real-life situations 9 , therefore high presence is desirable to generalize the learning experiences within VR to real life. Higher presence could be achieved through the ongoing graphical progress in the field of VR 49 . In addition, tactile (e.g. feeling a real table of a café in front of oneself), olfactory (e.g. smell of tobacco, smoke, coffee, barbecue), and auditory (audio renderings which simulate room acoustics and spatial sound) sensory modalities could be added to increase the observed moderate presence in future applications. The differences between the scenarios in terms of experienced presence probably mainly reflect the decrease in presence over several sessions, since the earlier scenarios generated higher presence than the later scenarios. It is a known phenomenon that stronger emotional experience is associated with higher presence, which is explained by increased arousal 49 . In this respect, the reduction in presence over time may be explained by decreasing arousal with repeated VR-CET through habituation processes. Although presented first, the relatively high level of presence in Loneliness/Rumination is somewhat surprising given that it is the only scenario without interaction with virtual agents. However, in this scenario, the aforementioned auditory aspect might have additionally contributed to the experienced presence through the sound of rain and music. It is noticeable that despite high emotional arousal in the Stress scenario, the experience of presence was comparatively lower. We suppose that there may have been a lower felt similarity to real-life situations as participants are likely to be exposed to other stressful situations in their daily lives. This intensive stress induction, which tends to be more distant from everyday life, nonetheless led to craving reductions over the course of the treatment and enabled future abstainers and relapsing smokers to be distinguished. Future studies could investigate whether the approach of the present study or the induction of a more moderate but everyday stress would result in higher presence and be more favorable for use in VR-CET. While presence is an important parameter in VR research, it will often not be feasible to assess presence with questionnaires (e.g. in case of multiple ratings) and these have the potential disadvantage of assessing presence retrospectively when immersion in VR has already ended. In this regard, our results support the further use of single item ratings during VR as a more economical alternative.

Finally, regarding tolerability, VR-CET sessions were well tolerated with no evidence that this could account for differences in treatment success.

An important limitation of the current study is that the data analyzed derive from a treatment study primarily designed to evaluate the efficacy of VR-CET as an additional intervention to group CBT compared with a relaxation procedure and group CBT. In this respect, we cannot rule out the possibility that the observed craving reductions are due to causes other than VR-CET, such as effects of CBT alone, or to the simple progression of time. These explanations nevertheless seem unlikely as they cannot explain the within scenario craving reductions, because VR-CET alone led to craving reductions in a previous study 21 , and because cue-induced craving usually increases and not decreases following abstinence, a phenomenon called incubation of craving 50 . An additional limitation is the likely occurrence of order effects with respect to presence and craving as scenarios were presented in a uniform order without counterbalancing. As an example, despite the significantly higher craving in Party than in Café, we cannot conclude that this is due to content differences of the scenarios (the presence of alcoholic beverages produces higher craving than coffee could be such a content interpretation), because Café was chronologically always presented after Party. We therefore refrained from interpreting such direct scenarios comparisons. Future studies could use our scenarios in a counterbalanced design to further examine these content differences.

In conclusion, we found evidence that smokers who relapse within 6 months exhibit higher levels of craving during VR-CET than do smokers who maintain abstinence and that craving during VR-CET predicts relapse. Furthermore, we found that craving responses evoked by the Stress scenario were discriminative with respect to future abstinence as relapsing smokers reacted with stronger craving. Attempts to improve VR-CET and ultimately smoking cessation outcomes, should aim to identify smokers who are more at risk of relapse based on their persistently high craving levels and individualize smoking cessation accordingly. Additionally, particular emphasis should be placed on the strength of the craving response to stress, which may be lowered by further therapeutic efforts applying stress-inducing scenarios.

Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Data was analyzed by BS and LK under consultation of AM, AK, and ACE. BS wrote the first draft of the manuscript, which was finalized with substantial contributions of all remaining authors. All authors reviewed the manuscript and have approved its final version and its submission.

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What is Good Friday? What the holy day means for Christians around the world

Christians around the world observe Good Friday two days before Easter, but what is it, and why do they commemorate the holy day?

The holiday is part of Holy Week, which leads up to Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday kicks off the series of Christian holy days that commemorate the Crucifixion and celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection.

"Good Friday has been, for centuries now, the heart of the Christian message because it is through the death of Jesus Christ that Christians believe that we have been forgiven of our sins," Daniel Alvarez, an associate teaching professor of religious studies at Florida International University, told USA TODAY.

