interactive activities for virtual presentations

14 Fun & Interactive Presentation Games for Teams and Students

So you've got an audience to energize, students to engage, or a team that needs a little extra fun — playing an interactive presentation game is an easy way to do just that.

We've done the research and found the best of these games for you: we looked specifically for games that are simple to set up, fun to play, and flexible enough to be used with a variety of presentations and audiences. Most of these activities work virtually with Zoom/PowerPoint and can also be used in person.

Which of these 14 presentation games do you like best? Take a look and let us know your favorites:

1. Live Trivia Competition

A great way to ramp up the excitement and engagement is to enable a little bit of friendly competition. Trivia is an easy way to do this—plus, it can be whole-group inclusive and large-audience friendly (if you use the right tools).

Here's a great trivia game you can run with your team, students, or any large audience. It's already created for you with questions and scoring built in to make it even easier:

Here's how to play:

• Make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the slide deck and copy it. 
• Launch the trivia game by clicking "Start Event."
• Invite your group to join in and submit answers using their mobile devices (show the winners automatically).
• Interact and play during your presentation!

This trivia game has questions on many topics to keep your audience's attention and appeal to everyone. It only takes 10-15 minutes to play, so it's a great game for long discussions! Also, this interactive activity is free for up to ten participants and is totally customizable.

2. Sing and Swing 

To really liven up your group, encourage your listeners to play Sing and Swing. This activity is best for long presentations because it boosts energy, creates a fun, light-hearted environment, and makes people laugh a lot. 

Here's how to play: 

• Before your presentation, pick a well-known song and rewrite the chorus (replace parts of it with words and phrases from your presentation) 
• When you're ready to play, show the song on your screen. 
• Invite your audience to sing it with you!

If you have a fun group or a class of energetic students, consider adding choreography to engage your audience even more. 

3. 20 Questions

If you want a presentation game that requires your listeners to talk more than you, 20 Questions is the one to play! A classic and simple activity, this game immediately boosts engagement and gets people laughing. 

Here's how to play: Have someone put an appropriate image or word on the screen behind you (this can be an audience member you trust or a colleague or co-presenter). To make things more fun, put on a blindfold so that everyone knows you can't cheat. From there, ask 20 "yes or no" questions to guess what's displayed on the screen. Your group should respond "yes" or "no" to guide you to the correct answer. 

4. Scavenger Hunt Challenge

To get your audience out of their seats, a scavenger hunt challenge is one of the best interactive games for presentations. It'll immediately energize your audience , team, or students while giving them a fun way to learn.  

There are tons of in-person and virtual scavenger hunt ideas you can use to dive deeper into your topic or help everyone learn about one another. But if you want a ready-to-play game that you can instantly launch without having any tech skills, here's a fun one to play: 

• Use an email address and password to create a free account here: https://slideswith.com/ (a free account guarantees up to ten people can play at no charge). 
• Click the game and press "Copy and use this slide deck." 
• In the top right corner, click "Start Event."
• Ask listeners to join the game by using their mobile devices to scan the QR code. Players should continue using their mobile devices to submit answers to questions.
• Have everyone start hunting for items! 

This activity is a particularly fun game because it's a photo-hunt, show-and-tell challenge! That means your audience will not only get out of their seats to find items, but they'll also get to take pictures and share and discuss photos of what they find. This conversational element will help engage your group! 

5. Group Word Clouds

Whether you're speaking to team members, students, or conference-goers, this activity lets you ask questions and get your listeners' thoughts on specific topics. 

This game is the perfect way to start your presentation, especially if you're discussing something with a wide range of opinions or are unsure how much your listeners know about a certain subject. Group Word Clouds is also beneficial if you want to do a quick meeting pulse or know how your listeners feel going into your presentation—understanding their energy levels and mood can help you adjust (if necessary) to get maximum engagement and excitement.

To enjoy this activity, keep things simple by using a tool that already offers a ready-to-play Group Word Clouds game. Here's a popular one you can launch immediately: 

• Create a free account by entering an email and password here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the game and then copy it (the button to do so is right underneath the slide deck).
• Press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
• Tell participants to play by scanning the QR code. 
• Create word clouds and have fun!

This interactive game only takes 5-10 minutes to play, so it's a fast, fun way to engage your audience and feel out the room. Players can use their mobile devices to answer questions. This activity is also free for up to 10 people and is easy to personalize.

6. The Get to Know You Game

This activity is one of the best presentation games if you have a small group that doesn't really know each other. The Get to Know You Game is a creative way to do introductions, and it's really simple.

Here's how to play the game: Before the event, ask group members to bring a favorite song or item to the presentation (you can do this by emailing them). When you're ready to play, ask each person to introduce themself, present their song or item, and explain why they picked it. For those sharing a song, have them play it on their phones before they explain why it's their favorite. 

7. Live Poll Questions 

When you have a large group, it's not easy to find ways to boost engagement—but poll questions are the solutions, especially when they're live and interactive. With this unique setup, large groups engage by answering questions and seeing their answers displayed in a fun way. 

Your job is to make sure you actually find a game that showcases responses uniquely to captivate your group. For a quick and great option, here's a popular icebreaker activity that promises to display responses using fun formats like word clouds, donut charts, live graphs, and per-player: 

• Create an account for free to access the game:  https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the slide deck and press the button to copy it. 
• Look in the top right corner of the deck and press "Start Event."
• Invite your group to play the game. They only need to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code. 
• Start polling your audience!

This activity is one of those fun presentation games everyone will want to enjoy, so invite all of your team members and students to participate. This game can accommodate up to 250 players and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Tell your group to use their mobile devices to submit their responses. 

8. Assumptions 

This interactive game is a great way to break up your presentation to see who's paying attention and who can answer questions pertaining to your topic. 

• Ask your audience to stand up (for virtual presentations, make sure everyone's video is on). 
• Show true or false statements on the screen one by one. 
• Tell people to raise a hand if they think the statement is correct and sit down if they think it's incorrect.
• Continue until one person is left standing.
• Award the winner. 

This activity can be as short and challenging as you want. Also, if your presentation is long, you can play multiple rounds to break up your speaking time and test your audience throughout your discussion.  

9. Controversial Questions 

Want to see where your audience, students, or team lands on controversial topics? Then, energize your presentation with a fun, creative game called Controversial Questions. This activity has prompts that inspire lively debates, so it's a great way to get your group excited and chatty. 

However, to maintain a positive environment, make sure to find a tool that offers an office-friendly, classroom-friendly, and conference-friendly game. You don't want to sour the mood by creating uncomfortable division during your presentation. To make sure this game is fun and light-hearted, here's a popular one that's suitable for all audiences and ages: 

• Sign up for a free account by inputting an email address and password here:  https://slideswith.com/pricing  
• Click the game and press the button that says, "Copy and use this deck." 
• Press "Start Event" (the button is in the top right corner). 
• Have participants join the fun by asking them to scan the QR code with their mobile devices. 
• Get controversial and play! 

This interactive game for presentations asks fun (but appropriate) questions like:

• Does pineapple belong on pizza?
• Does the person flying in the middle seat get both armrests?
• Should the toilet roll go over or under? 

Players should use their mobile devices to submit answers. Up to ten people can play for free, and you can customize the game by updating the questions!

10. Word of the Day 

With this activity, you can keep your audience, team, or students engaged throughout your entire presentation. This  game requires listeners to be alert and recognize whenever you say the word of the day. 

Here's how to play: At the beginning of your presentation, tell your group the word of the day (it can also be a phrase if you'd prefer). Say that you'll weave the word into your presentation and that your audience must shout it out whenever you mention it. 

11. Mini Activity: Group Icebreaker

Whether you're doing an in-person or virtual presentation, you need to warm up your audience to get things started on a positive note. The best way to do that is with a quick icebreaker game. 

However, make sure your questions are fun, positive, and engaging. You can easily do this by finding a game that already has the best icebreaker questions included. Here's one that's ready to play (and requiring no tech skills to launch): 

• Input an email address and password to make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the deck and copy it (press "Copy and use this deck). 
• Click the button in the top right corner that says "Start Event."
• Invite participants to play by asking them to scan the QR code. 
• Break the ice to warm up your audience!

Your group should use their mobile devices to submit responses to poll questions. Also, this game accommodates up to 250 players, but only ten people can join for free.

12. Process of Elimination 

This activity is one of the best games for presentations because it's simple yet fun and great at helping listeners get to know each other. You can play it at the beginning of your presentation or in the middle to give your group a chance to stretch their legs. 

• Before your event, create a list of "yes or no" questions. 
• Once you're ready to play, tell your group to stand up (if you're doing a virtual presentation, make sure everyone's video is on). 
• Ask each question one by one. 
• Tell attendees to stand if their answer is "yes" and sit if their answer is "no." 

The questions can relate to your topic or be totally random. Also, if you'd prefer to thin out the number of people standing, you can take a creative twist and ask your questions by saying something like this: "Stay standing if (insert scenario)." When phrasing each question this way, the game will end with one person standing. To acknowledge the winner, you can give them a round of applause or award them a prize. 

13. Conference Opener Icebreaker 

If you're speaking at a big conference, you need an interactive game for presentations that can get everyone involved and ensure every voice is heard. To achieve these goals, you should create an icebreaker game that works for large groups . 

Using an easy, intuitive template is the best step to take. That way, you don't have to start from scratch or spend hours making your game. For a template that requires no code or tech-savviness to build on, here's the best option: 

• Sign up by making a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click on the game. On the next page, click the button to copy and use the deck. 
• Customize the template using the instructions HERE . 
• During your presentation, press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
• Ask the group to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code and join the fun. (Also, make sure participants use their mobile devices to submit answers.) 
• Play and engage your audience!  

This template has fun, interactive features built in to keep your large audience engaged. Those features include polls, word clouds, and ratings. Just make sure you sign up for a paid plan to accommodate the large number of people in your group—the free account only works for up to ten players. 

14. Two Truths and a Lie 

This classic game is a fun, energizing way to help your listeners get to know one another. It's perfect for small in-person or virtual groups and is an ideal activity for the beginning of your presentation. 

Here's how to play: Pick any topic (for the purposes of this article, the topic will be "movies"). In no particular order, say two movies you've really watched and one you haven't watched. Ask your audience to guess which statement is the lie. The winner picks the next topic and says two truths and a lie. 

Be Memorable With Presentation Games

Oftentimes, people forget presentations within a week or even days, and that's because the discussions are boring. But you don't work hard preparing a presentation for it to be forgotten. If you want your message to stick, all you have to do is make it enjoyable without being corny.  

If you want to be remembered and actually get people engaged, you need to make your presentation fun and enjoyable, without coming off as corny or desperate to please. Ivan Dimitrijevic, 10 Secrets of Making Every Presentation Fun, Engaging, and Enjoyable

Luckily, the interactive presentation games in this article are unique and exciting—they're far from corny. So, use them for your upcoming presentations to make your messages compelling and memorable. 

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15 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Elevate Engagement

By Krystle Wong , Aug 04, 2023

As attention spans continue to shrink, the challenge of engaging audiences in a short timeframe has never been more significant. Let’s face it — grabbing and keeping your audience’s attention can be quite the challenge, especially when time is ticking away. But fear not, I’ve got the perfect solution: interactive presentations!

Believe it or not, creating an interactive presentation is easier than you might think. In this guide, I’ll show you how to effortlessly turn ordinary slides into captivating experiences with 15 interactive presentation ideas that will leave your audience begging for more. From quirky polls and fun games to storytelling adventures and multimedia magic, these ideas will take your presentation game to the next level.

Venngage is a game-changer when it comes to empowering interactive presentations. With just a few clicks, users can customize their favorite presentation templates , add multimedia content and create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a newcomer, get started with Venngage to elevate your presentation game to new heights of engagement and creativity.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an interactive presentation?

15 ways to make a presentation interactive, 7 best interactive presentation software, what are some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive presentations, interactive presentation faqs, how to create an interactive presentation with venngage.

An interactive presentation is a dynamic and engaging communication format that involves active participation and collaboration between the presenter and the audience. Unlike traditional presentations where information is delivered in a one-way manner, interactive presentations invite the audience to interact, respond and contribute throughout the session.

Think of it as a two-way street where you and your audience have a friendly chat. It’s like playing a fun game where you ask questions, get live feedback and encourage people to share their thoughts. 

To make a good presentation , you can utilize various tools and techniques such as clickable buttons, polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements to transform your slides into an interactive presentation. Whether you’re presenting in-person or giving a virtual presentation — when people are actively participating, they’re more likely to remember the stuff you’re talking about.

Interactive presentations leave a lasting impression on the audience. By encouraging active participation and feedback, interactive presentations facilitate better understanding and knowledge retention. Here are 15 innovative 5-minute interactive presentation ideas to captivate your audience from start to finish:

1. Ice-breaker questions

Start your presentation with intriguing and thought-provoking questions or a fun icebreaker game. These questions should be designed to pique the audience’s curiosity and encourage them to think about the topic you’ll be covering. By doing so, you create an immediate connection with your audience and set the stage for a more engaged and attentive audience.

For example, if you’re giving a business presentation about management and leadership training, you could ask audience questions such as “What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received, and how has it impacted your career?”

2. Live polling

Incorporate live polls during your presentation using audience response systems or polling apps. This allows you to collect real-time feedback, opinions and insights from active participants. Live polling encourages active participation and involvement, making your presentation feel like a collaborative and interactive experience.

3. Q&A sessions

Encourage the audience to ask questions throughout your presentation, especially for pitch deck presentations . Address these questions in real-time, which fosters a more interactive and dynamic atmosphere. This approach shows that you value the audience’s input and promotes a two-way communication flow.

4. Clickable buttons

Add clickable buttons to your slides, allowing the audience to navigate to specific sections or external resources at their own pace. For example, you could include links to your social media accounts or extra reading materials in your education presentation to give further information about the topic and get your students engaged. By providing this autonomy, you empower the audience to explore areas of particular interest, creating a more personalized and engaging experience through your interactive slideshow.

