Audience interaction is like the secret sauce in your favorite pizza — it’s what takes an event from “meh” to “wow”. It’s creating moments where the crowd doesn’t just sit back and watch, but they get to throw in their own ingredients.

Whether they’re answering polls, throwing out questions, or participating in a live quiz, it’s all about making everyone feel like they’re part of the show. That’s where audience interaction tools come in.

Top 10 Audience Interaction Tools in 2024

At a Glance

1. Surveys, Quizzes, and Polls – SurveySparrow

Not just your average survey tool—SurveySparrow turns surveys into engaging conversations. With sleek, mobile-first designs, it helps you capture the pulse of your audience. The platform also sports features like automated reports and integrations with popular tools, making it one of the most versatile audience interaction tools on our list.

Key features:

• Diverse Question Types: Choose from 20+ question types including drop down, smiley rating, picture choice and more.
• Omnichannel Distribution: Share forms as a text message, email, popup, social media, and even offline.
• Customizable Templates: Tailor 1,000+ templates for your specific needs.
• Branding: Add your logo, colors and font to every survey, poll or quiz.
• Integrations: Seamlessly integrate with CRM systems, marketing tools, and other software.
• Automated Reporting: Get quick insights with real-time analytics and automated report generation.
• Multi-language Support: Create polls and quizzes in 50+ languages to reach a global audience.

Pricing: Free. Paid plans start at $19/month.

“I love using Survey Sparrow because of its sleek features that really elevated straightforward forms, sign-up sheets, and event logistics. All of its features are streamlined to make your planning or contacting partners seamless.” – Verified User, Higher Education

2. Live Q&A and Chat – MeetingPulse

MeetingPulse spices up any meeting or conference by letting your audience ask questions, share feedback, and even express emotions in real-time. It’s like having a direct line to what your audience is thinking and feeling, helping speakers adapt on the spot. What else makes MeetingPulse a solid audience interaction tool?

Key features:

• Real-time Feedback: Instantly collect and display audience responses and questions.
• Moderation Features: Filter and prioritize questions for a streamlined experience.
• Customizable Interfaces: Customize of the interface to match event branding.
• Engagement Metrics: Get detailed analytics on participant engagement and interaction patterns.
• Audience Sentiment Analysis: Use sentiment analysis to gauge the mood and reactions of the audience.
• Mobile Optimization: Fully functional on mobile devices, enhancing accessibility for participants.

Pricing: MeetingPulse offers a free trial for testing out the platform. Plans start at $309 /month

“My company really likes to use MeetingPulse on our live stream broadcast platform. It gives our clients the opportunity to either talk amongst themselves, send out polls or ask questions to their audience for their virtual event.” – Amy, Client Manager

3. Audience Response Systems (ARS) – Crowd Mics by Biamp

Imagine turning every smartphone in the room into a personal mic. Crowd Mics does just that, allowing audience members to speak up during events without passing around a physical microphone. It’s a game-changer for large venues or interactive panels – that’s why it makes it to our list of top audience interaction tools.

Key features:

• Mobile Mic Functionality: Convert user smartphones into microphones.
• Text Commenting: Allow the audience to send text comments in real time.
• Polling Features: Support live polling to gauge audience opinion.
• Audio Controls: Use features like muting and volume control for better audio management.
• Integration with AV systems: Easily integrate with existing audio/visual setups at venues.
• Security Features: Ensure secure communication channels for all interactions.

“This is a wonderful and innovative means of getting an audience involved at any event. By giving them the power to speak directly into their phones through an app, opens up opportunities for more participation. The app is super easy to use, even if you’re not a techy person.” – Verified User, E-Learning

4. Social Media Integrations – Walls.io

Walls.io brings the buzz of social media right into your event space. It aggregates posts from multiple platforms using hashtags, displaying them live for everyone to see. It’s perfect for amplifying engagement and creating a vibrant, connected community feel.

Key features:

• Content Aggregation: Collect posts from various social platforms using specific hashtags.
• Customizable Display Options: Use various layouts and customization options for displaying content.
• Moderation Tools: Filter out inappropriate content.
• Embeddable Widgets: Embed on websites or event screens.
• Real-time Updates: Display new posts in real time.
• Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into social engagement and reach.

“Our senior management team were so impressed by how it was used at the conference that we decided to purchase a year licence to use the wall on our giant video display in our Central London HQ so that we can now showcase our social media content permanently on our looping playlist.” – Ste T., Law Practice

5. Interactive Whiteboards and Collaboration Tools – Miro

Miro is your digital canvas for everything from brainstorming sessions to complex project planning. Participants can co-create content in real-time, whether they’re in the same room or scattered across the globe, making it a powerhouse for collaboration.

Key features:

• Infinite Canvas: Ge an expansive digital canvas to accommodate all ideas and projects.
• Collaborative Toolset: Use tools for drawing, writing, and more, with multiple users able to edit simultaneously.
• Template Library: Get access to a wide range of pre-made templates for various use cases.
• Integration with Other Tools: Work with tools like Slack, Asana, and JIRA.
• Interactive Widgets: Enhance interaction with tools like Features like sticky notes, voting, and timers.
• High-Level Security: Ensure that all data shared and created is secure and protected.

“Miro Board is a platform that allows me to easily create an interactive teaching and learning session, hassle free. It is a big blank canvas that allows me to be creative from brainstorming, video viewing, slide sharing, group discussion and even pdf sharing for my class activity.” – Julie Hasan, Lecturer

6. Webinar and Video Conferencing – Zoom

The Big Mac of audience interaction tools, Zoom keeps the world connected. With features for webinars, large meetings, and more, it supports all kinds of audience interaction, from polls and hand raises to breakout rooms for smaller discussions.

