Glossophobia (aka the fear of public speaking) is something that we will all have to deal with in our careers. This fear can stem from either social anxiety, fear of being judged or misjudged and worried about what others think of you for example. Young professionals in particular, are increasingly finding it difficult to speak in front of a crowd, conduct meetings, interviews, sales pitches or even training sessions. This can be attributed to the fact that millennials spent large portions of their childhood using technology. This has in turn fed the fear of speaking in front of real life people, as they are used to communicating via text, email or social media.

However, unbeknown to them, these millennials are sharing their opinions daily to vasts amounts of people via social media but veiled behind accounts created on the internet instead of in the presence of others. Public speaking is an essential and mostly unavoidable part of working life and the fear that comes along with this can restrict young professionals from progressing careerwise. Minimising those fears and honing your public speaking skills, may just be the missing ingredient to achieving your long-term goals and excelling at work.


Here are Mentimeter’s top tips to improve your public speaking skills:

# 1. Preparation is key

Yes you’ve heard that one before, but it is true failure to prepare means prepare to fail. For some, knowing the words off by heart can help, for others memorising your words can cause you to stumble if you forget something. However, practicing in front of the mirror or in front of family and friends, on the other hand will massively help you feel better and remember what you want to say. Writing out a list of key points or a cheat sheet that you can bring with you to help out if you trip up will be beneficial to overcome such hurdles. Unlike the cliché saying,  practice does not make perfect and you can rest assured that you are not expected to be. Try and improve your public speaking skills to deliver a better speech instead of adding extra pressure to make it perfect.

# 2. Organise your presentation accordingly 

The structure of your presentation is important to clearly deliver your message and to not confuse the audience. Making sure you have clear, concise points and that the presentation is clearly set out, with a beginning, middle and end will only positively assist you in conveying your message. 

# 3. Visual aids 

People don’t just like to sit and listen to someone speaking but they like to see and envision your ideas and thoughts. Visuals during a presentation can help to capture and maintain the audience's attention, whilst supporting and enhancing your speech. A word of caution, too many visuals can be distracting and take away from the main points, so finding the right balance is key.

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation' allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/6b6850f5cac3508e3b722aa2faab40ae/c6f5019abb26' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>

# 4. Change the way you see your audience 

Now this may be easier said than done, but by imagining you are not in front of your boss or more senior colleagues you'll straight away feel more relaxed. Remember that we are all humans and humans make mistakes. Coming to terms with that fact and knowing how to recover after stumbling, for example by using your notes will greatly help avoid clamming up.

# 5. Break the ice and relax 

The perfect way to get over those pre-presentation nerves is to try and break the ice with the audience with either a quiz or fun interactive question. Not only does this increase engagement, but it quickly gets the audience interested in the subject matter. 

Tip: this also makes the audience look at the screen instead of having all eyes on you in the first few minutes giving you a chance to find your feet, relax and deliver a successful presentation. 

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation' allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/c40df7a71f49f79b3ff51b5767c85d1c/46adac0e281f' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>


# 6. Pause 

Simple yet effective, the magic of knowing when and how to use a pause when presenting can give you so much power to control the flow and tempo of the presentation. Not only this, but it can help you to avoid using pointless filler words such as ‘like’, ‘you know’ and ‘um’ which in turn will make you look like a pro-presenter. It can also help the audience to absorb information and give both parties time to reflect and process what has been discussed.


# 7. Be flexible 

You don’t have to stick to a rigid script, instead be flexible and reactive to how the audience respond. For example, by discussing questions that arise when you on a particular slide.


# 8. Have fun! 

The most important part of any awesome presentation is that you try to have fun. That can seem impossible when your nerves take over, but letting your personality shine through will make it more interesting. By showing your passion and expertise, you can add your personal touch to the presentation instead of looking like you are reading from a monotonous script. Try and find your niche or your way of presenting and experiment with ways that can minimise your nerves. 

