55 talent show ideas for work, including acts that need no talent
Act ideas for every kind of coworker, from the secret guitarist to the person who swears they have no talent. Plus how to run the show, in the office or on Zoom, and how to judge it.
The best talent show ideas for work make talent optional: a lip sync or an air band gets the same applause as a violin solo. Below are 55 act ideas, from no-talent-needed acts to team numbers, plus how to run and judge the show. An office talent show lives or dies on sign-ups, and group acts bring up people who would never perform alone, so share these talent show suggestions with the sign-up form.
No-talent-needed acts
The secret of every good office talent show: these get the loudest applause.
- Lip sync battle: Pick a song and commit to every word you don't actually sing.
- Dramatic reading: Perform the printer manual or a terms-of-service page like a Shakespeare tragedy.
- Air band: Three people, no instruments, one classic rock song.
- Learn-it-this-week dance: Pick a 30-second dance tutorial on Monday, perform it on Friday.
- Bad joke stand-up: Two minutes of the worst puns you can find. Groans count as applause.
- Office chair routine: Synchronized spins and rolls to music, choreographed over one lunch break.
- Speed portrait: Draw a volunteer in 60 seconds. Bad likenesses get the biggest laughs.
- Weird collection show-and-tell: Bring the snow globes, the hot sauce labels or the rubber ducks.
- Paper airplane flight: Fold one live and fly it the length of the room.
- Interpretive dance of the quarter: Act out the last quarter's projects, without words.
- Supply closet fashion show: Outfits made only from office supplies, walked like a runway.
- Live sound effects: Play a silent movie clip and voice every door, footstep and splash.
- Tongue twister challenge: Three tongue twisters, faster each round, no stumbles allowed.
- Unusual party trick: Ear wiggling, finger whistling, or all 50 US states in alphabetical order.
- Famous voice impressions: Your best impression of a famous voice. The room guesses who.
Music and performance acts
For the people who were waiting for someone to ask.
- A song you love: Solo, any genre, with a backing track.
- Instrument solo: Guitar, piano, violin or the ukulele from the back of the closet.
- Karaoke duet with your manager: Hard to beat for crowd energy.
- Beatboxing: Thirty seconds of beats, then get the room clapping along.
- Whistled tune: Harder than it sounds, and more impressive than you'd expect.
- Spoken word: An original poem about Monday mornings, or about anything at all.
- Office choir: A group sing-along with lyrics on screen. Anyone can join.
- Team year in a song: New lyrics about your team's year, set to a tune everyone knows.
- Three-minute stand-up set: Clean, kind, and about work life rather than coworkers.
- Musical theater number: One big song, full drama, costume optional.
Skill and hobby acts
The hidden talents nobody knew about. Usually the best surprise of the night.
- Magic trick: One card or coin trick, practiced until it's smooth.
- Juggling: Balls, scarves or, for the confident, oranges.
- Speed cube: Solve a Rubik's Cube against a countdown on the big screen.
- Yo-yo tricks: Walk the dog, around the world, then the trick you're still learning.
- Live painting: Paint something start to finish in three minutes, to music.
- Two-minute origami: Fold a crane or a jumping frog while explaining each step.
- Latte art or a mocktail: Made live, with a camera on your hands.
- Calligraphy: Write audience members' names in your best hand.
- Speed typing: Type a famous speech against the clock, words per minute on screen.
- Card flourishes: Shuffles, fans and cuts that look impossible.
- Balloon animals: Make three in a row and hand them to the front row.
- Balance feat: A yoga pose, a handstand or a long plank while the room counts.
Team and department acts
Safety in numbers. Group acts get people on stage who would never go alone.
- Meeting parody skit: Act out the meeting everyone recognizes, kindly.
- Department lip sync: The whole team, one song, matching outfits optional.
- Human slideshow: Freeze into scenes while a narrator tells the team's year.
- Body percussion: Clap, stomp and snap one rhythm together.
- Kitchen band: Pots, spoons and water glasses play a tune the room can name.
- Team improv scene: Take one suggestion from the audience and play three minutes.
- Mannequin challenge: The team freezes mid-action while a camera moves through the scene.
- Shadow puppet story: A short story told with hand shadows on the projector screen.
Acts for a virtual talent show
Made for a webcam, a kitchen and a living room.
- Pet tricks on camera: Sit, shake, or a cat ignoring you completely.
- Kitchen demo: Make a snack or a mocktail live from your kitchen.
- Living room recital: Play an instrument at home with original sound turned on in Zoom.
- Digital art speed-run: Screen-share a drawing app and draw something in two minutes.
- Music video premiere: Film it during the week and premiere it at the show.
- Disappearing act: Simple illusions that use the edge of your video frame.
- Desk nature documentary: Narrate your home office like a wildlife film.
- Hello in many languages: Greet the team in as many languages as you can in 30 seconds.
- Virtual background stunt: Interact with your virtual background as if it were real.
- Gallery-view wave: One dance move passed square to square across the whole gallery.
How to run a talent show at work
Seven steps from sign-up sheet to group photo.
- Set the shape. 45 to 60 minutes, 8 to 12 acts, 3 minutes each. Short acts keep the energy up.
- Open sign-ups two weeks ahead. Share this list, welcome group acts and say plainly that no talent is required.
- Send three rules. Three minutes max, keep it clean, and no jokes about coworkers unless they're in on it.
- Pick an MC and a running order. Alternate loud and quiet acts, open with a group act and close with a crowd-pleaser.
- Do a tech check. Mic, speaker and a playlist with every backing track queued in order.
- Run it like a show. The MC introduces each act with one fun fact. Judges score while the next act sets up.
- Finish with awards and a photo. Announce the categories, hand out prizes and get everyone in one picture.
Running a virtual talent show
- Spotlight the performer and ask everyone else to mute.
- Musicians turn on original sound so Zoom doesn't filter their audio.
- Allow pre-recorded acts. Play them by screen share with sound on.
- Applause goes in reactions; the audience vote goes in a poll.
- Hold a 15-minute run-through the day before for acts that use music or video.
Talent competition ideas: judging and prizes
Three judges, four criteria, each scored out of 5. Add an audience vote for crowd favorite.
- Entertainment: did the room enjoy it?
- Creativity: was it something new?
- Effort: how much went into it?
- Crowd reaction: the applause test.
Award categories
Several small awards beat one big one. More people win, and more people sign up next year.
- Best overall
- Crowd favorite
- Best no-talent act
- Best group act
- Most creative
- Funniest
- Bravest first-timer
- Best on-camera act
Prizes can be small: a rotating trophy, a gift card, first pick of the next team lunch spot or a framed photo of the act. For more award ideas, see our office superlatives.
Rather skip the auditions?
A hosted game show puts every team on stage with no sign-up sheet at all. A live host runs about an hour of rounds on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). See virtual game shows, or plan the talent show into your virtual holiday party. Book about 2 weeks ahead.
Game shows and comedy with a host, with today’s prices.
Need warmups for nervous performers? Try our improv games. Planning a bigger event? Get a free quote.
