Open-Ended Polls in StreamAlive let you gather freeform responses from your audience, making them ideal for capturing opinions, brainstorming ideas, or encouraging more detailed feedback.
StreamAlive’s Open-Ended Polls allow participants to type their answers in chat without being limited to predefined options.
Open-Ended Polls offer deeper insights by allowing participants to express their thoughts freely. They are best used when there are so many potential options that limiting the audience to a few pre-defined options might not generate interesting results.
Some examples of open ended polls include:
What is your favorite video game - there are so many options that giving a pre-defined list might miss some really popular games
What is your favorite TV show - again, so many options, people might have multiple favorites so best to let the the audience decide the options
Where your question has a limited number of answer options (ie. what’s your favorite season of the year?), or where you want to constrain answers to a particular list of options you should use the regular Power Poll.
By using an Open-Ended Poll, you can engage your audience in more meaningful ways, encourage participation, and create a more interactive session that adapts to their input.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do Open-Ended Polls Collect Responses?
Open-Ended Polls automatically detect and categorize responses from chat messages in platforms like Zoom, YouTube, Teams, and so on. Audience members simply type their answers, and StreamAlive captures and presents them in real time.
How Does It Work in the Presentation Live Screen?
Once an Open-Ended Poll is active, it appears on the Presentation Live Screen, visible to both the presenter and the audience.
Responses are displayed dynamically as they come in.
The results are displayed as a bar chart/percentage breakdown, making it easy to see audience preferences.
Can You Set Predefined Answer Choices?
No. Unlike Power Polls, which categorize responses into predefined choices, Open-Ended Polls allow freeform answers where participants can type anything.
Can You Filter or Remove Responses?
Yes! You can moderate responses in real time, hiding inappropriate answers or highlighting key contributions.
Can You Customize the Poll Display?
Yes! You can adjust fonts, colors, and styles to match your presentation’s theme.
When Should You Use Open-Ended Polls Instead of Power Polls?
Use Power Polls when you want structured, multiple-choice answers.
Use Open-Ended Polls when you want flexibility, deeper insights, or brainstorming-style responses.
Creating an Open-Ended Poll
To run an Open-Ended Poll during your session, you can choose to:
Adding Open-Ended Polls to your presentation
Go to My Presentations
Click on New Presentation
Click on New Slide
Add an Open-Ended Poll
To learn more about how to create a presentation, click here
Once the poll is added, customize the feature 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 poll, background color, heading color/font, and so on.
For a more in-depth guide on how to edit your presentation, click here
Click on Preview to see what it will look like during a 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.
If you’d like to filter out certain answers from the poll, you can use the moderation feature to hide them.
Creating an Ad-Hoc Open-Ended Poll
What’s the Purpose of Creating an Ad-Hoc Open-Ended Poll?
An ad-hoc interaction in StreamAlive allows you to set up and run audience engagement features instantly, without pre-planning them. This is perfect when you want to capture live audience input at the moment and encourage spontaneous participation. (If you’re new to ad-hoc interactions, check out this help article for more details.)
Why Use an Ad-Hoc Open-Ended Poll?
While you can add an Open-Ended Poll to your presentation in advance, running it as an ad-hoc interaction gives you the flexibility to ask unplanned, real-time questions based on audience reactions or the direction of your session.
For example, if a conversation sparks a new topic, you can launch an Open-Ended Poll on the spot to gather diverse opinions, generate ideas, or collect audience feedback instantly.
By using an ad-hoc Open-Ended Poll, you ensure that responses reflect only the current discussion, keeping engagement fresh, interactive, and relevant.
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 Open-Ended Polls interaction
Customize your Poll
Here, you can edit the heading, add the options, and configure the poll settings.
Remember: Everyone can see your screen at this point so don’t spend too long on it. Alternatively, you can plan your poll question and options 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 poll 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
Ask your audience to start typing in answers in the chat
StreamAlive picks up these answers and powers the interaction in real time.
If you’d like to filter out certain answers from the poll, you can use the moderation feature to hide them.
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 needing to pre-set them in a presentation. 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.
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 Open-Ended Polls.
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
Enter your session details 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 Open-Ended Poll
Here, you can edit the heading and configure the poll settings.
Remember: Everyone can see your screen at this point so don’t spend too long on it. Alternatively, you can plan your word cloud 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 poll 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 powers the interaction in real-time
If you’d like to filter out certain answers from the poll, you can use the moderation feature to hide them.
Learn how to use the Presentation Live screen to manage your interactions during your live session.