5. Storytelling

Incorporate anecdotes or personal stories related to your topic. Storytelling is a powerful way to emotionally connect with your audience, making your presentation more relatable and memorable. A little storytelling along with a set of creative slides draws the audience in and keeps them engaged as they follow the narrative.

6. Interactive charts and graphs

Use interactive charts and graphs that respond to user input to make your presentation interactive. For instance, allow the audience to click on data points to view more detailed information or to change the displayed data series. Creating charts with interactive visuals help the audience interact with the data, fostering better understanding and engagement.

7. Animated infographics

Add animations to your infographics, making them visually dynamic and progressive. Animated infographics reveal information gradually, keeping the audience curious and attentive. This transforms complex data into an easily digestible and engaging format.

Venngage’s extensive library of infographic templates is a powerful tool to visualize data and elevate the interactivity of your presentations. Personalizing the visuals ensures a cohesive and professional look throughout your interactive presentation. The templates are highly customizable, allowing you to adjust colors, fonts, and styles to match your presentation’s theme and branding. 

8. Gamification

Introduce an interactive quiz, puzzles, or challenges related to your presentation content. Gamification adds an element of fun and competition, motivating the audience to participate actively and boosting their learning experience. Here are some gaming presentation templates you could use. 

9. Virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR)

If applicable, leverage VR or AR technologies to provide immersive experiences. These interactive presentation tools transport the audience into a virtual or augmented environment, making your presentation more captivating and memorable.

10. Collaborative whiteboarding

Get your audience involved in your presentation by utilizing digital whiteboards or collaborative tools to brainstorm ideas collectively. This fosters teamwork and creativity, enabling the audience to actively contribute and feel a sense of involvement in the presentation.

11. Hyperlinked text

Keep the information in your slides minimal with a simple presentation and incorporate hyperlinks to direct viewers to relevant websites or blogs , resources, or additional information. This encourages self-exploration and gives the audience the opportunity to delve deeper into topics of interest.

12. Role-playing

Engage the audience in role-playing scenarios to explore different perspectives. Role-playing promotes active learning and helps the audience relate the content to real-life situations, enhancing their understanding and retention.

13. Embedded videos

Include video clips in your slides to provide visual explanations, demonstrations, or interviews. Videos add a dynamic element to your presentation, enriching the content and keeping the audience engaged.

14. Audience-generated content

Encourage the audience to contribute ideas, stories or examples related to your professional presentation . Audience-generated content fosters a sense of ownership and involvement, making the presentation more interactive and personalized.

15. Slide transitions

Use slide transitions to create smooth animations between slides. Well-planned transitions maintain the audience’s interest and keep the presentation slides flowing seamlessly.

Interactive elements aside, enhance your presentation with these guides on how to summarize information for a captivating presentation and how to make a persuasive presentation to captivate your audience. 

If you’re looking to create engaging and interactive presentation slides that captivate your audience, these presentation software options are sure to elevate your game:

Prezi is renowned for its dynamic and non-linear presentation style, enabling users to craft visually stunning and interactive presentations. With an array of templates and animation effects, Prezi enhances audience engagement, making your presentations more captivating and memorable.

2. Mentimeter

Mentimeter serves as an audience response system, empowering real-time interaction during presentations. Users can create interactive polls, quizzes, word clouds and more, allowing the audience to respond using their smartphones or other devices. This fosters active participation and provides valuable feedback instantly.

3. Google Slides

Google Slides is a free cloud-based presentation software that not only offers collaboration features but also enables real-time interactions. It includes add-ons and third-party integrations to further enhance interactivity, making it an excellent choice for collaborative and engaging presentations.

4. Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint, a classic presentation software, has evolved to incorporate more interactive features like live captions, real-time collaboration and interactive elements such as quizzes and forms. With its familiar interface and versatile functionalities, PowerPoint remains a reliable choice for interactive presentations.

5. Prezentor

Prezentor caters to sales-oriented presentations focusing on interactive storytelling and data-driven content. It offers analytics to track audience engagement and behavior during presentations, allowing you to fine-tune your approach and keep your audience hooked.

6. Opinion Stage

Opinion Stage is a visual and interactive data collection tool designed to engage and excite audiences whether sitting in a lecture hall, participating in a live Zoom, or watching an on-demand webinar. The Opinion Stage tools are simple and intuitive, making it easy to create attention-grabbing quizzes, surveys, and polls in minutes. A great way to spice up any presentation, encourage audience participation, and collect authentic feedback.

7 . Venngage

Venngage stands out as a versatile design tool that facilitates the creation of interactive infographics, data visualizations and presentations with ease. Offering various interactive elements and animations, Venngage empowers you to craft visually appealing and engaging presentations effortlessly.

With these interactive presentation software options at your disposal, you can unleash your creativity and deliver presentations that leave a lasting impact on your audience. So, go ahead and make your presentations interactive, captivating and memorable!

For more presentation software options, check out this blog on the 12 best presentation software for 2023.

Creating interactive presentations can be a game-changer for engaging your audience and enhancing your presentation skills, but steering clear of common pitfalls is essential. Here are some key mistakes to avoid when crafting your interactive presentations:

1. Overloading with interactivity

While interactivity is fantastic, bombarding your audience with too many interactive elements can backfire. Strive for a balanced approach that enhances engagement without overwhelming your listeners.

2. Ignoring audience relevance

Failing to tailor interactive elements to your audience’s interests and preferences can lead to disconnection. Make sure your interactions resonate with your specific audience for a more meaningful experience.

3. Not testing interactive elements

Skipping thorough testing of interactive features before showtime can spell disaster. Avoid technical glitches by diligently testing all interactive components in advance.

4. Poor timing and pace

Timing is everything, especially with interactive activities. Ensure seamless integration by planning your key points and the timing of your interactive elements carefully.

5. Lack of clear purpose

Every interactive element should serve a purpose and contribute to your presentation’s objectives. Don’t add interactions just for the sake of it — ensure they add value and align with your message.

6. Failing to engage beyond interactivity

While interactive elements are powerful tools, remember that content is king. Combine your interactive features with compelling storytelling and valuable insights to create an immersive and impactful presentation.

Incorporating animated slides into your interactive presentations enhances the overall appeal and interaction, turning an ordinary presentation into an engaging experience. Try it out with one of our animated presentation templates to get started. 

How do you start an interactive presentation?

Begin by grabbing the audience’s attention with an intriguing question or a surprising fact, setting the tone for a dynamic and engaging session.

Which type of presentation is the most interactive?

Workshops and seminars are often the most interactive types of presentations as they encourage active participation, discussions and hands-on activities.

How can interactive presentations enhance audience engagement?

Interactive presentations foster a two-way communication flow, involving the audience through polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements, leading to increased interest, attentiveness and better retention of information.

What are some common interactive elements to include in a presentation?

Common interactive elements include clickable buttons, hyperlinked text, polls, quizzes, interactive charts, multimedia content and audience participation activities.

Can interactive presentations be used for educational purposes?

Absolutely! Interactive presentations are highly effective for educational purposes as they promote active learning, encourage critical thinking, and provide real-time feedback and knowledge exchange opportunities.

Need inspiration on how to give an engaging presentation ? Here are 120+ presentation ideas you could use. 

Venngage makes it easy for anyone to infuse interactivity into their presentations. From clickable buttons and hyperlinked text to interactive infographics and dynamic charts, Venngage offers a diverse range of interactive elements to captivate and engage the audience. Here’s how you can make your presentation more fun and interesting with Venngage:

• Sign up or log in to Venngage to access the platform.
• Choose a presentation template or start with a blank canvas to begin designing your interactive presentation.
• Add and edit slides in the Venngage editor to structure your presentation content effectively.
• Customize the design by selecting themes, fonts, colors and backgrounds to match your style and branding.
• Use interactive elements like buttons, links, pop-ups and hover effects to engage the audience during the presentation.
• Enhance engagement by incorporating interactive media such as videos and audio clips.
• Preview and test your entire presentation to ensure everything works smoothly before presenting it to your audience.
• Save your interactive presentation on Venngage and share it online or download it in various formats for presenting purposes.

Well, I hope these 15 5-minute interactive presentation examples can help unlock a new level of audience engagement for your next presentation. From fun quizzes and interactive storytelling to multimedia magic and gamified challenges, the possibilities are endless. So, don’t be afraid to experiment, tailor the ideas to suit your audience members and let your creativity shine.  

That said, remember to strike a balance and keep the interactivity purposeful and relevant. Some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive slides include overloading the presentation with too many interactive elements and failing to align the interactive elements with the overall presentation goals and content. 

Got it? Great. Now let’s turn that boring presentation around!

11 Interactive Presentation Games to Win Easy Engagement in 2024

Lawrence Haywood • 08 Apr 2024 • 10 min read

So, how to make a presentation engaging? Audience attention is a slippery snake. It’s difficult to grasp and even less easy to hold, yet you need it for a successful presentation.

No Death by PowerPoint, no to drawing monologues; it’s time to bring out the interactive presentation games !

Bonus : Free game presentation templates to use. Scroll down for more👇

These 11 games below are perfect for an interactive presentation . They’ll score you mega-plus points with colleagues, students, or wherever else you need a kick of super-engaging interactivity… So let’s check out those exciting presentation formats!

Table of Contents

• #1: Live Quiz

#2: What Would You Do?

#3: key number, #4: guess the order, #5: 2 truths, 1 lie, #6: 4 corners, #7: obscure word cloud, #8: heart, gun, bomb.

• #9: Match Up

#10: Spin the Wheel

#11: q&a balloons, interactive powerpoint presentation games – yes or no, frequently asked questions.

Host Interactive Presentation Games for Free!

Add interactive elements that make the crowd go wild . Make your whole event memorable for any audience, anywhere, with AhaSlides.

More Interactive Presentation Tips with AhaSlides

• The Complete Guide to Make a Presentation Interactive
• Interactive Presentation Ideas to Enliven Work/Hangout
• Interactive Presentation Techniques

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#1: Live Quiz Competition

Is there any event that hasn’t been immediately improved with some trivia?

A live quiz is an evergreen, ever-engaging way to consolidate your presentation’s info and check the understanding of it all amongst your audience. Expect big laughs as your audience competes fiercely over who was listening to your presentation the most complex.

Here’s how to play:

• Set up your questions on AhaSlides – the free quizzing software .
• Present your quiz to your players, who join by typing your unique code into their phones.
• Take your players through each question, and they race to get the correct answer the fastest.
• Check the final leaderboard to reveal the winner!

Learn how to set up your presentation quiz for free in just a few minutes! 👇

Put your audience in your shoes. Give them a scenario related to your presentation and see how they would deal with it.

Let’s say you’re a teacher giving a presentation on dinosaurs. After presenting your info, you would ask something like…

A stegosaurus is chasing you, ready to snap you up for dinner. How do you escape?

After each person submits their answer, you can take a vote to see which is the crowd’s favourite response to the scenario.

This is one of the best presentation games for students as it gets young minds whirring creatively. But it also works great in a work setting and can have a similar freeing effect, which is especially significant as a large group icebreaker .

• Create a brainstorming slide and write your scenario at the top.
• Participants join your presentation on their phones and type their responses to your scenario.
• Afterwards, each participant votes for their favourite (or top 3 favourites) answers.
• The participant with the most votes is revealed as the winner!

No matter the topic of your presentation, there’s sure to be a lot of numbers and figures flying around.

As an audience member, keeping track of them isn’t always easy, but one of the interactive presentation games that makes it easier is Key Number .

Here, you offer a simple prompt of a number, and the audience responds with what they think it refers to. For example, if you write ‘ $25′ , your audience might respond with ‘our cost per acquisition’ , ‘our daily budget for TikTok advertising’ or ‘the amount John spends on jelly tots every day’ .

• Create a few multiple-choice slides (or open-ended slides to make it more complicated).
• Write your key number at the top of each slide.
• Write the answer options.
• Participants join your presentation on their phones.
• Participants select the answer they think the critical number relates to (or type in their answer if open-ended).

If keeping track of numbers and figures is challenging, it can be even tougher to follow entire processes or workflows explained in a presentation.

To cement this information in your audience’s mind, Guess the Order is a fantastic minigame for presentations.

You write the steps of a process, jumble them up, and then see who can put them in the right order the fastest.

• Create a ‘Correct Order’ slide and write your statements.
• Statements are automatically jumbled up.
• Players join your presentation on their phones.
• Players race to put the statements in the correct order.

You might have heard of this one as a great icebreaker, but it’s also one of the top presentation games for checking who’s paying attention.

And it’s pretty simple to do. Just think of two statements using the information in your presentation, and make another one up. Players have to guess which is the one you’ve made up.

This one is a great re-capping game and works for students and colleagues.

• Create a list of 2 truths and one lie covering different topics in your presentation.
• Read out two truths and one lie and get participants to guess the lie.
• Participants vote for the lie either by hand or through a multiple-choice slide in your presentation.

The best presentations are ones that spark a bit of creative thinking and discussion. There’s no better presentation game for evoking this than 4 Corners.

The concept is simple. Present a statement based on something from your presentation that’s open to different points of view. Depending on each player’s opinion, they move to a corner of the room labelled ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree’ .

Maybe something like this:

An individual is shaped more by nature than nurture.

Once everyone is in their corner, you could have a structured debate between the four sides to bring different opinions to the table.

• Set up the ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ corners of your room (if running a virtual presentation, then a simple show of hands could work).
• Write some statements which are open to different opinions.
• Read out the statement.
• Each player stands in the right corner of the room, depending on their view.
• Discuss the four different viewpoints.

Live word clouds are always a beautiful addition to any interactive presentation. If you want our advice, include them whenever you can – presentation games or not.

If you do plan to use one for a game in your presentation, a great one to try is Obscure Word Cloud .