Key features:

• HD Video and Audio: Benefit from high-quality video and audio conferencing.
• Breakout Rooms: Allow hosts to split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions.
• Screen Sharing and Whiteboarding: Enable sharing screens and interactive whiteboarding.
• Polling and Q&A: Use built-in tools to facilitate polls and Q&A sessions.
• Recording and Transcripts: Record sessions and generate transcripts.
• Advanced Webinar Features: Zoom Events supports large audiences with added features like event hubs, customizable registration and ticketing, and event analytics.

Pricing: Pricing for Zoom’s Events and Webinars package starts at $690.00 per year.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a small team meeting or a big webinar—Zoom can handle it all. You can use it on different devices too, which is handy. They’ve also worked on making it more secure, so your meetings stay private. “ – Danish K., Associate Software Engineer

7. Gamification – LoQuiz

Want to spark some friendly competition? Then LoQuiz is the platform for you. With rich gamification features like trivia, quizzes, outdoor adventures, and scavenger hunts,  it’s perfect for driving engagement.

Key features:

• Custom Game Creation: Design your own games using 50+ templates and tools.
• GPS-Enabled Activities: Integrate GPS technology to create location-based games that are ideal for outdoor events, team-building exercises, or exploring new areas.
• Real-Time Game Management: Enable team members to monitor games in real-time, manage participant interactions, and adjust settings or tasks to the pace and engagement level of participants.
• Team Collaboration: Support team-based games that encourage cooperation, communication, and strategic thinking.
• Extensive Question Library: Select from a rich library of question types, including multiple choice and open answer.
• Custom Branding Options: Brand your games to align with company or event branding.
• Analytics and Reporting: Get detailed insights and reports on game performance, participant engagement, and learning outcomes.

Pricing: Plans start at €9  per device per game.

“Loquiz is a software that I really like because it allows you to create fun and interactive games for various purposes. It is user friendly and easy to setup and use. I found the GPS-based games features very perfect for team building.” – Adesanmi O., Program Manager

Suggested Reading: 10 Best Virtual Team Building Activities for Remote Teams

8. AI-Driven Interaction – Sembly

Sembly uses AI to enhance meetings by automatically transcribing, summarizing, and analyzing discussions. It helps capture the insights from your interactions, ensuring no great idea or feedback gets lost in the noise.

Key features:

• Meeting Insights: Get AI-driven insights into meeting trends and participant engagement.
• Automated Transcription: Convert speech to text automatically in real time.
• Action Item Tracking: Automatically identify and track action items from discussions.
• Sentiment Analysis: Analyze the sentiment of meeting participants to gauge reaction and engagement.
• Integration with Calendar and Email: Seamlessly integrate with business systems for scheduling and follow-ups.
• Security and Compliance: Adhere to strict data security and privacy standards.

Pricing: Free. Paid plans start at $10 per month.

“Sembly is very easy to use. Once integrated with your calendar, Sembly will plan to join each meeting you have scheduled, plus you can add Sembly to an ad-hoc meeting via a link. Sembly also allows for importing of audio files from meetings (such as from Zoom downloads) in case a meeting is missing.” –  Ambyr L.

9. Content Sharing – Glisser

Glisser is an all-star when it comes to sharing presentations that dazzle. It allows you to embed interactive polls, surveys, and even social feeds directly into your slides. This ensures that your audience is not just watching but interacting with your content.

Key features:

• Interactive Presentations: Enable embedding of interactive elements such as polls and surveys directly into presentations.
• Live Slide Sharing: Participants can view and download slides in real time on their own devices.
• Audience Response System: Get immediate insights by collecting responses through mobile devices.
• Analytics and Reporting: Get detailed analytics on audience participation, understanding, and engagement metrics post-event.
• Question & Answer Management: Use a moderated Q&A interface where audiences can submit questions to be answered in real-time or post-session.
• Custom Branding: Fully customize your presentation interface to match the company or event brand.

Pricing: Contact their team.

“Glisser’s modern look and ability to customize the view made their product look like it fit naturally into deck. I used the live audience poll feature to present interesting questions to the attendees which drew them into the content and held their focus.” – Wayne H., Agile Coach

10. Trivia – CrowdPurr

CrowdPurr brings trivia night to any event with customizable trivia games. It’s a fantastic way to entertain and engage, ensuring your audience are active participants.

Key features:

• Real-time Trivia: Create live trivia games with real-time response capabilities.
• Customizable Questions & Answers: Fully customize trivia questions, answers, and themes.
• Leaderboards: Feature leaderboards that update instantly as participants answer questions
• Audience Participation Metrics: Get data on participation rates, question difficulty, and overall engagement.
• Mobile Optimization: Allow participants to join in from smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
• Interactive Polls and Surveys: Integrate polls and surveys into the trivia experience.

Pricing: Free. Paid plans $49.99 / month

“It is quite intuitive. Even people who say they “aren’t great with technology” can figure out how to play. Also, I love that there are so many questions/trivia themes ready to use so I don’t have to create new stuff all the time. “ – Leanne M., Manager of Volunteers

Wrapping Up

Imagine a concert where instead of just clapping and nodding, everyone’s making song requests, voting on the next tune, or even deciding the encore. Whether it’s through tweets, live polls, or fiery Q&As, audience interaction tools  are all about keeping them engaged, entertained, and part of your conversation.

The post The Top 10 Audience Interaction Tools You Need to Try appeared first on SurveySparrow.