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation' allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/a39fd56057cfa304459d8371edaf46a8/d5f35cd355da' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>


# 9. Reflect 

Although you may want to completely forget what just happened, reflection and asking for feedback can help you improve your future presentations. This can help you boost how effectively you deliver your point of view, business ideas and ultimately progress your career.

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation' allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/01f964befe79ff96d3c0bc9d12fa3337/928ecad83323' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>


For the majority of you, the ambition isn’t to become a professional public speaker, but instead the main goal is to effectively express yourself so others can understand and connect with the message you are portraying. There isn’t a right or wrong way to present. Being clear and communicating authentically is the ultimate goal, and just think you’ve been doing that your whole life with family and friends. Remember some of the most mesmerizing speakers don’t follow traditional public speaking rules, yet they capture the audience's attention and inspire great things! 

Now you have our top tips, let’s see what great things we can create together. Use one of our [templates](https://mentimeter.com/templates) to get started or visit the [help centre ](https://help.mentimeter.com)for more information.


campaign-creators-gMsnXqILjp4-unsplash

9 tips to improve your public speaking

With Mentimeter, hosting a pub quiz is easy, fun and removes all the admin work that often comes with holding such an event. By using the Quiz Competition feature, you can build competitive live quizzes in minutes and your audience can participate using their smartphones. 

In this article we will show you how you can do just that!

# Create your pub quiz trivia questions

A pub quiz is only as good as its questions! The best pub quizzes are both challenging and fun; you want to make your participants have to think about the answers but you don’t want to make the questions so difficult that no one gets any right. 

Usually, a pub quiz includes several different rounds comprised of a number of different questions on a specific topic. The topics can range from anything: from history to TV to sport to music. So, before starting to create your quiz, you should create a list of the different rounds that you want to include. Try to include a variety of topics, so that all participants feel like they can contribute at some point during the quiz. A variety of different round topics will also make it easier for you to create a quiz that is as challenging as it is fun, because many people will have knowledge on a few topics, but not all of them.

Once you have decided on which rounds will be represented in the quiz, it's now time to start building your questions! In order to create your quiz with Mentimeter you need to log into your account, or create a free account. The Mentimeter free plan is perfect for short quizzes of up to five questions, but if you want to create a long pub quiz, we recommend upgrading your account to the basic or pro plan in order to access unlimited questions. Learn more about our pricing and plans here. Each round should consist of five to ten questions. Allow 30 minutes for each round in order to decide on how many rounds you will need in your quiz.

## Creating quiz questions 

Now that you have created a structure for your pub quiz and the rounds within it, it's time to start creating your quiz questions. As mentioned above, five to ten questions per round is a good amount. 

In Mentimeter you can start to build your quiz quickly. There are two question types in the Quiz Competition section. Decide on which one you want to use, add your question and type in or checkbox the correct answer. 

Pro tip: Be sure to fact check your questions and answers! This will avoid any confusion during your pub quiz!

## Leaderboard

One of the elements that make a Mentimeter pub quiz more fun than a traditional style pub quiz is the leaderboard feature. The leaderboard automatically calculates the points after each question, and displays the top ten teams in a colorful leaderboard. After the final question, the leaderboard will automatically display the winner! The leaderboard removes a lot of dead time between rounds in which usually the questions are being marked. The playful animations also give a feeling of suspense and excitement which will add a great atmosphere to your pub quiz! 

Where you show the leaderboard in your Quiz Competition, is totally up to you. By default, the leaderboard is shown after each question, however, you can change this. For a pub quiz, we recommend that you add a leaderboard slide at the end of each round in order to see who is in the lead!

Pro tip: Make your quiz more interesting by adding Quick Slides throughout the quiz to add anecdotal stories or more information about the answers. That way your audience can learn something new!

# Quiz setup 

Once the big day is here you should spend some time setting up everything in order to make sure that your pub quiz runs smoothly! 