What is Holy Saturday? What the day before Easter means for Christians around the world

When is Good Friday?

Good Friday is always the Friday before Easter. It's the second-to-last day of Holy Week.

In 2024, Good Friday will fall on March 29.

What is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day Christ was sacrificed on the cross. According to Britannica , it is a day for "sorrow, penance, and fasting."

"Good Friday is part of something else," Gabriel Radle, an assistant professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, previously told USA TODAY. "It's its own thing, but it's also part of something bigger."

Are Good Friday and Passover related?

Alvarez says that Good Friday is directly related to the Jewish holiday, Passover.

Passover , or Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

"The whole Christian idea of atoning for sin, that Jesus is our atonement, is strictly derived from the Jewish Passover tradition," said Alvarez.

How is that possible?

According to the professor, Passover celebrates the day the "Angel of Death" passed over the homes of Israelites who were enslaved by the Egyptians. He said that the Bible states when the exodus happened, families were told to paint their doors with lamb's blood so that God would spare the lives of their firstborn sons.

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He adds that the stories of the exodus and the Crucifixion not only further tie the stories together but also emphasize just how powerful the sacrifice of the firstborn and the shedding of blood are in religion.

"Jesus is the firstborn, so the whole idea of the death of the firstborn is crucial," said Alvarez.

He adds that the sacrifice of the firstborn, specifically a firstborn son, comes from an ancient and "primitive" idea that the sacrifice unleashes "tremendous power that is able to fend off any kind of force, including the wrath of God."

Why Is Good Friday so somber?

Alavarez says people might think this holiday is more depressing or sad than others because of how Catholics commemorate the Crucifixion.

"I think [it's] to a level that some people might think is morbid," said Alvarez.

He said Catholics not only meditate on Jesus' death, but primarily focus on the suffering he faced in the events that led up to his Crucifixion. That's what makes it such a mournful day for people.

But, the professor says that Jesus' suffering in crucial to Christianity as a whole.

"The suffering of Christ is central to the four Gospels," said Alvarez. "Everything else is incidental."

According to the professor, statues that use blood to emphasize the way Jesus and Catholic saints suffered is very common in Spanish and Hispanic Countries, but not as prevalent in American churches.

Do you fast on Good Friday?

Father Dustin Dought, the executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, previously told USA TODAY that Good Friday and Ash Wednesday are the two days in the year that Roman Catholics are obliged to fast.

"This practice is a way of emptying ourselves so that we can be filled with God," said Dought.

What do you eat on Good Friday?

Many Catholics do not eat meat on any Friday during Lent. Anything with flesh is off-limits. Dought says this practice is to honor the way Jesus sacrificed his flesh on Good Friday.

Meat that is off limits includes:

Instead, many Catholics will eat fish. According to the Marine Stewardship Council , this is allowed because fish is considered to be a different type of flesh.

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza ; USA TODAY

What is Good Friday? Here's what to know about the holy holiday

The events leading up to good friday are known as holy week, which starts on palm sunday and ends on easter sunday, by danielle smith • published march 29, 2024 • updated on march 29, 2024 at 11:56 am.

In the springtime, families around the world celebrate Easter .

For many Christians , Easter is an important holiday with church services to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For others, it’s a secular celebration with bunnies, treat-filled baskets and decorated eggs.

But two days before Easter Sunday is another important Christian holiday. Known as Good Friday, the holy day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus.

Keep reading to learn about the meaning behind Good Friday and how Christians observe it:

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What is good friday.

According to the Christian faith, Jesus was arrested and put on trial for claiming to be the Son of God. Roman authorities sentenced him to death by crucifixion. He was beaten and forced to carry a wooden cross to the place of execution — called Golgotha or Calvary — where he was nailed to the cross and left to die. Jesus was eventually taken down from the cross and buried, according to the Bible.

Christians believe Jesus died on the cross to save humanity from its sins and restore people's relationship with God. Many Christians refer to this belief as the Atonement.

Commemorating Jesus' crucifixion, Good Friday is a solemn day of mourning and reflection for Christians, who often attend special church services and prayer vigils.

Good Friday is a part of Holy Week, which includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, and Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday.

When is Good Friday?

In 2024, the religious holiday will take place on Friday, March 29.

The date of Good Friday changes every year depending on when Passover occurs. Easter Sunday is always two days later.

Why is it called Good Friday?

So, what's so good about Good Friday?