It works on the same concept as the popular UK game show Pointless . Your players are given a statement and have to name the most obscure answer they can. The least-mentioned correct answer is the winner!

Take this example statement:

Name one of our top 10 countries for customer satisfaction.

The most popular answers may be India, USA and Brazil , but the points go to the least mentioned correct country.

• Create a word cloud slide with your statement at the top.
• Players submit the most obscure answer they can think of.
• The most obscure one appears most diminutive on the board. Whoever submitted that answer is the winner!

Word Clouds for Every Presentation

Get these word cloud templates when you sign up for free with AhaSlides!

For Ice Breaking

For Testing

This one’s a great game to use in the classroom, but if you’re not looking for presentation games for students, it also works wonders in a casual work setting.

Heart, Gun, Bomb is a game in which teams take turns to answer questions presented in a grid. If they get an answer right, they either get a heart, a gun or a bomb…

• A ❤️ grants the team an extra life.
• A 🔫 takes away one life from any other team.
• A 💣 takes away one heart from the team who got it.

All teams start with five hearts. The team with the most hearts at the end, or the only surviving team, is the winner!

• Before starting, create a grid table for yourself with either a heart, gun or bomb occupying each grid (on a 5×5 grid, this should be 12 hearts, nine guns and four bombs).
• Present another grid table to your players (5×5 for two teams, 6×6 for three groups, etc.)
• Write a figure stat (like 25%) from your presentation into each grid.
• Split players into the desired number of teams.
• Team 1 chooses a grid and says the meaning behind the number ( for example, the number of customers last quarter ).
• If they’re wrong, they lose a heart. If they’re right, they get either a seat, gun or bomb, depending on what the grid corresponds to on your grid table.
• Repeat this with all the teams until there’s a winner!

👉 Get more interactive presentation ideas (interactive PowerPoint ideas) with AhaSlides.

#9: Match Up – Interactive Presentation Games

Here’s another quiz-type question that can be a great addition to your roster of presentation games.

It involves a set of prompt statements and a set of answers. Each group is jumbled; the players must match the information with the correct answer as quickly as possible.

Again, this one works well when the answers are numbers and figures.

• Create a ‘Match Pairs’ question.
• Fill out the set of prompts and answers, which will automatically shuffle.
• Players match each prompt with its answer as fast as possible to score the most points.

If there’s a more versatile presentation game tool than the humble spinner wheel , we aren’t aware of it.

Adding the random factor of a spinner wheel might be just what you need to keep engagement in your presentation high. There are presentation games you can use with this, including…

• Choosing a random participant to answer a question.
• Choosing a bonus prize after getting an answer correct.
• Choosing the next person to ask a Q&A question or give a presentation.
• Create a spinner wheel slide and write the title at the top.
• Write the entries for the spinner wheel.
• Spin the wheel and see where it lands!

Tip 💡 You can choose the AhaSlides spinner wheel to use your participants’ names, so you don’t have to fill in the entries manually! Learn more interactive presentation techniques with AhaSlides.

This one’s a great way to turn a regular end-of-presentation feature into a fun, engaging game.

It’s got all the hallmarks of a standard Q&A, but this time, all the questions are written on balloons.

It’s a super simple one to set up and play, but you’ll see how motivated participants are to ask questions when it involves balloons!

• Hand out a deflated balloon and a Sharpie to each participant.
• Each participant blows up the balloon and writes their question on it.
• Each participant bats their balloon to where the speaker is standing.
• The speaker answers the question and then pops or throws away the balloon.

🎉 Tips: Best Q&A Apps to Engage With Your Audience | 5+ Platforms For Free in 2024

So, how do you feel about AhaSlides’s creative ideas for presentations? Being by far the most popular presentation tool on the planet, you may want to know if there are any presentation games to play on PowerPoint.

Unfortunately, the answer is no. PowerPoint takes presentations incredibly seriously and doesn’t have a lot of time for interactivity or fun of any kind.

But there’s good news…

It is possible to directly embed presentation games into PowerPoint presentations with free help from AhaSlides.

You can import your PowerPoint presentation to AhaSlides with the click of a button and vice versa , then place interactive presentation games like the ones above directly between your presentation slides.

💡 PowerPoint presentation games in less than 5 minutes ? Check the video below or our quick tutorial here to find out how!

What are the benefits of playing interactive presentation games?

⁤Interactive presentation games boost engagement, participation and knowledge retention. ⁤⁤They turn passive listeners into active learners by incorporating elements like live polls , idea board , quizzes, word clouds and Q&A .

How do you make a presentation interactive with games?

– Match your content: The game should reinforce the topics being covered, not just be random entertainment. – Audience considerations: Age, group size, and their knowledge level will inform game complexity. – Tech tools & time: Consider tools like AhaSlides, Mentimeter Alternatives , Kahoot , etc., or design simple no-tech games based on the time you have. – Utilise appropriate questions, including icebreaker games questions or general knowledge quiz questions

How can I make my presentation more engaging?

Making presentations more engaging can be a challenge, but there are several techniques you can use to make your presentation more interesting and memorable, including (1) start with a strong opening (2) use lots of visual ads and (3) tell attractive story. Also, remember to keep it short and sweet, and of course, practice a lots!

Lawrence Haywood

Former ESL teacher and quiz master converted to the wild slide. Now a content creator, traveller, musician and big time slider preaching the good word of interactivity.

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Blog > The 10 best PowerPoint Games to play in Workshops, Classrooms & Presentations

The 10 best PowerPoint Games to play in Workshops, Classrooms & Presentations

01.01.20   •  #fun #game #powerpoint #presentation.

In our last blog post, we talked about tools and tips on how to boost the audience engagement in your presentation. One of our recommended ways to do so was to play games, as they release tension and function as a fun element that lightens the mood. That’s why today we are going to list the Top 10 best games to play in your presentation.

1. Would you rather

Is it a game that everyone knows already? Probably. But did we have to include it on the list because it is just perfect for playing with your audience? Definitely. The game is pretty much self-explanatory – You give your attendees two (or more) scenarios and they have to choose which one they’d rather experience. Combining the Would you rather – question with your presentation topic is usually very easy, but we also thought of some questions you could use for any topic (e.g. as an icebreaker, to get to know your audience a little better, to ask about their opinion or just as a fun element in between). You can let your audience vote by letting them raise their hands or by using an interactive poll tool such as SlideLizard .

• Would you rather A. travel back in time OR B. travel to the future OR C. stay in the present
• Would you rather A. have a long lunch break now OR B. have a short break and finish early
• Would you rather A. be able to read minds OR B. be able to fly OR C. be able to turn invisible
• Would you rather A. receive a letter from Hogwarts OR B. join Frodo on his journey OR C. Hog-what?
• Would you rather A. never be able to go on Social Media again B. never be able to read a book again

2. Charades

The popular game is not only great for your family’s game-night, but also for your presentations and workshops. Prepare a few cards that have words related to your presentation’s topic on them, let some volunteers in your audience draw and act them out. The rest of the audience has to guess the word. You can be sure that these terms and the associated performances will never be forgotten!

Small Trivia quizzes are perfect for checking and manifesting the audience’s knowledge at the end of your presentation. Instead of repeating and summing up what you have already said, you can let your participants test their knowledge right away. However, you can also use a quiz in the beginning to test your audience’s existing knowledge about a topic. But there are not only trivia quizzes: Questions about personality can also be interesting and work well as an ice breaker in the beginning. Again, we recommend a tool for poll creation, as that is the easiest way to conduct quizzes. In a recent article we listed 50 great questions (a mix of personality and trivia) , that you could use for your next presentation! And if you're a fan of quiz game shows, we also got a full Who wants to be a Millionaire PowerPoint template for you to download for free! You'll see how it looks like in the following video (be sure to turn up your sound!):

PowerPoint can be used for way more than most people know. Even we were amazed by people on the internet who created extensive games by animating content using PP. We don’t want to go that big today, but we are going to provide you with a free-to-download template of memory. You only have to add it to your presentation and customize the pictures or terms you want under the cards. Download free PPT Memory Template

5. Two Truths and a Lie

Here is another game that is just perfect when you play it with interactive poll tools. It is great for getting the audience to know you as a presenter better. Think of a fun, interesting or astonishing fact about yourself, and then invent two fake ones. Your attendees have to vote which statement they think is true. Be prepared to see some very surprised faces in your audience!

6. PowerPoint Karaoke

PowerPoint-Karaoke is the perfect improvisation game. Players are confronted with a set of slides they have never seen before and try to give a presentation as convincingly as possible. If you want to know all about this game and get some slides you can use for playing, check out our detailed blog post on PowerPoint-Karaoke .

7. Where do you stand?

For the game “Where do you stand?”, your attendees will actually have to stand up. Therefore, it is only convenient if you have enough space. If you want to get your participant’s opinion about something and get them to move a little, look no further! Create an imaginary line across the room. One end stands for one opinion, the other end for the exact opposite opinion. Your attendees can now place themselves on this line wherever they like (right in the middle, on either end or somewhere in between). You can then even interview people on the line (it is always interesting to choose two from opposite sites) and learn about their views. If you’re a little overwhelmed now, here are some examples you could use for this game:

Attention – you can of course ask about political or more controversial topics, but that may escalate and turn into a fight, which is not the purpose of the game or your presentation.

8. Describe That

Let your audience draw from cards with words on them and then describe it for the other attendees. It is basically like charades, but with words instead of acting. Some may find that too easy. In that case, you can either choose terms that are extremely hard to describe or add some “Taboo-words” to the card that can’t be used for describing.

9. True and False

Have you ever heard a crazy, bizarre fact where you didn’t think that it could be true? Perfect. You can use it in the well-known “True and False”-Game. You pick out a fact (ideally something related to your presentation topic) and then let your audience vote (you know – via an interactive poll tool like SlideLizard ) if they think it’s true or not. A tip for making statements false: Change little things about the them, like numbers, dates or names or use common misconceptions and see how many of your attendees buy into them, e.g. “Bulls are enraged by the color red” (which is false, bulls are simply enraged by movement, not specific colors).

10. The never-ending sentence

The never-ending sentence is a great game that incorporates many of your attendees and awakens their brain cells. It is perfect for keeping up their engagement and interest, especially for long presentations or workshops when you feel like some people are getting a little tired. Simply start by saying a word – it can be related to the presentation’s topic if you want – and ask a person in your audience to repeat that word and add another one – the next person to repeat those two words and add another one as well , and so on, until a sentence forms. As it gets longer the game gets a lot more difficult, because there is a lot more to remember and to repeat. The sentence can’t be ended, it has to be continued until someone makes a mistake (or until the last person in the room has added a new word). We promise that you will be left with a lot of fun, creative, and straight-up weird sentences that will make your audience laugh a lot.

Related articles

About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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15 Interactive Presentation Games to Engage Your Audience

In the world of presentations and public speaking, engaging your audience is crucial. A captivating presentation can leave a lasting impact and ensure that your message is heard and retained. One effective way to achieve this engagement is by incorporating interactive presentation games into your talks.

Interactive presentation games break the monotony of traditional slideshows and transform passive listeners into active participants. In this blog, we’ll explore 15 interactive presentation games that can make your presentations more dynamic, memorable, and enjoyable for your audience.

Why Use Interactive Presentation Games?

Traditional presentations often involve passive listening, which can lead to disengagement and limited retention of information. On the other hand, interactive presentation games create an environment of active participation. 

Making your presentations more memorable and impactful. They foster interaction, feedback, and collaboration, turning your audience into active participants rather than passive observers.

Benefits of Engaging Your Audience

Engaging your audience with interactive presentation games offers numerous benefits:

• Increased Engagement: Interactive presentation games grab your audience’s attention and keep them actively involved throughout the presentation.
• Improved Information Retention: Active participation enhances the retention of key information, ensuring that your message sticks with your audience long after the presentation is over.
• Enhanced Learning: Games encourage a deeper understanding of the subject matter, making it easier for your audience to grasp complex concepts.
• Better Audience Connection: By involving your audience, you establish a stronger connection, making them feel valued and heard.
• Immediate Feedback: Games provide opportunities for instant feedback, allowing you to address questions and concerns in real time.
• Fun and Entertainment: Interactive fun games add an element of fun and entertainment to your presentations, making them more enjoyable for your audience.

How to Choose the Right Presentation Games

Selecting the appropriate presentation games depends on your audience, topic, and objectives. Consider factors such as the size of your audience, the level of interactivity you desire, and the technology available. Tailor your choice of games to align with your presentation goals, ensuring they enhance your message rather than distract from it.

Now, let’s explore 15 interactive presentation games that you can incorporate into your presentations to engage your audience effectively:

01. Polling and Surveys

Polling and surveys involve asking questions to your audience and collecting their responses in real time. This game is useful for engaging the audience and gathering valuable data or opinions.

Example: During a marketing presentation, you can use polling to ask the audience which social media platform they use most frequently for product discovery, with response options like “Facebook,” “Instagram,” or “Twitter.” The results can guide your marketing strategy.

02. Quiz and Trivia

Quiz and trivia games challenge the audience’s knowledge of a specific subject. Correct-answer questions encourage competition and learning because participants’ scores are added up.

Example: In a history lecture, you can organize a trivia quiz about historical events. Ask questions like, “Who was the first President of the United States?” and award points for correct answers to make learning history engaging.

03. Interactive Q&A Sessions

Interactive Q&A sessions allow the audience to ask questions and engage in a live dialogue with the presenter. This interactive presentation game promotes engagement, clarification, and in-depth discussions.

Example: After a business strategy presentation, open the floor for an interactive Q&A session where the audience can ask questions about the proposed strategies, fostering a deeper understanding of the material.

04. Gamified Scenarios

Gamified scenarios present real-world situations or challenges to the audience. Participants make decisions, and the consequences of those choices are revealed, creating an immersive learning experience.

Example: In leadership training, simulate a business scenario where participants make decisions as managers. Their choices affect the company’s success, making the learning process engaging and interactive.

05. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Experiences

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) games provide immersive 3D experiences. Participants can explore virtual environments or interact with augmented elements.

Example: In a product launch presentation, use AR to allow the audience to visualize how the product would fit into their homes. They can use their smartphones to see a virtual presentation version of the product in their living rooms.

06. Storytelling Challenges

Storytelling challenges encourage participants to create and share their stories, fostering creativity and personal expression.

Example: In a team-building workshop, ask each participant to share a personal success story related to teamwork. This engages the audience and builds a sense of connection among participants.

07. Collaborative Whiteboard Activities

In real-time, collaborative whiteboard activities involve multiple participants contributing ideas, drawings, or annotations on a digital whiteboard. This game fosters teamwork and brainstorming.

Example: During a brainstorming session for a new project, use a digital whiteboard tool where team members can simultaneously sketch out their ideas and add comments. This promotes collaboration and idea generation.

08. Interactive Polls and Word Clouds

Interactive polls and word clouds engage the audience by having them vote or input keywords related to a topic. The results are displayed dynamically.

Example: In a conference PowerPoint presentation about technology trends, ask the audience to submit keywords related to the most exciting emerging technologies. Display the results in a word cloud to visualize the collective interest.

09. Simulations and Case Studies

Simulations and case studies replicate real-life scenarios for participants to make decisions and see the outcomes. This game is effective for practical learning.

Example: In a business strategy workshop, provide participants with a case study of a struggling company. Have them analyze the situation and propose strategies to turn the business around. The best solutions can be discussed as a group.

10. Role-Playing Exercises

Role-playing exercises involve participants taking on specific roles or characters to act out scenarios. This game promotes empathy and communication skills.

Example: In customer service training, participants can take on the roles of customers and service representatives. They act out various customer service scenarios to practice effective communication and problem-solving.

11. Breakout Rooms and Group Discussions

Breakout rooms and group discussions split the audience-focused audiences into smaller groups to discuss specific topics or tasks. This great game promotes active participation and in-depth exploration of ideas.

Example: In an educational webinar, use breakout rooms to divide participants into smaller groups. Each group discusses a different aspect of the topic and then shares their insights when they return to the main session.

12. Live Challenges and Competitions

Live challenges and competitions introduce competitive elements to the best presentation games. Participants can compete individually or in teams to solve problems or complete tasks.

Example: In a team-building event, organize a friendly competition where teams compete in a series of challenges. Challenges could include problem-solving tasks, physical activities, or trivia quizzes to foster teamwork and camaraderie.

13. Interactive Presentations

Interactive presentations incorporate multimedia elements, quizzes, and audience participation throughout the entire presentation screen to keep the audience engaged.

Example: During a product launch presentation, embed interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and live demos within your slides. This ensures constant engagement and information retention.

14. Icebreakers and Energizers

Icebreakers and energizers are quick, fun activities designed to create a relaxed atmosphere and engage the audience at the beginning of a presentation or during breaks.

Example: At the start of a team meeting, use a fun icebreaker like “Two Truths and a Lie,” where each participant shares two true statements and one false one about themselves. It lightens the mood and promotes bonding.

15. Creative Challenges and Brain Teasers

Creative challenges and brain teasers stimulate creativity and problem-solving. They present puzzles, riddles, or creative tasks to engage the audience stand.

Example: During a creativity workshop, present participants with a riddle or a creative problem to solve as a group. Encourage them to think critically and come up with innovative solutions, fostering creative thinking.

How QuestioPro LivePolls can help in Interactive presentation games

When you use any tool for an interactive show, you need to think about how your audience votes and your presentation’s goals. Make sure the interactive elements enhance the learning or engagement experience rather than becoming a distraction. 

Here are some ways a survey-based tool like QuestionPro can assist in creating interactive presentation games:

Question and Quiz Creation

Many interactive presentation game tools allow you to create questions and quizzes that you can integrate into your presentations. These questions can be multiple-choice, true/false, open-ended, or other formats. Participants can then respond to these questions during your presentation.

Interactive presentation fun game tools often include features that engage your audience. This can include things like timers for questions, leaderboards to display scores, and interactive survey elements that make your presentation more engaging and fun.

Feedback and Scoring

These tools typically provide instant feedback to participants. Correct answers might be rewarded with points, while explanations could follow incorrect answers. Scores are often tallied in real time, creating a competitive or gamified atmosphere.

Data Collection

Interactive presentation game tools can help you collect data on audience response software . This data can be valuable for assessing learning outcomes, understanding audience vote opinions, or tailoring your content to your audience’s preferences.

Customization

You can often customize the appearance and behavior of interactive elements to fit your presentation’s theme or style. This allows for creative and engaging presentations.

Audience Participation

Such tools enable audience members to actively participate and feel involved in your presentation. This can lead to higher engagement levels and better retention of information.

Reports and Analytics

Some tools provide analytics and reports after your presentation, which can help you assess the effectiveness of your interactive elements and the overall presentation.

Incorporating interactive presentation games into your talks can elevate your engagement, foster learning, and make your message more memorable. Whether you choose polls, quizzes, simulations, or storytelling challenges, tailoring the games to your audience and objectives is key. 

By doing so, you’ll transform your presentations into dynamic and unforgettable experiences that leave a lasting impact on your audience. So, level up your presentations with these interactive games, and watch your audience become active participants in your message.

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10 interactive presentation ideas that leave a lasting impression

Attention is the gatekeeper of our memories. If you can’t get the audience to sit up and pay attention, your presentation will soon be forgotten.

In her webinar, Using neuroscience to create presentations with lasting impact , Dr. Carmen Simon, cognitive scientist and founder of Memzy , emphasized the importance of attention when forming new memories. According to Simon, one of the best ways to win attention is to insert a “cut” every three minutes.

Attention is definitely mandatory to people remembering the right things, and not just random things.

“Cuts” are simply a break from your normal presenting style, such as switching from a lecture to a Q&A or trivia question. Switching styles this ways keeps the audience intrigued about what comes next. Below are 10 interactive presentation ideas you can use as “cuts” in your own presentations.

Some of these ideas rely on Poll Everywhere, a live audience response system that lets you ask the audience a question and show live results. Try it out by signing up for a free account today.

Warm up the audience with an interactive icebreaker

Signal to the audience that this will be an interactive presentation by opening with an easy icebreaker. Kick it off before your presentation starts, as people are finding their seats, to get everyone familiar with the ins and outs of Poll Everywhere in a low-stakes setting.

Doing so speeds up the time it takes to complete subsequent activities because the audience will expect them. They’re also more likely to engage with you on Poll Everywhere if they’re already comfortable with the process.

Icebreakers come in many styles , but one of the most popular among Poll Everywhere users is the word cloud. Choose a question that calls for a personal response – What’s your favorite food? – that everyone can answer.

Plant engaged audience members ahead of time

This isn’t as sneaky as it sounds.

Sometimes all it takes is a few engaged people in the audience to get the discussion flowing, and give other people the courage to contribute. But what if you can’t count on your attendees to speak up on their own?

Ahead of your presentation, ask a few audience members who you already know and trust to pose specific questions during your presentation.

Maybe you want them to chime in with an easy “gimme” to kick things off and encourage that level of engagement. Or, maybe you want your designated attendee to ask a question that everybody else may be too afraid to ask (i.e. “How do we know we can trust this data?”).

This strategy won’t be necessary for every presentation. But when you’re worried that your request for questions will be met with lowered heads and shifting glances, this is an effective way to get the ball rolling.

Read more: From classroom to boardroom: A high school teacher’s presentation tips

Repeatedly ask questions to build involvement

You can’t expect your audience to engage and interact with you if you don’t give them an opportunity. So, make sure to have plenty of spots throughout your presentation where you can pause and ask a question.

This doesn’t need to be a threatening, pop quiz-style way to scare your audience into paying attention. Even the simplest questions can make people feel a little more involved in what you’re presenting. Think of things like:

• Have you heard of this before?
• Can you read what’s on that slide for me?
• Does anybody know where/what [thing] is?

They’re straightforward questions that require a one-word answer or super easy response, yet they do the job of reminding your audience that you’re talking with them – and not just at them.

Get people moving and out of their seats

It’s time to get your audience’s blood pumping. No, you don’t need to have them do jumping jacks or pushups, but think of some creative ways that you can get them moving around a little bit.

It could be something as simple as asking people to stand up, rather than requesting a show of hands. Or, you could think of some ways to incorporate movement with the content of your presentation. For example, have them walk up and introduce themselves to somebody new to implement the elevator pitch techniques you just taught them.

Give some thought to the different ways you could get your audience out of their seats at a few different points throughout your presentation. If nothing else, you can rest assured that they’re awake.

Read more: 8 interactive presentation games for large teams

Use interactive questions to assess the audience

If you want to know if the audience really understands what you’re presenting, ask.

Christopher Robertson , who teaches at University of Arizona’s James. E. Rogers College of Law, uses Poll Everywhere to identify and resolve any misunderstandings his students have about the complexities of law.

“Law students can easily go an entire semester passively attending class and both the professor and student discover on the final exam that they have not grasped the concepts covered in class,” said Robertson.

I find polling in class encourages active student participation and uncovers misunderstanding of how to apply the law that warrant a second look.

Taking time to test the audience this way gives them a chance to reflect on what you told them, and apply that knowledge on the spot. This can improve the chances they’ll remember that information after your presentation ends.

Enable anonymity to encourage candid feedback

Dr. Mark, physician and author of The Productive Physician , uses anonymous polling in his medical classes. He cites how this extra layer of security helps put students’ minds at ease, and lets them focus on the lesson instead of worrying about scrutiny from their peers.

“Poll Everywhere allows both anonymous and signed-in polling,” explained Dr. Mark, “but I prefer to use the anonymous mode as I feel it increases learner psychological safety: my students might be more inclined to test their knowledge without the fear of being seen to be wrong in front of their peers.”

You can enable anonymity for all Poll Everywhere activity types. The audience responds from the privacy of their phones – not in front of their peers – giving everyone an equal opportunity to make their voice heard.

Split your audience into smaller discussion groups

There’s nothing worse than explicitly asking your audience to engage with you and being met with only crickets and blank stares.

But, here’s the thing: Not everybody is comfortable speaking up in front of a crowd.

For that reason, it can be smart to divide your audience into smaller groups to discuss something relevant to your presentation topic – even if it’s just for five minutes.

If you want the whole audience to come back together and share what they learned during those conversations, it’s likely that a spokesperson will naturally arise from each group; meaning the people who aren’t comfortable chiming in on a large scale don’t have to.

The best thing about this strategy? The previously-reserved attendees will have a little more confidence to speak up when they know the rest of their group is there to jump in if needed.

Read more: How to present an effective PowerPoint presentation

Encourage questions throughout your presentation

It’s natural to want your audience to hold on to all of their questions until a Q&A portion at the conclusion of your talk. However, that’s pretty much the exact opposite of an interactive presentation.

Instead, be upfront at the beginning of your presentation that you want people to chime in with thoughts or questions, rather than biting their tongue until the very end. Of course, you’ll need to be willing to step in and get things back on track if a question steers the conversation too far off course.

If you don’t want the interruptions, find a way for people to submit questions asynchronously , such as in a chat window or shared document. You can respond to those submissions at your own pace throughout the presentation.

Either way, encouraging people to contribute to the topic in real-time is far more interactive and engaging than forcing them to sit and wait until the end.

Let the audience decide what’s next

Presentations don’t always need to flow in a straight line. With a quick question, you can empower your audience and let them decide what to learn about next.

Poll Everywhere’s own Katie Wilson gave a webinar on this very topic. In it, she explained how corporate trainers use polling to create choose-your-own-adventure style presentations .

Present your audience with a multiple choice activity, and let their votes determine which topic you tackle next. In Katie’s example, a corporate trainer is asking about how best to respond to a customer complaint.

Three options are available, and the audience votes on which one they think is most appropriate. Once the results are in, the presenter navigates to the slide associated with that option and discusses the results.

Use surveys to extend interaction after your presentation ends

Audience interaction doesn’t have to end with the presentation.

Jez Wiles, lecturer at the London College of Music, continues the conversation with his students both before and after his lectures with online questionnaires.

“Getting [students] to use a survey as a post-class reflective tool, or pre-lecture poll to find out what they know about something…this has all extended the use of [Poll Everywhere] for me, and boosted engagement,” said Wiles.

Poll Everywhere surveys can include any type of activity – from multiple choice to open-ended – and can be completed asynchronously at the audience’s own pace. This is a great way to help reinforce the topics of your presentation, or to collect audience feedback on the presentation itself.

I like the sense of fun Poll Everywhere naturally brings. I always find engagement goes up when I use it.

These are just some of the ways the Poll Everywhere community uses live audience engagement to drive interactive presentations. Each of these ideas is a type of cut you can use to keep your audience alert and engaged with what you’re saying.

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

Practice Presentation Skills

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• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

Home Blog Presentation Ideas How To Make a Presentation Interactive

How To Make a Presentation Interactive

This article provides a short list of proven techniques for adding interactivity to your presentations. Based on our experience and available research, we know applying them will enhance your presentation experience.

Table of Contents

Definition of Interactive Presentation

Benefits of interactive presentation, interactive presentation techniques, recommended templates for interactive presentations.

An interactive presentation actively engages the audience, transforming them from passive listeners into active participants. It incorporates various elements that invite audience interaction, encourage learning and discussion.

• Interactive presentations generate connection, bringing audiences and presenters closer. 
• They enhance comprehension, simplifying complex concepts. 
• They boost engagement, keeping audiences active and interested. 
• They encourage cooperation, promoting collaborative learning and problem-solving.

The following list is a suggestion of audience interaction techniques that, in our experience, helped presenters make their presentations interactive. They all present an actionable example that can be easily implemented in your next PowerPoint presentation .

