Gamification – take a playful approach to your PowerPoint presentation!
People have always loved to play. This play instinct is now increasingly being taken into account in the design of marketing and sales measures.
Game elements can also be incorporated into your presentation to increase awareness and create an additional positive appeal. In technical jargon, this is also called gamification. For PowerPoint there is a whole range of game templates that can be integrated into a presentation.
For as long as humans have existed, they have invented games to amuse themselves. Board games were already found as grave goods in the tombs of pharaohs. Many couldn’t get enough of gambling, and gambling addiction was a serious problem then as now. A huge boost for the gaming sector has come with the invention of the computer. From the simple ping-pong games of the early years to the globally popular “Gameboy” and game consoles, such as “x-Box” and “Playstation,” to complex 3-D games that now only run on highly upgraded gaming computers, entire generations have become accustomed to electronic games. It’s hard to find anyone under the age of 50 who hasn’t tried their hand at computer games.
It is therefore logical that science and also business are addressing the issue. Playing obviously sets processes in motion in our brain that are important for us. We can train our problem-solving skills, initiate learning processes, train strategic thinking and stimulate our pleasure center in games, especially when we win.
For these reasons, it was only a matter of time before the advertising industry began to look at how the play instinct could be used for sales, motivation, retention, or simply to generate attention. A term was also invented for this: Gamification. Wikipedia explains the term as “the application of game-typical elements and processes in a context foreign to the game.” In other words, game elements are used in areas where they are not initially suspected, such as in a presentation. Since around 2009, the topic has seen a continuous jump in search queries on google.
Gamification is an attempt to transfer the incentives of game situations to other areas of life. Monotonous, complicated or strenuous activities at work or in learning processes should thus be loosened up or provided with a motivational boost. Games can also be used to steer behaviors and attitudes in a desired direction. For example, employees can be motivated to be more punctual and perform better at work. Gamification is used with customers to achieve higher interest and long-term retention. A well-known example here is the various sweepstakes designed to lure consumers into stores on a regular basis.
Classic elements of gamification are, for example, the collection of experience points or awards, ranking lists or progress bars. Rankings are very popular here. Point systems can be used to compare players involved and reward them accordingly. They are used frequently, especially for motivating employees. Tasks (quests) are also often used to solve certain questions individually or in teams and thus qualify for further more complex tasks. Quests are especially popular in e-learning.
But what drives customers, employees or your audience to get involved in a game? There are certain types of players that can be divided into four categories:
– The killer seeks competition with other players. He wants to win.
– The Achiever likes to collect points and awards.
– The Socializer seeks interaction with other players. For him, the group experience and social recognition are paramount.
-The Explorer seeks the borderline experience. He wants to explore unknown territory and gather new impressions.
Coaches and trainers can use gamification to break up their learning content and keep the audience’s attention in a new way. Also in the field of e-learning, an intelligent role play, for example based on PowerPoint, with appropriate learning content is an exciting alternative. PowerPoint gamification is particularly suitable for training purposes. For this purpose smavicon has already used combined games. For example, a customer solution with a so-called “one-armed bandit”, which is operated by means of a PowerPoint presentation, and the participants have special cards matching the game on the screen, had great success with gamification. We receive requests from our customers again and again whether smavicon can customize games for their needs. As a result, we are often busy developing and adapting games, such as the well-known “Jeopardy” in a company’s branding. Or it’s about creating a new game from components of two games to enhance the desired effect. Larger events are often about making games suitable for the masses, i.e. simplifying them so that as many participants as possible can play.
Perhaps you would like to try out gamification for your own purposes?
For PowerPoint many game templates exist on the page http://powerpointgames.wikispaces.com/PowerPoint+Game+Templates
Why not try the Jeopardy game for example! You can insert your own quiz questions on your subject area and take on the role of show master for a short time.
A completely different way of bringing game learning and PowerPoint together is the so-called PowerPoint Karaoke. This is an offshoot of the classic karaoke. Participants must give an impromptu presentation on a slide not previously known. Spontaneity, overcoming stage fright, concentration and flexibility are trained. For people who have to speak in front of an audience, this is an interesting training opportunity. There are now real portals of their own and real tournaments in PowerPoint karaoke.
Why don’t you visit http://www.kapopo.de/, maybe you’ll find it fun too.
Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Informatiker Matthias Garten is the expert for multimedia presentations and professional PowerPoint presentations. He is an entrepreneur, speaker (TOP 100 Speaker), trainer (TOP 100 Excellence Trainer), multiple book author, presentation coach (presentation training), member of the GSA and Club 55, organizer of the Presentation Conference, Presentation Bootcamp and Presentation Rocket Days. In addition to PowerPoint and presentation training, he inspires and advises companies to present themselves even more effectively and thus stand out from competitors. He is the business owner of the presentation and PowerPoint agency smavicon Best Business Presentations and with his team has created over 15,000 professional PowerPoint presentations for over 150 industries since 1993.
