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Live polling

Live polling: put a question on screen, watch the room answer

Present your poll on the big screen, let everyone join from their phone and see the results build live. Made for presentations, lessons, meetings and streams.

Start a live poll Live templates
  • No app or account to join
  • Unlimited votes on every plan
  • Free to present

How live polling works

  1. 1

    Write your questions

    Start from a live template or build your own. One question or a full set, each gets its own slide.

  2. 2

    Open present mode

    Click Present on the results page and press F. A QR code and short join code sit right next to the question.

  3. 3

    Watch the room answer

    People scan and vote on their phones. The screen updates by itself, with nothing to refresh.

One screen, five very different rooms

These are real present mode recordings. Here’s how a session goes in each one.

Classrooms

Hear from every student, not just the first hand up

A show of hands tells you what the confident students think. With a quick quiz on the board, everyone answers on their own phone before anyone can copy the room, and you know whether to move on or go over it again.

  1. 1 Start the lesson. Ask what the class remembers from last time.
  2. 2 Hide the answers. Press H while votes come in, so nobody just follows the crowd.
  3. 3 Reveal and explain. Show the split, talk through the wrong answers, end on the leaderboard.
  • Quiz mode
  • Word cloud
  • Opinion scale
Run a classroom quiz

Talks and conferences

Take the questions the whole room wants answered

Microphones favor the boldest person in the room. With Audience Q&A, people ask from their seats, anonymously if they like, and upvote what they want to hear. You see the top questions without a moderator having to guess.

  1. 1 Open the talk. Put the QR code on your first slide and leave it up.
  2. 2 Collect as you go. Questions come in while you speak and rise as people upvote them.
  3. 3 Answer the top ones. Turn on approval first if you want to check questions before they appear.
  • Audience Q&A
  • Word cloud
  • Multiple choice
Host a live Q&A

Team meetings and all-hands

Find out what people think before the meeting ends

The quiet half of the room has opinions too. A pulse on the shared screen gives everyone the same voice, remote or in the office, and turns “any thoughts?” into something you can discuss.

  1. 1 Warm up. A light icebreaker gets every phone out in the first minute.
  2. 2 Take the pulse. Ask how confident people are, and see it before you defend the plan.
  3. 3 Pick what is next. A word cloud shows what to fix first, in the team’s own words.
  • Opinion scale
  • Word cloud
  • Rating
Start with an icebreaker

Workshops and training

Turn a long discussion into a shared decision

Sticky notes pile up and the loudest idea wins. Let everyone rank the options on their own, then put the group’s order on screen. You spend the session on what people disagree about, not on counting dots.

  1. 1 Gather ideas. Collect themes in a word cloud at the start of the session.
  2. 2 Rank them. Everyone orders the shortlist, and the group’s order settles live.
  3. 3 Check what stuck. Close with a rating and a quick question on what is still unclear.
  • Ranking
  • Word cloud
  • Rating
Add an understanding check

Streams and live events

Let the audience decide what happens next

Share your screen on a stream, or put the poll on the big screen at a pub quiz, a wedding or a company party. Votes are never metered, so it holds up however many people join, and the race between the bars is part of the show.

  1. 1 Drop the link. Share it in chat, or show the QR code to the room.
  2. 2 Let it race. Bars move on screen as the votes arrive, so nobody looks away.
  3. 3 Act on it. Do what the crowd picked, then line up the next question.
  • Multiple choice
  • Picture choice
  • Quiz mode
Start a trivia round

Pick the question that fits the moment

You stay in charge of the room

  • Hide the results until everyone has voted, then reveal them together.
  • Use a presentation clicker: Page Up and Page Down work too.
  • See how many people have the poll open, so you know when to start.
  • The controls fade out while you talk and come back when you move the mouse.
Next question
→Space
Previous question
←
Hide or show the results
H
Hide or show the QR code and join code
Q
Full screen
F
Leave present mode
Esc

Good to know

How to run live polls in a presentation

Plan the questions, set up the room, run it from the stage and use what the audience said, in a lecture hall, a classroom or a video call.

2 min read

Plan where the room joins in

Live polls work best as part of the talk, not an add-on. Write one question for each moment you want the room to take part, and put them all in one poll: each question becomes its own slide.

  • Opening: a word cloud or an easy question, so everyone has voted once in the first two minutes.
  • Middle: a question that checks or extends what you just said. Hide the results until everyone has answered, then reveal.
  • Throughout: an Audience Q&A people can use any time.
  • End: a quick rating or one-word takeaway, while people are still in the room.

Set up the room

  1. 1 Set Duplicate check to Browser session. Everyone in a hall shares one Wi-Fi, and with IP address only the first person could vote.
  2. 2 Download the QR code from the Share tab or create a join code, and put it on your first slide.
  3. 3 In the Results tab, click Present and press F for full screen.
  4. 4 Scan the code with your own phone, ideally on the venue’s Wi-Fi, then reset the poll.

Run it from the stage

  • →, Space or your clicker: next question. ←: previous.
  • H: hide the results so the room answers before seeing how others voted, then show them.
  • Q: hide the QR code once everyone is in.
  • C: switch a choice question between bars, columns, a stacked bar, a donut or a pie.

The QR code and join code stay beside every question, so latecomers join at the slide you’re on. Present mode runs in a browser tab: switch between it and your PowerPoint or Google Slides deck with Alt+Tab or ⌘+Tab.

Video calls and hybrid sessions

Share the browser window with present mode in Zoom, Teams or Google Meet, and paste the poll link into the meeting chat for people on the same device as the call. A fully remote audience can use IP address, since everyone is on their own network; in a hybrid session with part of the team in one office, stay with Browser session.

Use what the room said

The answers are the point. Read out a surprising result, ask someone to explain their vote, then move on. Afterwards, export the results as a CSV or share a link to them with attendees. Questions from the Q&A you didn’t get to make a good follow-up email.

How-to

Live polls for every kind of session

Slides, video calls, word clouds and the questions that get a room talking.

How to add a live poll to PowerPoint or Google Slides

Present mode runs in a browser tab, so there is nothing to install. Put the QR code or join code on a slide in your deck, then switch to the present mode tab when it’s time to vote and back to your slides afterwards.

On a single screen, keyboard shortcuts make the switch quick: Alt+Tab on Windows, ⌘+Tab on a Mac.

How to run a live poll in Zoom, Teams or Google Meet

Share the browser window with present mode, and paste the poll link into the meeting chat for everyone who is on the same device as the call.

For a remote audience, IP address works as the duplicate check, since everyone is on their own network. In a hybrid meeting with part of the team in one office, stay with Browser session.

How to make a live word cloud

Choose Word cloud and ask for one or two words: “How do you feel about this project?” Answers grow bigger the more people give them, live on the screen.

Set Duplicate check to Off if people may send several words, or Browser session for one answer each.

Build a live word cloud

Live poll questions that get the room talking

Easy questions first, so everyone has voted once before the harder ones.

  • Warm-up word cloud: “Describe your week in one word.”
  • Opinion scale: “How confident are you with this topic, from 1 to 5?”
  • Multiple choice with hidden results: “What do you think the answer is?”, then reveal.
  • Audience Q&A at the end: “What would you like to ask?”
Run a classroom quiz or check-in

Live polling questions, answered

Want the full walkthrough? Read the present mode guide.

Keep the conversation going after the event

Your audience is ready. Are you?

Create a live poll, show the QR code and let the answers roll in.

Create a free poll