“It’s a very weird day to call ‘good’ when you have your savior and Messiah die,” said Rev. Dr. Brent Strawn, a professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School and an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. “Why would you call that a good day?”

The reason why Good Friday is called "good" is not entirely clear. One common explanation is that the word "good" originally meant "holy" in Old English, so "Good Friday" could be synonymous with "Holy Friday" or "God's Friday."

Strawn says he doesn't think the name is trivializing.

“For those people who have Christian faith, it is a good thing that Christ died for us,” Strawn said. “It gave us peace with God and made us at one with God.”

Strawn says another reason for the name Good Friday might stem from a deeper understanding of goodness and an awareness that Easter and the salvation of humanity are near.

“For me, it really suggests that, in Christianity’s most robust and thoughtful forms, this is not a rejection of the sadness and tragedy of death, but rather a real thick understanding of the goodness that came out of a very tragic thing,” Strawn said.

How do Christians observe Good Friday?

Christians observe Good Friday in different ways, but here are some standard practices:

Fasting : Some Christians fast to commemorate Jesus' sacrifice, while others will refrain from eating meat.

Stations of the Cross : In this 14-step devotional practice, people retrace Jesus' final steps before his crucifixion. The stations are often represented through paintings in a church or outdoors.

Good Friday Processions : Some countries and cultures march with images and statues of Jesus or reenact his crucifixion.

Prayer and Church Services : Many Christians pray to contemplate the significance of Jesus' sacrifice and his death.

Although Christians know Easter is approaching, church services on Good Friday often reflect the tone of the crucifixion and death of Jesus through Bible readings, prayers and hymns.

Strawn says Christian worship services often end with Jesus’ words from the cross — “It is finished” — with the congregation leaving quietly in total darkness. 

“The downplayed or somber nature of worship on Good Friday shows that Christians are trying to take that low point seriously and to really feel the full weight of Christ’s death,” Strawn said.

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Biden holds record-breaking New York City fundraiser with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton

By Aaron Navarro , Jordan Freiman

Updated on: March 29, 2024 / 6:54 AM EDT / CBS News

President Biden participated in a star-studded fundraiser with former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on Thursday in New York City in an event expected to raise more than $25 million for the president's re-election campaign.

Thursday's New York City fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall was hosted by actress Mindy Kaling and featured performances by several musical guests and artists, including Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. The event was capped off with a nearly hourlong discussion between Mr. Biden, Obama and Clinton moderated by "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert. 

Obama accompanied Mr. Biden on the Air Force One flight from Washington, D.C., to New York earlier in the day.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and first lady Jill Biden also delivered remarks during the event. 

Schumer touted several of Mr. Biden's accomplishments and spoke of the potential for not just the president's re-election, but for Democrats to control all three branches of government with key wins in the 2024 election.

"Re-elect Joe Biden as president, put Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, keep me as Majority Leader, and the next four years will be better than this. You ain't seen nothing yet," the Senate majority leader said.

The first lady, joined by several other members of the Biden family, recalled that after she agreed to marry Mr. Biden, "He said, 'Jill, I promise you, your life will never change.' Well that, of course, turned out to be wildly untrue."

She also spoke of the large sum raised for her husband's campaign.

"This is the biggest fundraiser the DNC has ever held – the fundraiser to end all fundraisers – and we've raised a record amount," Jill Biden said.

Mr. Biden, Obama and Clinton discussed a wide variety of topics, from the economy to the border to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, which Mr. Biden bluntly referred to as an insurrection. 

"I was supposed to make a speech on the economy, and I decided I couldn't remain silent," Mr. Biden said. "So what I did was I made a speech about January the sixth, what was happening. And I said it was an insurrection underway, and it must be dealt with and I plead with the president to stop and do his job, call these people off. He sat there in the dining room off the Oval Office for several hours and watched, didn't do a damn thing. That's why I felt obliged even though I wasn't sworn in yet. I was president-elect."

The fundraiser was interrupted by demonstrators protesting against the war in Gaza multiple times, and one who appeared to be yelling something about nuclear with Russia, throughout the night. One interruption came while Obama was discussing Gaza, to which he replied "You can't just talk and not listen," leading the audience to give him a standing ovation.

"It is also possible for us to have our hearts broken watching innocent people being killed and try to manage through that in a way that ultimately leads to both people being able to live in peace side by side," Obama said. "That is not an easy thing."

"It is important for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems," the former president added.

There were also Pro-Palestinian protests outside the music hall, CBS News New York reported . The New York Police Department told CBS News one person was detained. There was no word on why.

