Magic Maps visually maps out audience locations based on the places they mention in chat. This creates an engaging and interactive way to see where your audience is joining from.
By default, Magic Maps identifies location names in chat messages and automatically plots them in real time on the map shown on your screen.
As your session begins, Magic Maps can be a great icebreaker to encourage audience participation by prompting them to share where they’re from.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to create a Magic Map, customization options, how to run it, and frequently asked questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does Magic Maps Collect Locations?
Magic Maps automatically pulls location names from the live chat on platforms like Zoom, YouTube, Twitch and many more. If a participant mentions a city, country, or other recognizable place, StreamAlive places a pin on the map in real time.
How Does It Work in the Presentation Live Screen?
Once Magic Maps is set up, it appears on the Presentation Live Screen, visible to both the presenter and the audience.
As audience members mention locations in chat, pins appear dynamically on the map.
The presenter can zoom in or out to showcase responses from different regions.
What If Someone Mentions Multiple Locations?
If a participant names more than one place in a single message, it will pick up the first location mentioned.
If participants want to enter more than one location, they will have to send multiple comments each with its own location. However, please note that this will only work if the presenter has set the interaction to “allow multiple responses”
Can You Upload a List of Locations?
No, Magic Maps is designed to pull responses dynamically from live chat rather than from a pre-set list.
NOTE: The location list comes from a central database which might not contain all place names, particularly ones that have local names not commonly found on maps.
Creating a Magic Map
To run Magic Maps during your session, you can choose to:
Adding Magic Maps to your presentation
Go to My Presentations
Click on New Presentation
(or click on one of your existing presentations)
Click on New Slide
Add a Magic Map
To learn more about how to create a presentation, click here
Once the MAP is added, customize the design and features using the tabs on the right-hand side.
Edit the heading and configure its settings in the Content tab.
You can also edit the design of the interactions like the visualization colors of the map, background color, heading color/font, and so on.
For a more in-depth guide on how to edit your presentation, click here
Alternatively, try our pre-designed Themes to completely change the look of your map.
Click on Preview to see what it will look like for your audience during your session
Now that your presentation is complete, you can present it immediately or schedule it with a future session
Follow the instructions on how to connect StreamAlive to your preferred meeting or streaming platform, or even use it for in-person events.
Creating an Ad-hoc Magic Maps
What’s the Purpose of Creating an Ad-Hoc Magic Map?
An ad-hoc interaction in StreamAlive allows you to set up and run audience engagement features on the spot, without planning them in advance. This is ideal when you want to interact dynamically with your audience and capture responses in real time. (If you’re new to ad-hoc interactions, check out this help article for more details.)
Why Use an Ad-Hoc Magic Map?
While you can add a Magic Map to your presentation in advance, running it as an ad-hoc interaction gives you the flexibility to capture audience locations based on specific moments in your live session.
This ensures that the map reflects only the responses given in that moment rather than capturing location mentions from the entire chat history.
Connect StreamAlive to your session
To learn how to connect to your required platform, click here
Once you’re connected and on the Presentation Live screen, click on the + New Interaction button
Click on the Magic Maps interaction
Customize your Magic Map
Here, you can edit the heading and configure the settings of the map.
Remember: everyone can see your screen at this point so don’t spend too long on it. Alternatively, you can plan your map in advance using the presentation builder method discussed in the section above.
Choose a theme [Optional]
This step is optional but if you choose to continue without choosing, the interaction will use your default theme.
Remember: Spending time customizing your map design in the middle of your live session is likely to be an attention killer, so consider using the presentation builder to create your interactions in advance if you plan on customizing them.
Once ready click on Go
Share the StreamAlive window to your audience (if you haven’t already done so)
Ask your audience to start typing in answers in the chat.
StreamAlive picks up these answers and plots them on the map in real-time.
Using Quick Interaction links
What’s the Purpose of Using Quick Interaction Links?
Quick Interaction Links in StreamAlive allow you to instantly launch audience engagement features without all the customization options in the presentation builder.
These links provide an easy way to trigger interactions on the fly, making them ideal for spontaneous engagement moments. (If you’re new to quick interaction links, check out this help article for more details.)
Why Use Quick Interaction Links?
While you can plan interactions in advance, Quick Interaction Links offer on-the-spot flexibility—allowing you to engage your audience with a single click.
If you want to launch an interaction without customizations, use the quick interactions, if you want to customize the question, colors, and response options, use the presentation builder.
For example, if you need a quick audience check-in, you can instantly launch a poll, word cloud, or Q&A without interrupting the flow of your session.
By using Quick Interaction Links, you can seamlessly trigger interactions at the right moment, ensuring real-time engagement while keeping your session dynamic and interactive.
Go to the Quick Interactions Links tab and click on "Show link" next to Magic Maps.
Copy the link
When ready to use, open the link in a new tab or you can paste it into your presentation file or Google Slides and so on.
A pop-up will appear where you can choose your required platform. Learn how to connect to your preferred platform.
Enter your session details (see how to connect to your preferred platform) and click on Present when ready
A pop-up asking you to admit the bot will appear (In cases like Zoom with the waiting room disabled, or YouTube/Twitch and similar platforms, it will join automatically)
Go to your live session and admit the bot.
Customize your Magic Map
Here, you can edit the heading and configure the settings of the map.
Remember: Everyone can see your screen at this point so don’t spend too long on it. Alternatively, you can plan your map in advance using the presentation builder method discussed in the section above.
Choose a theme [Optional]
This step is optional but if you choose to continue without choosing, the interaction will use your default theme.
Remember: Spending time customizing your map design in the middle of your live session is likely to be an attention killer, so consider using the presentation builder to create your interactions in advance if you plan on customizing them.
Once ready click on Go
Share the StreamAlive window to your audience (if you haven’t already done so)
Ask your audience to start typing in answers in the chat
StreamAlive picks up these answers and plots them on the map in real-time
Learn how to use the Presentation LIVE screen to manage your interactions during your live session.