Use of Icebreakers

In recent years, researchers have theorized that Icebreakers help establish a conducive communication environment, favoring participation. Effective icebreakers can range from simple questions to fun activities to break down barriers and encourage interaction. The key is to choose an icebreaker that aligns with the audience and the topic of the presentation.

Icebreaker examples

We present two examples of the same technique based on the context of the presentation delivery method.

Scenario 1 – Physical Audience (in the Context of a Summit)

In summits, the audience is gathered for a shared interest. So, the hypothesis is that the people in the room, ready to listen to the presentation, have some interests in common. The presenter can break the ice with a simple “know the people around you.” Each participant should present themselves to the person at the right and the left and ask them the purpose of their assistance.

The presenter will then share the 3 “possible answers,” introducing how the presentation will cover those interests. If time is well measured, it can even do a “rise the hands” round to roughly estimate the answers.

This technique requires good control of the room, so it is important to constantly gauge the possible distraction generated vs the communication effect that wants to be reached. We suggest our subscribers present quickly, clear the icebreaker exercise, and invest time in the wrap-up (post-exercise) activity.

Scenario 2 – Virtual Audience (in the context of a course)

During virtual presentations (like in Google Meet or Zoom ), the interaction between participants requires separate meeting rooms or moderated chat, which incurs complexity and additional effort. So, our experience in virtual presentations shows that a single round of attendee introductions is a good icebreaker for the audience-presenter pair. 

The main task the presenter needs to prepare is to define beforehand the number of people that will introduce themselves and the 3 questions they should answer about them.

For example:

• What’s your name? (or any demographic that might fit the audience)
• What do you expect from the presentation?
• Do you have a specific question or topic you would like the presenter to address?

This technique of micro-interactions increases the audience’s affinity with its remote peers and triggers curiosity. For the presenter, it sets a standard of expectations to focus on during the speech. [3]

Incorporation of Multimedia Elements & Other Interactive Presentation Ideas

According to audience studies , incorporating multimedia elements into presentations significantly enhances audience engagement . This technique uses videos, reels, TikTok, audio clips, animations, memes, and images to convey information more effectively. These elements can simplify complex concepts, stimulate discussion, and maintain audience interest. They also cater to different learning styles, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of the presented material.

Use of Non-linear Flow

Non-linear flow in interactive presentations allows for a flexible, audience-driven progression. It consists of allowing the listener to decide the path of the presentation. This technique enhances engagement by adapting to audience responses. Two studies ([1],[2]) conclude that the use of a non-linear presentation reinforces learning and improves understanding of concepts and results.

Storytelling Approach

The storytelling approach involves weaving a narrative around your topic, connecting facts and figures with characters and plots. This method engages the audience emotionally, stimulating their imagination, making it more relatable and memorable, and enhancing their understanding of the subject matter. The interaction materializes between the message and the emotions of the receiver. 

Do not misunderstand the usage of storytelling presentations as merely fictional creative plots. The presenter needs to create a story that delivers the message and also, is backed up with arguments or data.

Storytelling Example

For instance, imagine a mid-manager working on customer trends and behavior analysis in a retail company. In the previous quarter, numbers show a decrease in the sales of brewed coffee. The trends and survey analysis show that consumers prefer to brew at home.

So, instead of just showcasing numbers, the presenter elaborates on a customer persona (“Emily”) and creates a story about Emily’s regular day and decision-making process.

“Emily is a hard-working mom of 2 boys. She has a white-collar job, 9 to 5, in a big city. She is a conscious mom about their children’s nutrition and makes her grocery every morning in our stores. She values our quality and freshness. As part of her daily routine, she picks a fresh coffee from our store barista and quickly covers her shopping list., ready to deliver the goods at home and run to her job.

Her morning routine has recently been affected since Emily’s budget has seen an increase in groceries, and a detailed analysis of cost benefits has replaced the almost automatic process of selecting top-of-the-line healthy products. Prices have seen alterations due to inflation and have hit the shelves. Emily’s routine has changed so that she does not even take her “to go coffee”; she decided to brew at home.”

This story is more relatable and can trigger the audience’s experience about the topic. This is no bidirectional communication but generates an internal action in the audience.

Use of Q&A and Discussion Sessions

Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions and discussions complement interactive presentations. They provide a platform for the audience to drill down into concepts and exchange ideas. This methodology promotes dynamic involvement, inviting passive spectators to become active participants. Moreover, the presenter can extract invaluable insights from these sessions, transforming the presentation into a reciprocal learning experience. For further reading and techniques of Q&A sessions, please check our post on how to moderate questions and answers .

Quizzes and Polls

In interactive presentations, quizzes and polls are frequently employed to receive input from the audience at scale. Using technology, you can get quick answers to a grid of questions predefined or even built during the presentation itself. The audience input is received and quickly processed to share in a summary. Results can then be discussed during the presentation. 

Quizzes and Polls Examples

As technology for this technique, we suggest using Microsoft Forms or Google Forms. Booths are proven technologies that can be accessed from almost every network and guarantee you will not fail during your presentation. This tool reduces the risk of having a glitch failure.

If you have an Office 365 subscription, you can use Microsoft Forms, which integrates with PowerPoint to show the results of a poll or quiz.

If you use Google Forms, even though you do not have direct interaction, you can use the web viewer add-in of PowerPoint and, after some time, edit the presentation, refresh the preview, and show the examples.

Here is a list of interactive presentation ideas & templates that you can use in PowerPoint or Google Slides.

1. Interactive Jeopardy Game Template for PowerPoint & Google Slides

Welcome to Jeopardy! If you intend to make a memorable presentation and evaluate your attendees’ knowledge of the topics you disclose, this is the ideal resource to make a presentation interactive.

Use This Template

2. Quiz Maker for Interactive Presentations Template

When looking for how to make presentations interactive, this slide deck with a quiz theme can bring light to training sessions or even inspirational presentations. Easy to edit, you can build expectation with multiple-choice format, or work with true/false statements.

3. Six Thinking Hats PowerPoint Template for Interactive Presentations

Induce interactive activities for presentations by implementing this creative thinking template featuring the Six Thinking Hats model. It is ideal for teams to discuss a problem from different points of view.

4. Futuristic Concept Roadmap for Interactive Presentation Ideas

When looking for how to create an interactive PowerPoint presentation, this roadmap template stands out by its highly detailed graphic aesthetic, which makes facts easier to remember. Participants can add their insights to collectively build a roadmap for the organization, highlighting 3 key milestones.

We presented several methods to make your presentation interactive. You can navigate our presentations gallery and choose professional PowerPoint templates to apply these new techniques.

• Das, Anup & Dutta, Bidyarthi. (2002). Presentation of Results of Research: Linear and Non-Linear Forms.
• Rumpa, Lantana & Sampelawang, Petrus & Lolang, Enos & Tangkeallo, Daud & Rubianus,. (2018). NON-LINEAR PRESENTATION ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE: APPLYING PREZI ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION.
• In-person vs. virtual conferences: Lessons learned and how to take advantage of the best of both worlds

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Engaging Your Audience Online: 15 Strategies for Virtual Presentations

How do you captivate a virtual audience and keep them engaged throughout your online presentation? One effective way is to incorporate interactive elements into your presentation. By adding interactivity, you can make your presentation more engaging and dynamic. As a keynote speaker, it is crucial to utilize these interactive elements to connect with your audience and create an immersive experience . In today’s digital age, where face-to-face interactions are limited, mastering the art of public speaking in virtual presentations is crucial for effective communication. Adding interactivity and interactive elements through social media can greatly enhance engagement and make your presentations more impactful. With the shift to online platforms, there are both challenges and opportunities for interactivity and competition. The inclusion of interactive elements in virtual events can enhance engagement and make the experience more dynamic.

Virtual presentations require a different approach compared to in-person presentations. Adding interactive elements can engage speakers and event attendees, making the experience more dynamic for people. The absence of physical presence in a virtual event platform makes it challenging to gauge audience reactions and maintain their attention. However, with the right speaker and a fun movement, these challenges can be overcome. However, by leveraging a virtual event platform and incorporating interactive tools, dynamic content, and great speakers, you can create a fun and immersive experience that keeps attendees hooked from start to finish.

We will also discuss strategies to overcome the unique challenges faced when engaging online audiences on our virtual event platform. Our speaker will provide great insights and tips for making the experience fun and engaging. So, if you’re ready to take your online presentations to the next level at a virtual event with a great speaker, read on!

Strategies for Creating Engaging Virtual Presentations

Understanding the needs and preferences of your online audience.

To create great virtual presentations, it is crucial for the speaker to understand the needs and preferences of their online audience at the event. Unlike in-person presentations, virtual presentations require a different approach to capture and maintain the attention of viewers. The speaker at a virtual event must employ great techniques to engage the audience. One way to gather insights into what your audience expects from a virtual event is by conducting research or surveys . This will help you understand the expectations of your audience for a great online presentation.

Once you have a better understanding of your audience’s needs and preferences, you can tailor your content accordingly for a great virtual event. Additionally, consider how the speaker can address these needs and preferences. For example, if your virtual event audience prefers concise and visually appealing slides , focus on creating impactful visuals with minimal text. On the other hand, if they prefer more detailed information about the virtual event, provide supplementary resources such as handouts or links to additional materials.

Incorporating Storytelling Techniques to Captivate Viewers

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can captivate viewers during virtual presentations, whether it’s a business event, conference, or online gathering. By incorporating storytelling techniques into your virtual event presentation, you can make it more relatable and memorable for your audience. Start by identifying key points or messages that you want to convey during your virtual event and find creative ways to present them through stories or anecdotes.

Consider using personal experiences or case studies that resonate with your audience’s interests or challenges during a virtual event. This helps establish an emotional connection with viewers during a virtual event and keeps them engaged throughout the presentation. Using storytelling techniques at an event allows you to break down complex concepts into simpler terms, making it easier for event attendees to understand and retain information.

Utilizing Multimedia Elements to Enhance Engagement

Incorporating multimedia elements is another effective strategy for enhancing engagement in virtual presentations during an event.

Utilizing Humor and Visual Reinforcement

In order to create engaging virtual presentations for an event, it’s essential to utilize humor and visual reinforcement. These elements can help to capture the attention of your audience at an event, make the presentation more enjoyable during the event, and reinforce key points effectively at the event.

Adding humor to create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere

One way to engage your audience during a virtual event is by adding humor. Injecting some lightheartedness into your event content can create a relaxed atmosphere and make the event experience more enjoyable for everyone involved. Incorporating jokes, funny anecdotes, or humorous stories related to your event topic can instantly grab the attention of your event audience and keep them engaged throughout the event.

However, when planning an event, it’s important to strike a balance between being humorous and maintaining professionalism. While humor can be an effective engagement tool, it should never overshadow the main message or distract from the purpose of your presentation. Ensure that any jokes or humorous elements you include are relevant to the topic at hand and align with the overall tone of your presentation.

Using visuals such as images, charts, and videos to reinforce key points

Visual aids play a crucial role in virtual presentations as they provide additional context for your audience. Incorporating images, charts, graphs, infographics, or videos can help reinforce key points and make complex information easier to understand. Visuals have a powerful impact on our brains as they enhance comprehension and retention of information.

For instance, if you’re presenting data or statistics, using charts or graphs can visually represent the information in a clear and concise manner.

The Power of Strategic Pauses

Employing strategic pauses for emphasis and reflection during presentations.

Engaging your audience online can be a challenge. However, one powerful technique that can captivate your audience and keep them actively involved is the use of strategic pauses . These deliberate breaks in your speech not only allow time for ass imilation and comprehension but also create anticipation and enhance the overall impact of your message.

Strategic pauses serve as natural resting points in your presentation, giving both you and your audience a moment to breathe. By strategically inserting these pauses at key moments, you can effectively emphasize important points and allow them to sink in. This helps prevent information overload and gives your audience time to process what they have just heard.

Allowing time for audience assimilation and comprehension

In the fast-paced world of virtual presentations, it’s easy for information to become overwhelming. By incorporating strategic pauses into your delivery, you give your audience the opportunity to absorb and understand what you’ve just presented. These brief moments of silence allow listeners to reflect on the information before moving on to the next point.

Think of strategic pauses as mini-breaks that provide mental space for your audience. Just like taking a breath between sentences or paragraphs when reading aloud, pausing during a presentation allows individuals to catch up mentally, ensuring they are following along with you.

Enhancing anticipation by strategically pausing before revealing important information

One effective way to engage your audience during virtual presentations is by building anticipation through well-timed pauses. Before unveiling crucial details or sharing significant insights, pause briefly beforehand.

Mastering Vocal Techniques for Engagement

Varying pitch, tone, and volume to maintain audience interest.

One of the key aspects of engaging your audience during virtual presentations is mastering vocal techniques . By varying your pitch, tone, and volume throughout your presentation, you can effectively capture and maintain the interest of your audience.

Think of it as the musicality of your voice. Just like a song with a monotonous melody can become dull, speaking in a monotone voice can quickly bore your listeners. Instead, aim to vary the pitch by emphasizing certain words or phrases with higher or lower tones. This creates a dynamic flow in your speech that keeps the audience engaged.

Similarly, adjusting the tone of your voice can have a significant impact on how your message is received. A warm and friendly tone can help create a connection with your audience and make them feel more comfortable. On the other hand, using a serious or authoritative tone can convey confidence and credibility. By consciously choosing different tones based on the content you’re delivering, you can add depth and richness to your presentation.

In addition to pitch and tone, controlling the volume of your voice is crucial for maintaining engagement during virtual presentations. Speaking too softly may cause participants to strain their ears to hear you clearly, leading to disengagement or frustration. On the other hand, speaking too loudly might come across as aggressive or overpowering.

To strike the right balance, consider adjusting your volume based on specific parts of your presentation. For example, when sharing an exciting anecdote or highlighting important information, increase your volume slightly to grab attention.

