How should I structure my questions?

There are six basic ways to structure a multiple choice question:

  Yes/No
  True/False
  Multiple Choice
  Range or On a Scale... Examples include:
A scale of 1 to 5, from strongly disagree to strongly agree
1 to 7, extremely unimportant to extremely important
1 to 9, very unlikely to very likely
  Vote   -   Yes/No/Abstain
  Top X Poll   -   For example...Choosing the top 3 items from a list of 8 choices. The audience is polled 3 times and then a graphic is displayed of the overall results. Response is weighted higher for the more important/significant items.

To help hold the audience's attention, a combination of the different formats may be used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When should I ask the questions?

All meetings are different, so there is no correct answer. If possible, the Response System should be incorporated throughout the meeting. Some presenters like to use a '10-2' rule, one or two questions for every ten minutes of presentation to help the audience absorb new information. This helps keep the attendees involved.

Some suggestions for designing questions to enhance presentations:

Ask questions to find out about your audience:
  Who are they? A couple of demographic questions will help you define your audience.
  What do they already know about your subject?
  How interested are they in your subject? Do they use this information frequently?
  What kind of problems are they capable of solving?
  What difficulties have they had understanding the material you intend to present?

Questions may be asked before a presentation to get the feel for the overall knowledge of the group on a subject matter. A review question may be asked in the middle of the presentation to find out if the group is comprehending the material, or if a review is in order.

Asking questions during the presentation is a good way to stimulate discussion and get the audience more involved rather than just pressing buttons. After the question results are displayed, invite discussion of responses that indicate disagreements or misunderstandings. Ask participants to defend their choice by sharing their reasoning for the selection.

Monitor the Audiences Progress: This can give you valuable guidance on where to take your presentation; however, you have to be ready and willing to make adjustments as you go.

Provide Diversion and Humor: You can do a lot to keep an audience engaged and sympathetic by interspersing some occasional questions that bring a light touch or a bit of humor.

Summarizing the Audience's Progress: At the end of the presentation you may want to determine the audience's level of understanding of their opinions, either as an absolute measure or as a contrast to the initial information you gathered about them. When you've had to dispense a lot of information, a few knowledge assessment questions at the end of a meeting will let you know if the methods of relaying that information have been successful.


 

 

 

 

 
Do you have some suggestions for wording the questions?

 

To get the audience involved, questions should be provocative, thought provoking, actually challenging. The choices given should be thought producing. Your objective is to get a graph which shows strong support to some choices and weaker support for other choices, thereby giving you material for providing feedback to the audience.

Individual responses MAY be tracked, but aren't usually unless attendance is taken through the system or a test is given. Although responses are anonymous, questions must be carefully structured with two rules in mind:

  Never ask anything you don't want publicly answered.
  Never ask anything that might appear to jeopardize or compromise the speaker, audience, or organization sponsoring the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Characteristics of Good Questions

 

  Brief   -   Should be grasped quickly - many audiences become impatient. Provide only as many response choices as needed for your purpose.
  Worthy   -   The audience will become restless if they dismiss the questions as too obvious, superficial, or unimportant.
  Clear/Unambiguous   -   Carefully edited to assure maximum clarity. It will help to read the question out loud and to have other experts in your field review your questions in advance for clarity, relevance and freedom from ambiguity.
  Engaging/Intriguing   -   Audiences like to be engaged when they want to know the correct answer, or the opinions of their colleagues.
  Personal   -   Questions should be directed at individuals and not to the group as a whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


How should I introduce the system?

 


The audience needs a quick introduction to the keypads in order to get them acquainted and comfortable with it. Take the time to explain why you are using the system.

To help you introduce the system, we have written a script which you might find useful. We recommend that the speaker hold up a keypad and point out the various keys to be used followed by a couple of warm-up questions, which demonstrate use to the keys to be used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moderator Introduction Script:

In front of each of you is a terminal with 12 keys. These terminals will be used throughout the meeting today to get your input on issues to be discussed.

Your answers will be anonymous, so please give us your true feelings... not your neighbors, or how you think someone else might like you to respond... we're looking for your input.

Each question will be displayed on the screen. I will read it aloud and a computer will activate the system. You'll see a countdown clock appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen. To enter your response, all you need to do is press the button representing your choice. You will have 10 seconds to enter your response. If you change your mind, simply press another button, the computer will only accept the last response pressed.

Immediately following the countdown, a graph will appear on screen displaying the distribution of responses to the question just answered.

Let's try a sample question to see how this works.

As well as the introductory script, you may want to have a slide or text screen to accompany it, depending on the format used in the meeting. This slide could be an outline as follows:

Response System Instructions
  Question is displayed on the screen.
  Question is read aloud by the moderator.
  System is activated:
Countdown clock appears on screen.
  Press button representing your choice.
If you change your mind, just press another button, it only accepts the last input.
  Bar graph is displayed.
  Results are discussed.

 

 

 

 

Audience Response Systems

Speakers Guide

 

 


What will be my role as Speaker/Moderator?

 

The role of speaker/moderator is an extremely important one. The speaker reads the questions to the audience, begins the polling period and facilitates the dialogue that the response system electronically creates. It is the speaker who translates the graphs into sentences that carry the participant's thoughts and encourages audience discussion. Without the speaker, the response system would be no more than another piece of technology.

To help speakers feel comfortable with the system, this Speaker's Guide has been prepared so the speaker can understand the system more fully. Also, please allow time for rehearsal. We highly encourage all presenters who are using the system to take a few minutes to cover their portion of the event with the system operator. We will be there to help you. Please don't hesitate to ask questions.

 


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