Imagine attending an event with such incredible energy that every attendee can’t help but turn from mere spectators to active participants. They give off the impression that they are not interacting, while, in fact, they are very much immersed. This is what happens when there are efficient feedback systems in place for an event. Indeed, live polls and surveys represent the most convenient and effective instruments to comprehend the preferences of the participants.
These communication tools allow the audience to share their opinions and feelings without any delay. As a result, they become the most loyal members of the discussion, and thus, they become co-creators of the content. We will learn today about the functioning of live polls and surveys, their importance, and how to implement them.
Why Make Attendee Engagement a Priority?
Individuals who are passively listening might lose their attention very soon, and their brains may start focusing on things other than the event they’re attending. This means they are barely involved in the event. Nonetheless, by posing a question and motivating the audience to answer, you can bring their attention back.
This method makes them evaluate the matter and also instigates them to take some action. Just by giving the answer, watching the outcome, or providing feedback can, to a great extent, change the user’s experience. That’s how they go from “I am listening” to “I am participating.”
What Are Live Polls and Surveys?
Live polls are a significant part of an event where a question or a short poll is shown in real time. After that, members of the audience can quickly make their choices via their mobile phones, tablets, or laptops.
Surveys are definitely longer sets of questions that can also be live or semi-live to keep the feedback fresh and up to date.
The point of whether to go with live polls, surveys, or both is that the audience gets the opportunity to interact with you immediately. These feedback systems are intrinsically linked to the success of your academic events.
Major Advantages of Live Polling and Surveys
The main advantages of using live polling and surveys are as follows:
Increased Engagement: Real-time audience response systems change the flow of a talk from the presenter just speaking to a conversation between the presenter and the audience. If a speaker asks a question to which the audience is expected to respond by raising hands, then the number of people actually participating is inherently limited. However, a program like the Audience Response Systems (ARS) gives the chance of participation to all and not only to a few.
Instant Feedback and Adjustment: The very moment you question the audience, you can find out their reaction. Whether the audience catches the point or not is very easy to see just by watching them. Their mannerisms will indicate what your next step should be. It becomes evident if they are asking for more, skipping the point, or if they are intrigued by that point.
Be Certain That No Suggestion is Being Disregarded: The suppression of thoughts by people in meetings or classes, even though they want to share their idea, is a common phenomenon. Conducting live polling and surveys will encourage people to share their opinions, as it provides them with anonymity. Consequently, more people will be willing to share their views.
The Audience Will Remember and Understand the Information Better: Through the involvement of the audience in thinking and answering, at the same time, you are helping them commit the details to their core memory by the very same method. Multiple studies confirm that live polling is much more effective for learning and engagement.
Helpful Insights for the Future: The questions that you respond to are the means that open people’s minds. Once you have analysed the information gathered from surveys or polls, you can figure out the places where people are worrying, where they do not understand, or what their likes are. Consequently, this sort of information may take you there, to the following meetings, content, or products.
Best Practices of Live Polling and Surveys
There are some ways to conduct the live polling that you might use to achieve the best results:
-
- Ask clear and short questions. Avoid complicated phrasing.
- Do not overwhelm your audience with too many polls. Ask them when they are needed, like after explaining a concept, before moving on to the next topic, or to check their understanding.
- Give time for answers and discussion. Do not just ask a question and move on. Show the results and discuss them.
- Think about anonymity. By letting people respond anonymously, you likely receive more honest answers, and also more people will participate.
- Use the findings to guide your content. If many people seem confused, take a moment to clarify things. If several people request a specific topic, switch to that. Being open to change shows that you are listening.
- Avoid conducting too many polls. Asking too many questions can bore your audience or distract them from your main message. Finding the right balance is important.
Specific Use Cases and Settings
Live polling and surveys work well in certain situations, such as:
-
- To retain the attention of the audience, employing live polls proves to be effective. Simply putting a question in a poll can help regain the lost focus; it can incite the users’ participation, and as a result, the event becomes more entertaining.
- Generally, an oral presentation at a conference or a live event is the main format. Audience members get to talk to the speaker by means of live polling. Such a tool is perfect for use in keynotes, panel discussions, and workshops.
- A student or a trainee will understand better when they are more physically and psychologically active. Polls make them more familiar with the material through which they discuss it and are more effective in retaining the information.
- Live polling is a tool that facilitates the participation of people in internal meetings and team sessions. It enables every team member to say what they think. Now, you can easily get their feedback and suggestions without the need for lengthy surveys.
The Psychological Shift in Turning Your Audience into Participants
Understanding how live polling and surveys change the audience’s role is important. When someone answers a question, they are making a decision. They become part of the content instead of just receiving it. This makes them feel recognised. When you show the results, they see that their input is valuable. This encourages their participation.
Additionally, when audience members realise their answers affect what happens next, they become more engaged. This engagement leads to better focus, more contributions, and a positive feedback loop.
How to Choose The Right Tool and Use It for Your Event
-
- Your first move should be selecting a live polling and survey platform that fits your needs, enables real-time data analysis, is seamlessly integrated with your event or webinar platform, and has the features for customisation.
- Make sure that the poll questions highlight your key points without the audience losing track of the speech. Employ polls to help you get through a lengthy speech, energise the audience, get their feedback, and involve everyone.
- Also, it is an excellent idea to decide beforehand when you will be using the polls, whether you are going to use them at the start, during, or at the end of the session.
- Give your audience clear instructions. Therefore, along with the maximum benefit, you also upgrade the number of persons who take part.
Wrapping Up
In events, classrooms, webinars, and meetings, it is necessary to go beyond the level of passive listening and start engaging actively. One of the most effective ways to attract the attention of your listeners is the use of live polling and surveys. Thus, the audience is not only observing from a distance, but they are actually experiencing the event with you. Hence, you receive the feedback immediately, interact with more people, become momentarily adaptable, and make your time together more delightful. As we have already pointed out, an engaged audience realises they are being listened to, attended to, and involved.
A live poll or short survey at your next event or meeting is a great idea. Use Dryfta’s live polling and survey tool to make your event more engaging. Book a free demo with Dryfta today to see how easy it is to involve your audience.