What you’ll need:
- A computer with an internet connection where you can access your Mentimeter presentation
- A screen or projector so that you can display your Mentimeter Quiz Competition
- A wifi connection so that participants can connect their smartphones to the internet (if they don’t have access to 4G data, for example)
- If you don’t think that at least one person in each team will have a smartphone, then be sure to have a smart device such as a tablet that can be borrowed during the quiz. 
- A prize for the winners! 

# Run your quiz smoothly

The Mentimeter Quiz Competition feature is easy to use, and needs little explanation, but here are a few tips that you can share with your participants in order to make sure everything runs smoothly:

When you start your pub quiz, announce to everyone that they should connect to the presentation using the voting code; only one smartphone per team should be used. Alternatively you can display the QR code for quick access to the quiz presentation. 
As the Quiz Competition starts, each team will be assigned an avatar that will identify them in the leaderboard. Encourage your participants to think of a fun team name that they can enter when prompted. You could even have a prize for the most inventive team name!

With the information in hand, everyone should be ready to compete and have a lot of fun! 

# Announce the winner

Once the final question has been asked, it’s time to announce the winner. Announcing the winner is a really fun part of the quiz - especially if the scoring is tight! After the final question, the final leaderboard will automatically show the winning team with a fun animation! At this point your quiz is over and you can give a prize to the winner. You will also be able to see the top ten ranking teams in the leaderboard. 

# Benefits of using Mentimeter Quiz Competition

There are a number of benefits of using Mentimeter for your quiz, instead of a paper quiz, these include: 
- Time-based online quiz makes it harder for teams to cheat
- All points are worked out automatically in the tool, eliminating “dead time” between rounds
- No need to print anything out, in fact remove all written admin tasks, as everything can be done with Mentimeter.

# Templates, resources and more!

If you need some inspiration to get started, or would like some pre-made templates to add to your next quiz, why not explore some of these quiz resources:

[Quiz Competition templates](https://www.mentimeter.com/templates/competitions)

[55 free trivia and fun quiz question templates](https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/audience-energizers/55-free-trivia-and-fun-quiz-question-templates)

And that’s it! You are now ready to present your best ever Pub Quiz! Let us know how it goes by tweeting us @Mentimeter!


How to host a pub quiz with Mentimeter 


The ability to ask well-structured open-ended questions is important. Open-ended questions help us to draw out opinions and thoughts from individuals and groups. It’s a skill one can develop, especially for leaders seeking to create an open culture focusing on coaching and support.

![photo-1478147427282-58a87a120781](//images.ctfassets.net/rvt0uslu5yqp/6lqmcdisRUNms4bSsqtTZB/0ba702ffc04f5fc1c7cfd80393784cc6/photo-1478147427282-58a87a120781.jpeg)

# What is an open-ended question?
Open-ended questions start with “why?,” “how?,” and “what if?” Open-ended questions encourage a full answer, rather than a simple “yes” or “no.” Closed-ended questions can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions and closed-ended questions can be used together in order to create fuller answers from respondents.

# How to create open-ended questions 
Here are some tips for asking open-ended questions:

Be genuinely interested in your audience. A genuine curiosity will help you to create open-ended questions that are meaningful and will help you to reach your goal or get the information you need. When writing your questions, spend time thinking about what you would really like to know from your respondents.  

Generally, questions that start with ‘what’ are good, non-biased open-ended questions. For example “What did you think of today’s workshop?” or “What would you like to learn more about?” give the respondent the opportunity to answer without being influenced by the person asking the question. 

Questions that start with “how” are good for understanding the thought process of the respondent or how things were done over a period of time.

__Pro tip:__ While “why” questions are in fact open-ended, they can often trigger a defensive answer from the respondent. For example “Why did you do that?” sounds accusatory, whereas “What did you use as the basis of your decision?” does not. 

