How do I randomly decide presentation order?
Paste the students, groups or presenters and run a Race on the projector. The finishing order is the running order. Because the draw is fixed into a link before it plays, nobody can be put first as a punishment, and the link stays afterwards as a record of how the order was set.
Reading out a presentation order you wrote in advance invites the same question every time: why am I first? Whatever the real answer is, a list in your handwriting cannot prove it was not deliberate.
Draw it in the room instead. Paste the names, put it on the projector, and let a race hand out the slots. The order is fixed into a link before it plays, so nobody can be put first as a punishment and nobody can be saved for last as a favour.
Where this earns its keep
- Classroom presentations. Individual students or project groups — paste either.
- Demo day and show-and-tell. The slot order is half the perceived fairness of the whole session.
- Standups and retros. A fresh order each day beats going round the grid, and it stops the same person always speaking after the loudest one.
- Interview and audition slots. A drawn order you can show to anyone who asks.
Groups as well as people
A project group is just a name. Paste "Group 1", "The Volcano Team", or the four surnames as one line — whatever the class calls itself. The race treats each line as one competitor.
Going last is the prize, sometimes
If the good slot at your school is the last one, run a Rumble instead: the last one standing takes first place, so reading the standings from the bottom gives you the reverse running order.
A record you can point to
Every match link keeps working. If a parent, a student or a manager asks later how the order was chosen, the link replays the exact draw — which is a better answer than remembering that it was random.
How it works
Paste the presenters
Students, groups or teams, one per line.
Run it on the projector
The room watches the same race.
Read the running order
Finishing order is the slot order.
Questions
How do I randomly decide presentation order?
Paste the presenters and run a Race. The finishing order is the running order, and everyone in the room watches it get decided at the same time.
Can I use group names instead of student names?
Yes. Each line is one competitor, so "Group 3" works exactly like a person's name.
Can I make sure someone is not first?
Weighted odds lets you change the likelihood, and the ball counts are shown in the standings so the adjustment is visible rather than hidden. It shifts the odds; it does not guarantee a slot.
Is it free for a whole class?
Yes, up to 12 presenters with no sign-up.