Interactive Presentation Ideas for Online Audiences

In today’s digital landscape, virtual presentations have become the norm. Engaging your audience online can be a challenge, but with the right interactive elements and presentation ideas, you can create an immersive experience that captivates your virtual audience. Let’s explore some effective strategies to make your online presentations more interactive and engaging.

Implementing live polls or surveys to encourage active participation.

One way to boost engagement during virtual presentations is by incorporating live polls or surveys . These interactive features allow you to gather real-time feedback from your audience and encourage active participation . By posing questions related to your presentation topic, you can gauge the opinions and thoughts of your attendees instantly. This not only keeps them engaged but also provides valuable insights that can enhance the overall experience.

• Encourages active participation
• Provides instant feedback
• Allows customization based on presentation topic
• Requires a reliable virtual event platform with polling capabilities
• May require additional time for preparation and analysis of poll results

Incorporating Q&A sessions or chat features for real-time interaction.

Another effective way to engage your online audience is by including dedicated Q&A sessions or chat features. These enable real-time interaction between the presenter and attendees, fostering a sense of connection and dialogue. Participants can ask questions, seek clarification, share their thoughts, or engage in discussions related to the presentation content. This interactivity not only enhances engagement but also creates a collaborative learning environment.

Enhancing Communication Beyond Verbal Language

Significance of non-verbal cues in virtual presentations.

In virtual presentations, effective communication goes beyond just verbal language. Non-verbal cues , such as body language , play a crucial role in engaging your audience and conveying your message effectively . While physical presence may be limited in an online setting, there are still ways to incorporate these non-verbal cues to enhance communication.

Body language is a powerful tool for expressing emotions, emphasizing key points, and establishing rapport with your audience. It helps create a connection and captivate the attention of your listeners. Even though you may not be physically present with them, your gestures and expressions can still leave an impact through video conferencing tools.

Incorporating Gestures, Facial Expressions, and Eye Contact

When delivering a virtual presentation, it’s important to make intentional use of gestures and facial expressions to convey meaning and engage your audience. Just like in face-to-face interactions, hand gestures can help emphasize certain points or add emphasis to your speech.

Facial expressions also play a significant role in conveying emotions and maintaining engagement. A smile can instantly make you appear more approachable and friendly. Similarly, raising an eyebrow or nodding can indicate agreement or understanding.

Maintaining eye contact is another crucial aspect of effective communication during virtual presentations. By looking directly into the camera lens instead of at yourself on the screen, you create the illusion of making eye contact with your audience. This helps establish a sense of connection and attentiveness.

Wrapping Up the Importance of Engaging Virtual Presentations

Reiterating the benefits of engaging virtual presentations.

Now that we’ve explored the ins and outs of engaging virtual presentations, let’s recap why they are so crucial for capturing and retaining your audience’s attention. By incorporating interactive elements, you can create an immersive experience that keeps participants actively involved throughout the event. This level of engagement leads to improved retention and understanding of the key points you want to convey.

Engaging virtual presentations offer several advantages over traditional in-person events. First and foremost, they provide a convenient way for attendees to join from anywhere in the world without the need for travel or accommodation expenses. This accessibility greatly expands your potential audience and allows you to reach individuals who may not have been able to attend otherwise.

Interactive features such as polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions foster active participation from attendees. These elements encourage them to think critically about the content being presented and provide opportunities for immediate feedback. By involving your audience in this way, you create a sense of connection and collaboration that enhances their overall experience.

Another benefit of engaging virtual presentations is their ability to cater to different learning styles. People have diverse preferencesWhile others prefer auditory or kinesthetic methods. Through multimedia integration, including videos, images, and slideshows, you can accommodate various learning styles simultaneously. This multi-sensory approach helps ensure that your message resonates with a wider range of participants.

The Power of Humor and Visual Reinforcement in Virtual Presentations

In the world of virtual presentations, engaging your audience online can be a challenge. However, there are two powerful tools that can help you create a memorable and enjoyable experience for your online audience: humor and visual reinforcement. Let’s explore how these elements can make a significant impact on the effectiveness of your virtual presentations.

Humor: Creating a Fun and Light Experience

Injecting humor into your content is like adding a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor. It helps to keep your audience engaged, entertained, and connected with your message. A well-placed joke or witty remark can instantly break the ice and create a relaxed atmosphere.

• Using humorous anecdotes or personal stories related to your topic can captivate your audience’s attention.
• Incorporating funny visuals or memes that align with your presentation’s theme adds an element of surprise and amusement.
• Interactive activities such as quizzes or polls with humorous options can make the session more dynamic and enjoyable.

By infusing humor into your virtual presentation, you not only entertain your audience but also establish a rapport that makes them more receptive to the information you’re sharing.

Visual Reinforcement: Showing rather than Telling

In virtual presentations, where participants are often multitasking or easily distracted by their surroundings, visual aids play a crucial role in reinforcing key messages. By using compelling visuals strategically throughout your presentation, you can enhance understanding, retention, and engagement.

• Utilize eye-catching slides with minimal text that highlight key points or data.

Embracing the Pause: Enhancing Engagement through Strategic Pauses

In virtual presentations, maintaining audience engagement can be a challenge. However, one effective technique that can greatly enhance audience attention and comprehension is the strategic use of pauses . By incorporating well-timed pauses into your virtual presentations, you can create anticipation, emphasize important points, and keep your audience fully engaged throughout.

Elaborating on the effectiveness of strategic pauses in maintaining audience attention.

Strategic pauses serve as powerful tools to maintain audience attention during virtual presentations. When used effectively, they allow for moments of reflection and processing of information. These brief breaks in speech or action give the audience time to absorb what has been said and prepare for what is to come next.

By strategically pausing at key points in your presentation, you create a sense of suspense and curiosity among your listeners. This pause allows them to anticipate what will happen next, keeping them actively engaged in the content. It also helps to break up the monotony of continuous talking or presenting, providing a natural rhythm to your delivery.

Discussing how well-timed pauses can create anticipation and emphasize important points.

Well-timed pauses have the power to create anticipation among your audience. Just like a suspenseful moment in a movie or a punchline in a joke, these intentional breaks build tension and intrigue. By pausing before revealing crucial information or making an impactful statement, you heighten the impact of that moment.

Pauses also serve as signposts for important points within your presentation. They draw attention to key concepts or ideas by giving listeners time to absorb and process them fully.

Mastering Your Voice: Leveraging Vocal Techniques for Audience Engagement

In virtual presentations, capturing and retaining audience interest is crucial. While visual aids and content are important, the role of vocal techniques should not be underestimated. Your voice has the power to engage, captivate, and connect with your audience on a deeper level. By leveraging specific vocal techniques such as modulation , pacing , and emphasis, you can enhance your virtual presentations and leave a lasting impact.

Explaining the Role of Vocal Techniques in Capturing and Retaining Audience Interest

Your voice is a powerful tool that can convey emotions, emphasize key points, and create a sense of connection with your audience. When delivering virtual presentations, it’s essential to understand how vocal techniques play a vital role in capturing and retaining audience interest.

Modulation refers to varying the pitch, tone, and volume of your voice throughout your presentation. By using different levels of modulation strategically, you can add depth and expressiveness to your delivery. This helps to keep your audience engaged by creating a dynamic listening experience.

Pacing involves controlling the speed at which you speak during your presentation. Adjusting your pace can help maintain interest by adding rhythm and preventing monotony. It allows you to emphasize important points or slow down for clarity when discussing complex ideas.

Emphasis is another crucial aspect of vocal technique that helps highlight key information or ideas. By placing emphasis on certain words or phrases through changes in volume or tone, you draw attention to critical elements in your presentation. This ensures that important concepts are not overlooked by your audience.

Boosting Audience Engagement: Best Practices for Captivating Online Audiences

In today’s digital age, virtual presentations have become the norm for engaging with audiences . However, capturing and maintaining the attention of online participants can be quite challenging. To ensure that your virtual presentations are effective and impactful, it is crucial to employ best practices that enhance audience engagement.

Using Relatable Examples

One of the most effective ways to engage an online audience is by using relatable examples . People connect more easily with content when they can see how it applies to their own lives or experiences. By incorporating relevant anecdotes or case studies into your presentation, you can make your message more relatable and resonate with your audience on a personal level .

For instance, if you are delivering a sales pitch for a new product, sharing success stories from satisfied customers can help potential buyers envision themselves benefiting from the product’s features. These relatable examples create a sense of trust and credibility while also sparking interest among your online audience.

The Power of Storytelling

Storytelling has been an age-old method of captivating listeners, and it holds true even in virtual presentations. Sharing compelling stories can evoke emotions and make your content memorable. When crafting your presentation, consider incorporating narratives that illustrate key points or convey important messages.

By weaving storytelling into your virtual presentation, you can transform dry information into a captivating experience for your audience.

Ten Interactive Presentation Ideas to Keep Your Audience Engaged

In today’s digital landscape, virtual presentations have become the norm for connecting with audiences. However, keeping your audience engaged in an online setting can be quite challenging. To overcome this hurdle, here are ten creative ideas to make your virtual presentations more interactive and captivating.

Quizzes: Test Their Knowledge

One effective way to engage your audience is by incorporating quizzes into your presentation. Create interactive quizzes related to your topic and ask participants to answer questions throughout the session. This not only encourages active participation but also helps you gauge their understanding of the subject matter .

Polls: Gather Opinions

Another engaging technique is using polls to gather opinions from your audience. Pose thought-provoking questions and allow participants to vote on their preferred answers. This not only provides valuable insights but also creates a sense of involvement among attendees.

Brainstorming Sessions: Encourage Collaboration

To foster collaboration and generate innovative ideas, include brainstorming sessions in your virtual presentation. Divide participants into breakout rooms or use collaborative tools that allow them to contribute their thoughts and suggestions in real-time.

Virtual Whiteboarding: Visualize Ideas

Visualizing ideas can significantly enhance engagement during virtual presentations. Utilize virtual whiteboarding tools that enable participants to sketch diagrams, mind maps, or flowcharts related to the topic at hand. This interactive approach stimulates creativity and facilitates better understanding.

Gamification: Make Learning Fun

Integrating elements of gamification into your presentation can transform it into an enjoyable learning experience.

Creating Word Pictures: Enhancing Communication Beyond Verbal Language

In virtual presentations, the power of visual communication goes beyond just images and videos. It extends to the use of descriptive language that paints vivid word pictures in the minds of your audience. By incorporating techniques such as metaphors , analogies , and vivid imagery, you can engage online audiences effectively and make your message more memorable.

Importance of Visual Communication through Descriptive Language

When delivering a virtual presentation, relying solely on verbal language may not be enough to captivate your audience. People have different learning styles, and some individuals are more visually oriented than others. By using descriptive language that appeals to their senses, you can create a richer experience for your viewers.

Crafting effective word pictures allows you to tap into the power of storytelling. Instead of simply relaying information, you can paint a mental image that resonates with your audience on a deeper level. This helps them connect emotionally with your message and enhances their overall engagement.

Techniques for Engaging Online Audiences

To engage online audiences effectively, it’s essential to incorporate techniques that go beyond plain speech. Here are some strategies for creating impactful word pictures in virtual presentations:

• Metaphors: Utilize metaphors by comparing two unrelated concepts to create a powerful visual representation. For example, if you’re discussing teamwork, you could say “Teamwork is like a well-oiled machine where every person plays a vital role.”
• Analogies: Draw parallels between different scenarios or situations to help your audience understand complex ideas better.

Planning Virtual Activities: Strategies for Interactive and Engaging Presentations

In today’s digital age, virtual presentations have become the norm. However, engaging your audience online can be quite challenging. To make your virtual presentations more interactive and captivating, it is crucial to plan ahead and incorporate effective strategies. This section will outline some key planning strategies for incorporating interactive activities into your virtual presentations.

Outlining Effective Planning Strategies

There are a few important considerations to keep in mind.

• Time Management : Begin by allocating specific time slots for interactive activities throughout your presentation. By carefully managing the timing of these activities, you can maintain a steady flow and prevent any lulls in engagement.
• Technology Requirements : Consider the technological tools and platforms that will be required for each activity. Ensure that participants have access to the necessary resources and provide clear instructions on how to use them effectively.
• Participant Engagement : Keep in mind the level of engagement you want to achieve with each activity. Consider whether participants will need to actively participate or simply observe. Design activities that encourage active involvement, such as polls, quizzes, or breakout room discussions.

Discussing Considerations

To ensure a successful virtual presentation with interactive activities, it is essential to discuss certain considerations beforehand.

• Presentation Topic : Tailor your choice of interactive activities based on the topic of your presentation. For instance, if you are discussing a complex project management concept, consider incorporating a collaborative whiteboard session where participants can brainstorm ideas together.
• Audience Analysis

User-Selected Presentation Paths: Engaging Strategies for Virtual Presentations

In the world of virtual presentations, engagement is key. With participants spread across different locations and distractions just a click away, it can be challenging to keep them focused and involved. That’s where user-selected presentation paths come into play. By exploring this concept, we can discover strategies that will help us create more engaging virtual presentations.

Exploring Hyperlinked Content

One option for implementing user-selected presentation paths is through hyperlinked content. This allows participants to navigate through the presentation at their own pace, clicking on links that interest them the most. By providing hyperlinks within your slides or presentation materials, you give participants the freedom to choose which topics they want to explore further.

• Tailored experience: Participants can delve deeper into areas that interest them the most.
• Increased involvement: By giving participants control over their learning journey, they become active participants rather than passive listeners.
• Potential distraction: While hyperlinked content offers flexibility, there is a risk that participants may get sidetracked by unrelated information.
• Time management: Depending on how many links are provided, participants might spend too much time exploring one topic and not have enough time for other important content.

Interactive Menus for Navigation

Another strategy to enhance engagement in virtual presentations is by incorporating interactive menus. These menus act as a roadmap for participants, allowing them to choose which sections or topics they want to focus on during the presentation. By presenting an overview of the content and providing clickable options, you empower participants to take charge of their learning experience.