# Open-ended question example templates 
The open-ended question type in Mentimeter can be used in any number of ways. Here are a few examples of Mentimeter open-ended questions in action, that you can add directly to your Mentimeter account and use them at your next presentation. 

## Onboarding presentation

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/62ab1b2a7ab32d71b8077b5179622361/f7cc3be02eaf' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>

## Test knowledge

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/b36831aaab1113eb391a5e0742c77332/fe39cf143116' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>

## Formative Assessment

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/645a7e1fd7baab4be108c2189c7b709c/ab6e276e617d' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>



photo-1478147427282-58a87a120781

How to create open-ended questions

# Ask for planning input

A good way to make sure that everyone in your orgnaization feels included is to as for input in the planning. Use Mentimeter in Audience Pace to create a short survey that can be used to collect information before the event. Check out the example below for some inspiration:

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/71211f92bde5b4a1b1eff9897afbd6ca/04b4126a4332' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>

[Get this template](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/71211f92bde5b4a1b1eff9897afbd6ca/04b4126a4332)

# Make sure you cater to everyone’s needs

During the planning process it is important that you keep in mind attendee’s different needs. These needs could be anything from dietary to making sure that the event venue is accessible. To make sure that everyone’s needs are met, reach out to the attendees and ask them what their needs are. By doing this you will make sure that everyone feels included and it will also reduces any issues during the event itself. An end of year event is definitly more fun when everyone can participate!

# Send out information in time

An event is no fun if you don’t have the right information! Make sure that the event information is sent out to all invitees in good time so that they can make arrangements to attend. Ususally, the earlier you send out the invitations, the more people can attend. Try to add as much detail as possible in the invitation and include a contact person that people can reach out to if needed. You might also consider sending out some fun and interactive reminders to the attendees.

# Kick off your event with an icebreaker

Once the big day has come around and the event has started, why not create some energy in the room and get the event off to the right start! Use interactive icebreakers to engage with your audience and set the tone for the event. For some icebreaker inspiration, read these blog articles that have plenty of icebreaker examples that you can use with Mentimeter:

[20 ready-to-use icebreaker templates for every occasion](https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/audience-energizers/ready-to-use-icebreaker-templates-for-every-occasion)
[Start your event with an icebreaker](https://www.mentimeter.com/templates/event-christmas-icebreaker)

# Create a fun competition

A great way to add some interactivity to your event is by creating a fun competition for everyone to take part in. Here are two examples of how you can create fun competitions with Mentimeter.

Firstly, you can plan a team competition that encourages them to design, create or perform something, and then everyone else can vote on who the winner is, as shown in this example:

<div style='position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;'><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" allowfullscreen='true' allowtransparency='true' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/73c1c5f1015ecb332b1ee36bf1a29281/3d9a4f47ba00' style='position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;' width='420'></iframe></div>

[Get the template](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/73c1c5f1015ecb332b1ee36bf1a29281/3d9a4f47ba00)

The second type of fun competition can be created by creating a fun Mentimeter quiz. Here everyone at the event can participate using their smartphone, and the person with the best knowledge will win! If you would like to create a quiz for your end of year event, check out these [quiz-related resources](https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/audience-energizers).

# Want more inspiration?

If you’re planning your event and need some more inspiration and ideas, explore these resources for more inspiration!

Blog post: [Create a fun and memorable corporate event](https://www.mentimeter.com/campaigns/create-a-fun-corporate-event)
Video:[ 5 ideas for creating an awesome corporate event](https://vimeo.com/332640672/1fd6d09d7a)

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How to plan and host an inclusive and interactive end of year event at work

We all have, at some point, experienced a meeting that wasn’t quite productive as it should have been or even been at a meeting that felt like a total waste of time. No one wants to waste their working hours, so let's explore four different ways you can avoid pointless meetings and learn how to work smarter!

