Pros and Cons of Live Audience Polling at Your Next Annual Meeting

Corporations make significant investments each time they host annual meetings. Many attendees, however, find these meetings to be dry and boring. Keeping your investors engaged is challenging and important.

One method to increase engagement is to use live audience polling. Through the use of small remote controls distributed to each of your guests, or by asking attendees to download an app, the audience can more dynamically become part of the presentation. The key question is: For what purpose?

Poll with a purpose

Polling technology allows you to simultaneously solicit input from your audience members. It also allows your guests to state their views or respond with the comfort of anonymity. In many large groups, and especially at annual shareholder meetings, attendees can be reluctant to voice their opinions publicly or through a show of hands. If given the option to anonymously share their viewpoints through a poll, however, they’ll be more willing to engage.

Make sure the poll has a distinct purpose and is meaningful.Before employing this technology, ask the following questions: How will polling help your audience think about a topic differently? How will the results be incorporated into the discussion? Will the polling truly enhance the meeting for your guests, or will it risk becoming a disruption?

Align polling to your core message

The sheer magnitude of information being shared during an annual meeting can dilute your core message. Therefore, it’s important to identify how you want your guests to be engaged and when and why you need their input; develop your polling around those elements. Align polls to the most important points you need to make.

A standard presentation includes visual and vocal inputs for listeners. When you have the audience do something – such as press a button in response to a poll – they become engaged on another sensory level: touch. The more sensory something is, the more it tends to be remembered.Place the poll at a time when you are getting ready to set up a point that you really want them to recall long term.

Ensure that your polling technology is easy to use

Choose a polling platform by testing it with people of various levels of technical know-how. Learn what works and what doesn’t by requesting demos from the various polling technology companies. We are partial to polling that is accomplished on a special polling remote control, which is typically the size of a credit card. We don't usually recommend mobile phone apps because it may take time to download and you are inadvertently inviting the audience to check their messages and emails instead of listening to the rest of your presentation.

Polling questions need to be simple, direct, and clear

To get a clear answer, ask a clear question. Make sure the questions you pose are not too complicated or vague.  (You can check reader comprehension of your questions very easily on http://www.gunning-fog-index.com/. Carefully select polling questions. Multiple choice questions are safe because you select the possible answers. Open-ended questions are riskier. Anticipate possible reactions to your polls. Be as prepared as possible for surprises.

Gather feedback after the meeting

Ask your attendees for feedback. Select a few attendees to contact directly, so you can solicit further insight into their experiences. This level of follow-up further enhances your relationship with your investors.An engaged audience is desirable during any presentation – from an annual meeting, to a sales meeting, to a panel presentation, to a large training session – and live audience polling can boost engagement in a powerful way.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.