The quickest way to wake up a room is to ask it something. "Who here has shipped a Friday deploy?" works fine with a show of hands, until the hands half go up and you can't count them, or the talk is on Zoom and half the faces are off camera.
A live poll fixes that: the question goes on the big screen, people vote from their phones, and the bars move while you talk. Here's how to set one up for a conference talk, a meetup or a webinar in a few minutes, with no add-in and nothing for your audience to install.
Here's the whole thing in 30 seconds, from typing the question to a room of phones voting:
Why not a PowerPoint add-in?
Add-ins tie the poll to one app and one version. The venue laptop runs a different Office build, the add-in needs admin rights to install, or you present from Keynote or Google Slides and it doesn't exist there.
The approach below keeps the poll in a browser window. Your slides stay a normal deck, and the only thing on a slide is a QR code image, which every slide app supports.
Step 1: Publish the poll before you present
Create the poll at FreeLivePoll.com: type the question and the answers, then publish. You don't need an account, and neither do your voters. Keep the big-screen view open in its own browser window.
The big-screen view waiting for votes: the question, the answers, and a QR code people can scan from the back row.
Do this before your talk starts, so the live moment is just a window switch.
Step 2: Put the QR code on a slide
From the poll's settings page, download the QR code as a PNG and insert it on the slide where you'll ask the question, like any other picture. Add the short code in big type under it for people whose camera won't focus from the back.
This is the part that makes it work in any deck: PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides, any version. The details for PowerPoint are in our guide to a live poll for PowerPoint.
Step 3: Switch to the results when it's time
When you reach the poll slide, people scan and vote. Switch to the results window with Alt+Tab (Cmd+Tab on a Mac), press F for full screen, and the bars update as the votes arrive.
The reveal happens in front of everyone, which is the point. Talk through it as the bars move.
On each voter's phone, the vote is one tap, and they see the live results right under their answer:
What each voter sees after one tap.
When you've made your point, close voting from your phone and switch back to your slides. The results stay on the page after you close voting, so you can bring them up again in the Q&A.
Running it on Zoom, Teams or a webinar
Remote talks work the same way with two swaps. Share the results window instead of switching to it, and paste the voting link into the chat instead of relying on the QR code. Attendees open the link in a new tab, tap an answer and come back to the stream.
It only needs screen sharing and a chat, so it doesn't depend on your Zoom plan or your webinar platform. Our guides for a live poll in Zoom and a webinar poll walk through each one.
Questions that work well in a talk
- Opening: "How much have you used [the thing I'm about to show]?" (Never / A bit / Daily). It tells you where to pitch the rest of the talk.
- Mid-talk check: "Which of these would you try first?" with the options you just covered.
- Before the reveal: "What do you think happened next?" Then show the answer.
- Closing: "How useful was this session?" Votes are anonymous, so you get honest answers.
The short version
- Publish the poll before the talk and keep the big-screen view in a browser window.
- Put the QR code PNG and the short code on a slide.
- Alt+Tab or Cmd+Tab to the results, press F, talk through the bars.
- On Zoom or a webinar: share that window and paste the link in the chat.
Every poll is free, with unlimited voters and no ads. What's the one question you'd ask your next audience?
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