Keeping an Online Audience Engaged: Preparing and Previewing Materials

To ensure a successful virtual presentation, thorough preparation and previewing of materials are crucial. By organizing content effectively, using clear headings, and providing visual cues, you can keep your online audience engaged throughout the presentation.

Importance of Thorough Preparation

Preparation is key. Taking the time to thoroughly prepare your materials allows you to deliver a polished and professional presentation that captures your audience’s attention. It also helps you feel more confident and prepared, reducing any potential stress or anxiety.

Preparing for a virtual presentation involves several steps. First, gather all the necessary media and content you plan to use during the presentation. This includes slideshows, videos, images, or any other visual aids that will enhance your message. Ensure that these materials are easily accessible and organized in a way that makes them easy to navigate during the presentation.

Organizing Content Effectively

One of the challenges of virtual presentations is keeping your audience engaged when they cannot physically be in the same room as you. To overcome this challenge, it’s essential to organize your content effectively.

Start by using clear headings for each section of your presentation. This helps guide your audience through the material and allows them to quickly understand what each section will cover. Consider using bullet points or numbered lists within each section to break up information into digestible chunks.

Another effective way to organize content is by providing visual cues throughout your presentation. Use relevant images or icons to highlight key points or emphasize important information on slides.

Eye Contact and Camera Placement: Establishing Connection in Virtual Presentations

Maintaining eye contact is crucial for engaging your audience during virtual presentations. Despite the physical distance, there are techniques you can employ to create a sense of connection with your online viewers. Optimizing camera angles and positioning can significantly enhance the impact of your presentation.

Significance of Maintaining Eye Contact

Eye contact plays a vital role in communication, both in-person and online. It helps establish trust, convey sincerity, and foster engagement. In virtual presentations, maintaining eye contact through camera placement is essential for creating a personal connection with your audience.

When you maintain eye contact during a virtual presentation, it shows that you are focused on your viewers and value their presence. It helps build rapport and keeps them actively engaged throughout the session. By looking directly into the camera lens, you give the impression that you are speaking directly to each individual viewer.

Techniques for Creating Connection Online

Creating a sense of connection with an online audience requires conscious effort. Here are some practical techniques to help you establish that connection:

• Look directly into the camera: When presenting virtually, make sure to look directly into the camera rather than at your own image on the screen. This gives the illusion of making direct eye contact with your audience.
• Position yourself at eye level: Adjust your camera setup so that it aligns with your eye level or slightly above it. This ensures that you appear more approachable and engaged with your viewers.
• Minimize distractions:

Engaging with Polling and Gamification: Interactive Techniques for Audience Involvement

In virtual presentations, it’s crucial to find ways to keep your audience engaged and involved. One effective method is through the use of polling and gamification techniques. By incorporating these interactive elements, you can create a more dynamic and participatory experience for your participants.

Exploring increased interactivity with polling

One way to enhance audience participation is by utilizing polls during your virtual presentation. Polling allows you to gather real-time feedback from your audience, making them an active part of the discussion. It not only encourages engagement but also provides valuable insights into the thoughts and opinions of your participants.

Benefits of polling:

• Increased interactivity : Polls allow participants to actively participate in the presentation by expressing their opinions or preferences.
• Data collection: The data collected from polls can provide valuable insights that can be used for future presentations or decision-making processes.
• Instant feedback : Real-time polling gives presenters immediate feedback on how well their message is being received, allowing them to adjust their approach if needed.
• Fostering healthy competition: Incorporating competitive elements in polls, such as leaderboard rankings, can encourage friendly competition among participants.

Discussing gamification for audience involvement

Gamification involves incorporating game-like elements into non-game contexts to increase engagement and motivation. By introducing gamified features in virtual presentations, you can make the experience more enjoyable and interactive for your audience.

Benefits of gamification:

• Enhanced engagement: Gamified elements such as quizzes, challenges, or rewards motivate participants to actively engage with the content.

Creating a Distraction-Free Background: Optimizing Visual Focus in Online Presentations

Creating engaging virtual presentations is crucial for capturing the attention and interest of your online audience. By implementing strategies such as optimizing visual focus , utilizing humor and visual reinforcement, mastering vocal techniques, and incorporating interactive presentation ideas, you can enhance audience engagement and make your virtual presentations more impactful. Enhancing communication beyond verbal language and embracing strategic pauses can further captivate your audience’s attention. Remember to plan virtual activities, establish eye contact through camera placement, and engage with polling and gamification to keep your online audience involved. With these techniques in mind, you’ll be well-equipped to deliver compelling virtual presentations that leave a lasting impression.

Call-to-action: Start applying these strategies in your next virtual presentation to create an engaging experience for your audience. Experiment with different techniques, embrace creativity, and continuously seek feedback to improve the impact of your online presentations.

Can I use humor in my virtual presentations?

Absolutely! Humor is a powerful tool for engaging an online audience. Incorporating light-hearted jokes or funny anecdotes can help create a relaxed atmosphere and make your presentation more enjoyable. Just ensure that the humor is appropriate for your specific audience.

How can I optimize visual focus in my virtual presentations?

To optimize visual focus in virtual presentations, it’s important to create a distraction-free background. Choose a clean and clutter-free environment with minimal distractions behind you. Consider using a neutral-colored backdrop or even a virtual background feature if available.

What are some interactive presentation ideas for online audiences?

There are numerous interactive presentation ideas you can explore for online audiences. Some examples include conducting live polls or surveys during the presentation, incorporating breakout rooms for group discussions or activities, utilizing interactive slides with clickable elements or quizzes, and encouraging real-time chat participation.

How do strategic pauses enhance engagement in virtual presentations?

Strategic pauses provide moments of reflection for the audience while allowing them to process information effectively. They also build anticipation and create a sense of suspense, keeping the audience engaged and eager to hear what comes next. Incorporating pauses at key moments in your presentation can significantly enhance audience engagement.

How can I enhance communication beyond verbal language in virtual presentations?

To enhance communication beyond verbal language in virtual presentations, consider using visual aids such as slides, infographics, or videos to convey information. Utilize gestures and facial expressions to add emphasis and emotion to your delivery. Make use of props or demonstrations whenever applicable to reinforce your message visually

11 fun virtual presentation ideas to boost engagement

If you ask yourself what the key to your virtual presentation success is, the answer will be obvious - keep your audience engaged. While it seems like an easy task, it can sometimes be challenging to implement in reality.

Nov 10, 2021 — Atis Silis

Without in-person interaction, you need to try twice as hard to create a fun presentation. Cognitive scientists believe that at the 10-minute mark, the audience stops listening to a presentation. And obviously, your content will most likely require longer than ten minutes.

But don’t worry, because we’ve prepared some terrific virtual presentation ideas that will help you make a fire speech and leave your audience craving more of your content.

Enough talking, let’s dive right into it!

Engaging Virtual Presentation Ideas You Can Apply Now

So what’s the magic answer to “how do I make presentations fun and entertaining?”

As the “producer” of your virtual presentation, you have the most powerful tool of all - your creativity, passion, and love for your product or service. So you already have all the aces up your sleeve.

However, you can make your show even better just by following some of these fun ideas for interactive presentations.

Idea #1. Start with an Icebreaker

People love a good story, so there’s no better way to start a presentation than with a story. Not only will it grab and maintain attention, but it will also help the attendees remember and understand you (and your project) better.

So instead of only presenting cold facts, organize the facts into a story and make your audience laugh, smile, or be surprised.

Idea #2. Engage with Your Camera

When speaking and presenting your topic, make sure you’re looking straight into your computer’s camera and not reading from the slides. Yes, it may be hard at the beginning, but it will give the audience the impression that you’re looking directly at them.

So place your camera at eye level - a camera too low may create a double chin, while a camera too high may find your sight dropping while looking at the screen. What makes a presenter powerful is the capability of making eye contact with the viewers even when they don’t see the viewers.

Idea #3. Come Up with Some Games

Using live polls and quizzes is another great way to see if your audience understands you. Additionally, such a gaming way of presentation will keep your attendees entertained, especially if the session is long.

You can implement “Would you rather?” questions, surveys, riddles, “two-truths-and-a-lie” polls, or “yes-or-no” quizzes. Just make sure to include a “click and find out if you’re right!” button. That way, your audience will know they can interact with the slide. Later, you can show the audience the polling results, confirming or challenging them.

Why is this a fun presentation idea?

• More than 80% of the learners would be much more productive if work was more game-like.
• Such gamification will make attendees participate in the discussion.

Idea #4. Use a Virtual Background

Using virtual backgrounds is another fun activity for presentations that can easily make your event stand out. You can choose simple colors, gradients, or illustrated backgrounds and make your presentation ten times better.

For instance, SpatialChat has a fantastic collection of different backgrounds for users to use and spice up their presentation game.

However, make sure to choose wisely, as the background may either add to your event or detract from it.

Example : A woman accidentally turned herself into a potato during a Microsoft team meeting. Such a funny interactive virtual presentation idea definitely brought attention to her persona and the topic she was presenting.

Idea #5. Keep It Short

Remember that your attendees have millions of distractions at their fingertips during your speech (emails, social media, food, etc.) The length of your presentation doesn’t matter - it’s not about the number of slides but rather about the words. So keep it fresh, structured, and prioritized.

Idea #6. Humor Is Key

If humor makes your life longer, then it will definitely entertain your audience. Obviously, it doesn’t mean you have to implement hundreds of punch lines into your presentation ​​— it’s not a stand-up. Don’t try to be Michael Scott from The Office ; ensure your jokes are totally appropriate.

Being lighthearted, fun, and cheerful is always a plus for your presentation. It will make the atmosphere friendly and help put everyone at ease. And if humor isn’t your strong suit, you can do a little research and implement humorous images, gifs, or videos.

Idea #7. Make a Q&A

The presentation shouldn’t be only about you, your product, or your service. It’s also about your audience and how you can improve their lives. So make sure you’re pausing and inviting questions after each section of your presentation.

Idea #8. Visuals, Visuals, Visuals

Visual content can greatly enhance your performance. Here are a couple of slideshow ideas for fun presentations: Color . Don’t be afraid to experiment - since color has a huge effect on how the audience perceives your content, you can play with color combinations to grab viewers’ attention.

• Images, gifs, and videos . If you’ve got lots to say, don’t create your presentation around text only - use illustrations. They will easily make your event more exciting and catch the eye.
• Infographics - a great way of showing boring data in a fun way.

Idea #9. Use Music

Music can both reinforce your presentation and put listeners to sleep. However, the right choice of sound effects has been proven to sustain the audience’s attention and even help retain the information.

For instance, use up-tempo music to snap people to attention and switch to minor-key sounds when you want to relax the attendees’ brains.

Idea #10. Surprise Everyone

Finally, you can spice up your virtual presentation and shock the audience with little surprises throughout the whole event. This will help to keep your audience excited and waiting in anticipation.

Here are a couple of surprise ideas for interactive presentations:

• Surprise guests - someone famous or an expert in your field who you let do a little speech
• Insider information
• Launch of a new product or service

Idea #11. End on a Meaningful Note

Your presentation has to be memorable, so a strong CTA (call to action) is exactly how you need to end it.

Ask your audience to visit your website for more information, share, and subscribe. Make sure to wrap this message up with powerful visual elements and a little bit of music - and voila - your presentation is more likely to be talked about.

Extra Tip: Use SpatialChat

And if you’re still worrying about your presentation, SpatialChat comes in handy with dozens of engaging presentation ideas.

The virtual space allows you to host events for hundreds or even thousands of attendees and create a fun environment for your presentation by adding small customizations.

Here are a couple of fun ways to do a presentation with SpatialChat:

• Text chats . Send emojis, links, or any text you want during a presentation.
• Space and interface customization . You can create different rooms, customize them, and then move around in them during the event. The bubbles will show your or your attendees’ positions in space - if your camera is on, your audience will see your video stream, and when it’s off, it will show your profile picture and your name.
• Virtual background. Choose the background that suits you the most and can delight the public.
• Virtual photo booth . Even during an online event, you can take a picture of all the participants. Just make sure their bubbles are in the same room and their cameras are on. Additionally, you can upload a funky background and make a photo booth with mustaches, glasses, or frames.
• Add music . With SpatialChat, you can use YouTube radio or video to stream music during your speech! As we’ve mentioned before, adding sound effects is one of the great and unique online presentation ideas!
• An event in several languages . By creating several stages and inviting interpreters, your attendees can listen to your presentation in the most convenient language for them.

The Bottom Line

With these virtual presentation ideas, you now know how to awe your listeners! However, remember that a successful online performance requires slightly more effort than an in-person one. But you got this.

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20 Interactive Presentation Ideas

Giving a presentation at work can be intimidating, even if this isn’t your first rodeo. You want to convey the information clearly and intelligently, but you also want it to be a crowd-pleaser. But how? The presentation has to be conducted professionally, but you don’t want to bore everyone or yourself, for that matter.

‍ Tedious, boring meetings serve no one and are a waste of time. This is a pity, as often good information is shared, but delivered in such a sterile way, that the audience doesn’t find it useful. What you want to give is an interactive presentation – where your audience feels seen by you and where real communication of ideas has occurred.

What Are The Benefits of an Interactive Presentation?

While you might feel that you just want to present the information and get this over with, audience engagement is crucial. Going the extra mile to make your presentation engaging and interactive won’t just make it more enjoyable for you and the audience, but a better learning experience for both of you. ‍

Think of interaction as a means of making your presentation more consumable for the audience. Trying to pull all of this together can drive you mad, but MeetingPulse is here to help. We’re an online platform, completely customizable for your company or organization.

We offer live interactive opportunities throughout your meeting with your audience, using computers, tablets, even their phones. Your audience will be completely engaged with your presentation, and you won’t have to worry about it. We can take this task off your plate.