# 1. Decide if you actually need a meeting
Whilst this might sound silly at first, the reality is that we are prone to wasting time by having meetings when the task or issue could have been solved with a quick phone call or email. Time management coach [Elizabeth Grace Saunders](https://hbr.org/2015/03/do-you-really-need-to-hold-that-meeting) outlines four questions you can use in order to decide if you need a meeting:

1. __Have I thought this situation through?__ If the answer to this question is “no”, then instead of booking a meeting, you need to make a plan. Set aside some time to think through the situation strategically so that you yourself have a clearer idea of what to do next. If the answer is “yes”, move on to the next question.
2. __Do I need outside input to make progress?__ If you feel that you can get on with the work yourself, there is really no need to book a meeting, simply book a time in your calendar to do the work. If something is blocking you and you need outside input, move onto the next question. 
3. __Does moving forward require a real-time conversation?__ Now that you have established that you need some outside input, decide if you need to actually get this information in real-time. If not, simply send an email and wait for a response. If you do need a real-time conversation, move onto the next question.
4. __Does this necessitate a face-to-face meeting?__ Finally, decide if you need to have a face-to-face meeting. If you think that a message on your chat tool or a quick call will suffice, do that. If not, book that meeting!



![W150317 SAUNDERS SHOULDHOLDMEETING](//images.ctfassets.net/rvt0uslu5yqp/6XKFMfTwE8Gk04qQ8isS0o/625ab8ed5663e4b7d94b446b4cb5be53/W150317_SAUNDERS_SHOULDHOLDMEETING.png)


# 2. Use this matrix to know when to meet
Different meetings have different purposes. Some meetings are one-off, others are reccurring. Recurring meetings should be often enough to help you reach the purpose or goal you have, but should not be so irregular that you or your team gets sidetracked. The [Lucid Meetings Blog](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-often-should-you-meet-selecting-the-right-meeting-cadence-for-your-team) has created an excellent matrix which offers a guide on how often to meet. Use it to find the right meeting rhythm and avoid having too many meetings! 


![Screen Shot 2018-10-30 at 11.55.19](//images.ctfassets.net/rvt0uslu5yqp/5GflyxJJfOGIesSCuCy0g4/3602bb16f3a18ed204c13942f18cbf21/Screen_Shot_2018-10-30_at_11.55.19.png)

# 3. Only invite those who can add value
Sometimes it can be difficult to know exactly who to invite to a meeting, especially one where an important decision to make. Inviting too many people, or people who cannot help you reach your goal can cause ineffective meetings. There is, however, two simple questions you can ask yourself which should result in you only inviting those who need to be there:

1. Do I need input from this person in order to reach my goal?
2. Will this person add valuable insights and contributions to the meeting?

If the answer is yes to at least one of these questions, then invite them! 

# 4. Don’t be scared to decline meeting invites
When a meeting invite lands in your inbox, take a critical approach, rather than automatically deciding you can attend. If you do not think you have anything valuable you can add to the meeting, you should decline the meeting. If it is unclear if you need to be in the meeting or not, reach out the meeting organizer and ask for more information about the meeting. If you decide to decline the meeting, be polite and humble and explain your reason for declining the meeting. 

Ready to start having more productive meetings? Mentimeter is a great tool for that! [Learn more](https://www.mentimeter.com/login), or [get started](https://www.mentimeter.com/signup) and register for your free account. 


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4 ways to avoid pointless meetings

Planning a Town Hall meeting can be a daunting task. Such an event often has important guests and audience participation which can make for a stressful combination, but it doesn’t have to be! This article will show you how you can use Mentimeter in order to hold and moderate a successful and interactive Town Hall meeting. 

# What is a Town Hall meeting? 

Traditionally, Town hall meetings are held by politicians in order to share their political ideas and take questions from the audience. However, in most recent times, CEOs of large companies or other business figures have taken such meetings. Today, the concept of a Town Hall Meeting often refers to any question and answer-type event, held in front of a live audience.

