In today's ultra noisy world, leaders must find new ways to cut through the clutter and get their message heard. I believe the below tool could be your next generation catalyst to do just that.
When I speak live, I am competing with the entire world. The world wide web that is. My audiences have 100s of friends, 1,000s of videos, 10,000s of photos and the opportunity to beat their high score in Candy Crush right in the palm of their hand. At any given moment, they can tune me out and retreat to the endless entertainment found in a mobile device.
Today's leaders are being held accountable to the demands of technology. If leaders decide to deny rather than leverage technology, their teams will resent them because technology is now an integral part of our lives. Allow your team to bring their own devices (BYOD) to work and/or leverage cell phones in meetings (3 Sure Fire Ways To Eliminate Phone Distraction During Meetings). One of the best ways to leverage technology (specifically mobile devices) to create audience engagement is Poll Everywhere.
Overall I give this tool a 5 out of 5!
What Is It?
Poll Everywhere is the world's largest realtime web, SMS, and Twitter polling service that lets users submit votes or comments to a PowerPoint or Keynote slide.
Why Use It?
1) It is an inexpensive alternative to bulky and expensive hardware audience response clickers.
2) It pulls audience engagement through mobile devices via relevant services like texting and Twitter.
3) It can be completely anonymous so your team can spark innovation by letting their true thoughts fly.
How To Use It?
1) Visit Poll Everywhere and sign-up for a free account (limited to 40 responses per poll).
2) Create a poll and customize the look and colors.
3) Embed the poll into a PowerPoint or Keynote slide.
4) Ensure you have an Internet connection during your live presentation.
5) Ask audience to respond via web, text or Twitter.
6) Responses display within seconds.
7) Watch the audience minds blow.
Here are 2 screen shots of my Poll Everywhere polls after the audience responded live.
Question: How do you engage today's tech-savvy audiences?
Disclosure 1: No Material Connection
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