‍ Related: Top Interactive Online Meeting Ideas

Putting together a creative and interactive presentation can be challenging. Here are 20 interactive presentation ideas:

We love icebreakers, don’t we? We secretly dread the ones that embarrass us, but the good news is, they don’t have to be embarrassing. The goal of ice-breakers is to warm up the audience and to initiate a rapport with them. This usually happens by getting to know one another better.

In a small audience, you might share a bit of information about yourself and ask each audience member to do the same. In a large meeting, you might ask the audience to introduce themselves to the person sitting next to them, or another favorite is Five of Anything .

Video Clips

We’ve all heard of death by Powerpoint, haven’t we? It’s a ghastly way to go. But fortunately, if you include a video clip or two in your slides, boredom may be avoided. A new voice can help your audience to remain engaged, and you can have help presenting bits of information.

Pro Tip: Let the video do the boring bit. A video clip can be a presentation within your presentation.

Keep the audience guessing. One slide doesn’t have to follow the next. You can mix things up a bit. Moving around your presentation, not following a predicted order, will engage your audience as you pique their interest. One exciting idea is to allow the audience to determine the course of topics — more on this one later.

Q&A Session

Asking and answering questions is a great way to get the audience involved. This can be more than a brief time at the end of a presentation for the audience to ask questions. Open questions may be asked of the audience throughout or breaks taken between sections for questions to be answered.

Interactive Quiz

Take your question-asking to a new level, and create an interactive quiz . The audience may engage with it on any device they have with them — even their phones. MeetingPulse is the expert on that. The quiz may also be embedded within your presentation, with questions strategically placed to gage audience expertise, attention, and engagement.

Bring Props

No, we don’t mean a bag of cool, but random stuff. Delivering an excellent presentation has a lot to do with storytelling. So a prop can be useful in injecting energy and adding another dimension to the topic. For maximum effect, the props should be few, and they shouldn’t distract from what you’re saying.

Tell a story

Everyone loves a good story! Telling your audience a story during your presentation will draw them to you and your topic . Stories stir our interest, our emotions, and they stay in our memory. The best speakers are excellent storytellers — so hone this skill.

Audio Narrative

Speaking for an extended period can be challenging, so add some audio narrative to your presentation. Pre-record audio on a few slides or sections so that you can have a break, and your audience hears a slight change in presentation. An audio narrative can go into more depth than the slide shows, or it can be an opportunity to add music or other invigorating elements.

Poll Your Audience

A sure-fire method for engagement is polling the audience . Asking questions that have to do with the topic or just a lot of fun questions, is an enjoyable way of interacting. Your poll can be with raised hands, or you can use software.

‍ MeetingPulse is experienced at creating interactive meetings with live polling for real-time engagement .

Related: 35 Funny Poll Questions to Ask Your Audience

Discussion Questions

An audience divided into small discussion groups during a presentation, is a fantastic way of keeping everyone engaged and interested.

‍ Discussing topics relevant to the presentation will help the audience retain the information and the audience members will help each other gain a better understanding.

Encourage Movement

Our other ideas stimulate activity in the mind of the audience, but physical movement is necessary for the body. Many people fall asleep when they’re sat in one place for too long. If the audience is to be kept awake and fresh, movement is vital. This may be accomplished by frequent intermissions, where people can walk and stretch their legs, or by directed “movement breaks.”

Get Your Audience Asking Questions

Questions aren’t just for the end of the presentation. Audience members may be invited to write their questions on the topic at the beginning of the presentation . This helps them to be listening out for the information they especially wanted and fosters engagement. Frequent question breaks throughout the presentation are also helpful.

Let Your Audience Direct

This will mean a little extra work on your part, but giving the audience some say in the flow of the presentation, can be very rewarding. Your slides may be arranged on several points, and the audience may be allowed to choose which points they want to hear first, second, and so on. 

Share a Hashtag

If you’re presenting at an event that already has a branded hashtag, encourage your audience to use it as they ask questions and make comments on social media. But if your presentation is standalone, you can still create a hashtag and encourage the audience to use it. You can keep track of their questions and comments by tracking the hashtag on social media.

What can be more energizing than a little music at just the right moment? You can use music as a background to some of your slides, or do a fantastic blast of pop music to move onto a new section of your presentation. This will refocus your audience and keep them enthusiastic about your presentation. It’s also suitable for those directed movement breaks, aka dance breaks.

Transitions and Animations

Transitions on your slides may be automated, so they move smoothly from one to the next. You can create a theme with animation that shows itself throughout the presentation. Transitions can be made fun and visually appealing for your audience.

‍ This doesn’t have to bog you down, at MeetingPulse, we can integrate your Powerpoint with our interactive software and create a wildly engaging presentation.

Data Visualization

Data visualizations can demonstrate the facts and figures of your presentation in a display that helps the audience to understand it better. Visualizations can be in the form of colorful charts, graphs, infographics, etc. They are fun and engaging while helping to convey the meanings of your figures succinctly.

‍ Related: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ Tips for Running a Great Meeting

Get Off The Stage

It can be exciting for you and your audience if you occasionally leave the stage and walk among them. While we don’t recommend crowd surfing (unless it’s that kind of event), this is a great way to interact with the audience and heighten the energy in the whole room.

Augmented Reality

If you’re especially daring, augmented reality is making its way into the professional space. You can forget all about a slide presentation and create a 3-D experience for the audience. This idea is tech-heavy and tough on the budget, but if you can swing it, they won’t forget it. There won’t be one sleepy eye in the place!

Play With The Length and Structure

While you may have been allotted the usual stretch of time, it could be very refreshing to audiences if you got to the point, made the point, and sat down. Feel free to mess with the structure of your presentation as well.

Why not redesign your talk and forget the expected norms, and instead, consider your audience. Prioritize getting the information into their hands and making it a memorable and quality event.

Well, there you have it, twenty of the most exciting and interactive presentation ideas ever! What you have to present is important, so why not take the time to create an event that will be enjoyable, interesting, and engaging for everyone involved. You don’t have to try all of these ideas in one presentation, but add them to your toolbox for future ones.

‍ And remember that MeetingPulse is here with an online platform to take your presentations and meetings from mundane to memorable. Visit us here.

Get started with MeetingPulse today!

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Education  |  Sep 21 2019

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas that will Engage Students

Interactive presentations should always be an educator’s goal. Dry, teacher-centered lectures lose students’ interest, while interactive presentations grab and hold attention. Getting students involved improves retention, understanding, and enjoyment. And it’s remarkably easy to involve the audience with just a few easy principles (especially with the right technology at your disposal).

Start creating interactive presentations with the tips and tricks below or get more insights on modern education technology.

Students today expect the classroom to be both educational and enjoyable at the same time. Interactive presentations help engage students by having them participate in the lessons instead of passively listening to lectures. This reduces boredom and gives students a sense of responsibility to be attentive.

A Gallup Poll  of about 3,000 schools shows that around the 5 th  grade 74% of students feel they are engaged in school, but by the 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grade those numbers fall to the 30% range. It is important for educators from K-12 and on to higher education to recognize that keeping students engaged in the classroom is important and the adoption of interactive learning environments can be a key driver.

Millennials and Generation Y students are especially accustomed to being a part of the lessons and not just a spectator. Students are encouraged to talk and offer their ideas to create a collaborative atmosphere where both teachers and students are sources of knowledge and insight. The teacher plays more of a facilitator role in moving the lesson along and encouraging students to participate in their own learning outcomes. Students offer their own input, additional information, and give examples of how they would apply the key concepts.

The learning task is the central aspect of the interactive presentations (instead of the teacher’s energy level and hold on the students’ attention spans) and the lessons evolve around it. Even though the teacher is normally, the ‘presenter’ in most cases the ‘interaction’ part comes in a variety of ways to get students participating in the lesson. Many activities, games, role-plays, quizzes, and discussions  can be integrated into the presentation flow and the lessons will take different directions from there. We will discuss later many examples of tools and techniques to encourage collaborations.

Technological Aid in Interactive Presentations

Although interactive presentations can be done without technology, it is greatly aided with the adoption of tools designed to facilitate the learning process. For example, a quiz is given in the middle of the presentation. On one side, traditionally a teacher can write the quiz before the lesson starts, print out copies for all students, pass out the quiz, and collect answers. To provide feedback for the exercise the teacher will also need to grade and start a discussion on the results before moving on to the next topic. This process is time-consuming and restrictive.

With technological aid such as an interactive digital whiteboard or a classroom quizzing application on individual devices, the students and teacher can come up with the quiz questions on the spot. This digital quiz can be administrated wirelessly to all students and within seconds, the results can be shared with all participants to discuss. This greatly increases spontaneity, variability, and class involvement.       

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas and Corresponding Technology Aids

1. Storytelling

The teacher does not have to be the only star. The glory of the presentation can go to all participants who have a story to tell. The main concepts can be discussed and students should be given time to come up with a personal example. This exercise helps students relate to the subject matter and getting to listen to other students’ examples will drive home the concepts further. The need for the teacher to plan extensive examples and be the only one talking during the presentation is reduced. Teachers can also judge by the stories shared how much the students are understanding.

Storytelling with technology: Many digital whiteboards have Cast and Throw functions that will allow students to work on their own examples on their devices and send this to the whiteboard when sharing. This allows students to quickly go up and share their stories without sending files by email, wires, or USBs.

2. Non-linear presentation

Presentations that do not follow a strict order but organically flow from topic to topic based on the audience’s feedback are a great way to engage participants. Once prepared, the presenter can flow from one topic to the next by asking questions, polling, or receiving requests at the end of each key point. This allows the audience to ‘build’ their own presentation on what they want to hear not in a rigid manner as with traditional slide-based presentations.

Non-linear presentation with technology : There are non-linear presentation applications like  Prezi which helps presenters build presentations on easy-to-customize templates. They offer a zoomable canvas (not slides) to help people share knowledge, stories and inspire audiences to act. The canvas shows relationships between points and offers a recommended flow but not a set path to follow.

3. Polls, surveys, and quizzes

One of the most recognizable and used tools in the classroom to get a fast reaction from students are polls, surveys & quizzes. For polls, simple questions that have limited answers are used to gather a consensus. This could be in the form of a raise of hands, ballots, or having students form groups. Surveys would require printed paper sheets with multiple choices, scales, or short answers to gather opinions. Quizzes are used to quickly test a student’s knowledge on what was just covered, so the class can identify weak areas and crystalize main concepts.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes can be anonymous or not. Openly requiring students to share their ideas on results such as a debate or open discussion would increase the interactives of the activity. Students can also be tasked to create questions and grade their own surveys and quizzes for an added layer of participation within the presentation.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes with technology : Many classroom management software such as  Google Classroom has built-in tools to create polls, surveys, and quizzes along with assignments, communication, and other educational features. Once submitted, the collection and grading are instantaneous. The results can be shared easily with students both individually or as a group. 

Is there a student – of any age – who does not like a good game, contest, or competition? Adding a small game into a presentation breaks up the normal lecture format and gets the audience to think critically to help their team win. There are many versions and adaptions of basic educational games . Teachers can take games such as Pictionary, Jeopardy, Casino, and Bingo then adapt them to their needs. 

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Gamifying your interactive presentation : By integrating into the presentation links to applications like  ClassCraft  or  Kahoot a teacher can quickly launch an interactive digital game. These applications help teachers tailor their own games by adding their questions, facts, and materials for individuals, small teams, or the whole class to participate.

5. Discussions and groups breakout sessions

Having the class only listen to a lecture marks the end of any interactive presentation. Adding sections where students can have an open discussion or breakout sessions can help students learn from each other, share insights, and have an opportunity to ask questions to their peers. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to take a break from talking and help small groups or students individually as the rest of the class converse.

Taking the discussion online for interactive presentations : Live discussion applications like  NowComment  allow students to markup and discuss a text in real-time which is great for peer-review activities and gather student input into one place quickly. Alternatively, Yo Tech is great for teachers to create and moderate real-time chat rooms. Students can send text-like messages, reply to other messages, and share pictures and drawings. Online chat groups are a great way for large groups of students to collaborate and interact in one place while keeping the noise level down in a classroom.

Tips for Creating Interactive Presentations

Here are some tips when creating a presentation that has interactive components:

Add in places within your lecture notes or presentation slides reminders for you to engage the audience. This could be a small image or phrase. When using digital whiteboards or other display technology you could also use a sound, empty slide, or pop-up link to prompt you to start.

Time Limits

It is great to keep going a good game or discussion in the class where everyone is really engaged. However, keep the maximum amount of time you can dedicate to these activities in mind. Have a watch or a timer on hand and keep things moving. Give enough time for students to get engaged without overdoing it. Spread out chances for students to talk and share. When it is time to move on to the next topic prepare a transition to the next part of the presentation.

Think of ways to let all students have a chance to share. You can select students randomly or have them take turns in some kind of order. Remind students that this is a learning activity and not everyone will get it right the first time. The interactive activity should be open and inclusive. Students who are introverted may be given activities that can be done without going to the front of the class or public speaking.

Benefits of Having Interactive Components in Your Presentation

• Retention:  Actively having students engage with the concepts of the presentation in different ways and hearing it from different people (besides the teacher) helps with long-term retention.
• Personalization:  Students are given the choice of where the presentation is heading and participate in their own learning outcomes.
• Fun:  Having a break from the routine, getting a chance to move around, developing teams, and sharing are all much better than sitting silently and taking notes. 
• Feedback:  Adding interactive activities into a presentation gives you instant feedback about students’ comprehension.
• Vocalization: Having students actually vocalize their ideas helps them internalize the concepts.
• Summarization: Students review and summarize their own main points while doing the activities so there is less need for repetition.

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Build Your Own Version of Interactive Presentations for Your Next Lesson

Bringing in the interactive components and increasing the engagement of your presentations will both help you – a teacher – and your students. Make presentations both educational and entertaining with Edutainment! With or without technology, consider incorporating some new ideas into your next interactive presentation.

If you liked reading this article, you might also want to explore our complete guide to technology in the classroom or gain more insights on engaging lessons with ViewSonic’s education solutions.  

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