The demonstrators were chanting and screaming their messages, directing their anger toward Mr. Biden and, at times, at police officers.

Mr. Biden reiterated his support for Israel and its right to self defense, but said there were "too many innocent victims" and that more aid needs to get into Gaza. Mr. Biden also expressed support for a two-state solution.

"It's understandable there's such a profound anger, and Hamas is still there, but we must in fact, stop the effort resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children," Mr. Biden said.

The campaign has billed the event as the "most successful political fundraiser in American history." 

During a swing through Texas earlier this month, the Biden campaign raised a combined $7 million from three separate fundraisers. A fundraiser for Mr. Biden in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday raised $2.3 million. 

Mr. Biden's largest single-day haul prior to Thursday came in the 24 hours after his  State of the Union address earlier in March, when he raised $10 million, according to his campaign.

But Thursday's staggering sum is a new record for the campaign, and it further illustrates the growing cash gap between Mr. Biden and his presumptive general election opponent, former President Donald Trump. 

Trump raised $20 million in the whole month of February and $8.8 million in January. He's also been dogged by legal bills and payments , with his campaign and the political action committees supporting him spending over $10 million in legal fees this year.

Mr. Biden's campaign committees have more than double the cash on hand of Trump's equivalent groups, $155 million for Mr. Biden and $74 million for Trump as of late March.

"Unlike our opponent, every dollar we're raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election — communicating the President's historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election," said Biden-Harris campaign co-chair and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg. 

Trump's campaign sent out two fundraising emails Wednesday mentioning Mr. Biden's Thursday fundraiser, with one calling on "one million Trump supporters to donate to beat the "Obama-Clinton cartel" and the other reading, "We can't lose to Obama!"

• Democratic Party

Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter covering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign and the 2024 election. He was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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Tetris Creator Reveals Sequel Prototype Called Tetris Reversed That Might Never See the Light of Day

Block party..

In July of 2011, Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov and Vedran Klanac, a developer and CEO of Ocean Media, teamed up on prototyping a new version of Tetris that Pajitnov had dreamed up – and outlined in a PowerPoint presentation. Klanac programmed the game and Pajitnov provided feedback: They called it Tetris Reversed. In a panel at the Game Developers Conference 2024, they showed video of this prototype and described its gameplay. Very much a reversal of Tetris, the Tetrominoes (the universally recognized Tetris blocks) were used to eliminate a wall of blocks, not stack up.

A decade on, the creators said their game was stalled due to a collaborator, Martin de Ronde’s stymied efforts to move it along into full production. They didn’t elaborate, with Pajitnov saying, “We finished the job, but in this case production never started. The next stage never happened… Probably [de Ronde] had trouble with the Tetris company… At some point he gave up.” The Tetris Company, who Pajitnov is associated with, owns the rights to Tetris and associated things like Tetrominos. This game was created as a sort of side project and thus never found its way to a publishing track.

Tetris Reversed 2011 PowerPoint Presentation Images - GDC 2024

Reverse Tetris had many of the Tetris trappings, including the familiar blocks, a focus on score, and line deletion. Pajitnov is single minded and philosophical about his brand of satisfying game design: “I love so much line collapses. Such a pleasant effect in the original game,” he wistfully says. So he kept those. But it also differs in some key ways. For instance, you can hit a Reverse button to get yourself out of a pickle, which swaps all the completed blocks with incomplete ones, sort of like smashing the Hyperspace button in Asteroids. Also, according to Pajitnov, “Sometimes [clearing the field] is absolutely impossible,” so based on the roll of the blocks, a win condition is not guaranteed. They elaborated that an average game (for the handful of people that played it) is 10 minutes. The perfect game is possible with the right setup, where the entire board is cleared, but that has not been achieved by the devs.

Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain video of the demo that was shown at GDC, but it will be archived on the GDC website. However, after capturing the minutes-long slice of gameplay shown in the session, Klanac commented: “After I played this [10 minute demo], I played another two hours,” emphasizing how hard it is to put down Tetris Reversed.

Reflecting on Tetris Reversed, Pajitnov says: “The fun factor is higher in (the original) Tetris than here. [Reversed] is a more cerebral game. Tetris allowed different kind of styles. You can choose your own style. In this case it’s rather straightforward strategy." Yet, he added: “The learning curve… In my feeling it’s shorter than original Tetris.”

Samuel Claiborn is IGN's managing editor and a fixes/breaks ancient arcade and pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.

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