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How to run a live poll in a meeting

You're five minutes from the call starting and you want more than a show of hands. Here's the whole path, start to finish, using material you already have.

Before the call

Turn what you already have into questions

Say what the meeting is for in a sentence. Lumavote drafts a title and a set of questions from it, so you're reviewing rather than writing from nothing. Nothing goes in front of the room until you approve it. A badly worded question stays in your review list, not on the big screen.

Opening the room

Get everyone in before you start talking

Put the six-digit code on screen, or hand out the QR code, or share the short link (lumavote.com/t/ plus eight characters). Nobody creates an account and nobody installs anything; they open the link on the phone already in their hand. Watch the join count instead of guessing whether the room is ready.

Launching a question

Ask one question at a time

Reveal a question only when you want people answering it, not before. A live poll shows one question at a time, and answers post as they arrive: a word cloud, a rating scale, or typed answers, depending on how you set the question up. Keep it to one on screen so the room isn't skimming ahead.

Watching the results

Read the room while it's still in the room

Answers land on the big screen as they arrive: a rating scale fills in, a word cloud reshuffles, or typed replies group into a handful of themes within about ten seconds for a normal-sized room. You're reacting to what's actually happening, not what you assumed people think.

Closing it out

End the session and let the write-up do the follow-up

Ending the session locks it and produces a written summary automatically. Export the answers as CSV or Excel, or share the report link, public or restricted to people who sign in, your choice. Nobody has to retype what happened for the recap email.

Where this goes wrong

·Not checking the source line. Every question shows where it came from. Skim past that during review and you might approve a question the document doesn't actually support.
·Reading the code aloud instead of showing it. A six-digit code is quick to type but easy to mishear when read out fast. Put it on screen rather than saying it once.
·Launching too many questions at once. Reveal them one at a time; a screen with five questions waiting means half the room has already skipped ahead while you're still on the first.
·Assuming a room this size needs a plan. It does not — one session holds 1,000 people and costs nothing — but it does need phones that can reach the internet. Check the venue wifi before you check anything else.