Game Design Secrets for Presentations That Don't Suck

Here's a reality check for anyone who's ever stood in front of an audience: research shows that people check their smartphones on average every five minutes, and most of these interactions are unconscious and habitual. Meanwhile, studies have found that the mere presence of a mobile phone can significantly impact attention—even when the device isn't actively in use.

You're not competing against distracted people. You're competing against a dopamine machine that's always within arm's reach. And your bullet points simply can't keep up.

At Potato Battery Games, we build games designed to be played together—the kind that live or die based on whether everyone in the room stays engaged. And while developing our first titles, we noticed something: the mechanics that make a party game work are exactly what's missing from most presentations.

What We Do (And Why It Matters Here)

Our studio builds social games—the kind where everyone in the room participates, laughs, and actually pays attention. Chapeau Shuffle, our digital take on the classic Fishbowl party game. Hex Mixer, a daily puzzle you can share with friends. Games that live or die based on one metric: are people engaged?

We also present at conferences, run workshops, and pitch to clients. And honestly? Keeping an audience engaged is hard. A boring presentation isn't the audience's fault—it's a design problem. And design problems have solutions.

Pew Research found that 89% of phone owners used their device during their most recent social gathering—yet 82% of adults believe phone use frequently hurts the conversation. People know they shouldn't be checking their phones. They do it anyway. That's the force you're up against.

Then one day, preparing for a workshop, it clicked.

The Aha Moment: Presentations Are Just Broken Games

Think about what makes a party game like Fishbowl work. Everyone participates—there are no spectators. Feedback is instant—you know immediately if your teammates understood your clue. The barrier to entry is almost zero—explain the rules in thirty seconds, and anyone can play. There's energy, momentum, and a reason to pay attention to what's happening right now.

Now think about most presentations. The audience sits passively while one person broadcasts information at them. There's no feedback loop until maybe a Q&A session at the end, by which point half the room has mentally checked out. The "barrier to entry" for participating is actually a barrier to exit—people stay because leaving would be awkward, not because they're engaged.

A presentation where the audience just watches is like a party game where only one person plays. Of course it doesn't work.

Four Game Design Principles That Fix Presentations

Once we started seeing presentations through a game design lens, the solutions became obvious. Here are four principles we now apply to every talk, workshop, and pitch we give.

Instant feedback changes everything. In games, you know immediately whether your action succeeded. The ball goes in the basket or it doesn't. Your opponent laughs at your joke or stares blankly. This feedback loop keeps you engaged because your actions matter right now, not in some hypothetical future.

Most presentations save all feedback for the end. "Any questions?" after forty-five minutes of monologue. By then, people have forgotten what they were confused about. Instead, we build feedback moments throughout: live polls, reaction buttons, quick temperature checks. Not just for the audience's benefit—speakers need that real-time signal to adjust their approach.

Low barrier to entry is non-negotiable. We aim to make joining as frictionless as possible. No app downloads, no account creation, no complicated rules. If participating requires effort, most people won't bother.

The same applies to interactive presentations. If you want audience participation, the path from "sitting passively" to "actively engaged" needs to be frictionless. One QR code scan. No login required. A single tap to respond. Every additional step loses a percentage of your audience.

Progression and small wins maintain momentum. Games don't dump all the fun at the end. They create a rhythm of challenges and rewards throughout. You level up, earn points, unlock achievements, see your progress bar fill.

Presentations can do this too. Bingo cards where attendees mark off concepts as they're covered. Small prizes for participation. Visual acknowledgment when someone contributes. These aren't gimmicks—they're fundamental engagement mechanics that game designers have refined over decades.

Social proof creates participation cascades. When you see others participating in a game, you're more likely to join in. Nobody wants to be the first one dancing, but nobody wants to miss out once the floor is full.

Displaying real-time participation in presentations—showing poll results, highlighting comments, acknowledging reactions—creates the same effect. When the audience sees that others are engaging, the social barrier to participation drops.

From Principles to Product

We run workshops at ReDI School, teaching web development. The challenge: keep beginners engaged for three hours while showing them what web tech can actually build.

That's where YoListen came from—a tool we needed for our own sessions. We wrote up ten interactive presentation techniques that came out of this experience—most take under five minutes to set up.

Start with one bingo card for your next meeting. See what changes when people have a reason to actively listen.

Try It Yourself

Free tools—timers, dice, Spin Wheel—are available at YoListen.app. No signup required.