# Town Halls with Mentimeter

As mentioned above it is possible to run a well organized and interactive Town Hall meeting with Mentimeter. Mentimeter is designed to be used in front of live audiences and makes sure that everyone’s voice is heard through interactive presentations. With Mentimeter, audience members can use their smartphones to actively participate in the session. Let’s explore some different ways in which you can do this.

# Introduction slides

As with any type of presentation, you might want to display some introductory slides. With Mentimeter you can do exactly that. 

Use [Quick Slides](http://help.mentimeter.com/creating-presentations-and-questions/other-types-of-questions-and-slides/interactive-slides-in-mentimeter) to create introduction slides without any fuss. Simply add an image of the speaker with their name, a short description or bullet points to create an introduction slide. That way your audience will be able to learn about the speakers. 

# Prioritize issues to talk about

At Town Hall meetings it is common that the speaker or speakers discuss, present or debate a range of different topics. One example could be political issues that the candidates of opposing parties discuss and debate. Quite often, there is simply not enough time to discuss everything on the agenda, so the issues need to be prioritized. 

Use Mentimeter to prioritize the issues at the start of the meetings. Do this by using the 100 point Question Type. Here you can add the issues or discussion points and your audience can rank which issues are the most important ones to focus on. This will give you and your speaker a clear picture of which topic are most important to the audience and you can focus the discussion around them, as demonstrated in the example below:

![Screen Shot 2018-10-23 at 14.17.27](//images.ctfassets.net/rvt0uslu5yqp/1jFldT6tOKYqI8usc0smaO/ac267161214dfdbabfc6b2d75ce4b5df/Screen_Shot_2018-10-23_at_14.17.27.png)

[Get the template](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/70a31332c9b4109241742ab3b8c94a08/a3da919fa5c5)

# Questions from the audience

Another very important aspect of a Town Hall meeting is to make sure that your audience gets a chance to ask questions. Q&A sessions can be a logistical nightmare. In a traditional Q&A session, the moderator or an assistant needs to try to select an audience member to ask a question, and then get a microphone to them to make sure they get heard. This not only takes a lot of time, but it can also be difficult to moderate. 

Mentimeter’s Questions for Audience feature enables audience members to submit their questions to the speaker using their smartphones. Learn more about this feature and avoid stressful Q&A sessions with this [helpful article](http://help.mentimeter.com/creating-presentations-and-questions/other-types-of-questions-and-slides/questions-from-audience). 

# Moderation

During Town Hall meetings the moderator has an important role. It is their job to make sure that participants have space to speak and the audience is able to ask questions. Moderating such events can be a demanding job. As the moderator, you need to be able to keep control, and this can be difficult. 

To keep control, use the Mentimote tool to moderate audience questions. This way you can filter out and remove any inappropriate content and select the most interesting questions for your guest to answer. Learn more in this [helpful article](http://help.mentimeter.com/presenting-with-mentimeter/mentimote-our-presentation-remote). 


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How to run Town Hall meetings with Mentimeter

Mentimeter helps to encourage and manage audience engagement in many ways, including how to receive and answer questions from the audience in an easy way. This feature is called Questions from Audience. 

So, if you’re looking for inspiration on how you can actively involve your audience during a Q&A session or similar, you’ve come to the right place.

This article will demonstrate some different scenarios in which you can use the Questions from Audience feature and how to use it at your next presentation!

# 1. Large audience Q&As

The Questions from audience feature can be a great way to manage Q&A sessions with large audiences. Managing questions from large audiences can be difficult. It requires that there is an assistant to pass a microphone for particularly large audiences, and can overall just be difficult for the presenter to manage. 

Instead, use Mentimeter to allow your audience to submit questions to you using their smart device that you can display and answer directly on stage. This means that you don't need to use any extra technology to hold a question and answer session, and everyone gets the oppourtunity to ask their question.

# 2. Support your students

Educators can effectively use the Questions from Audience feature to support their students. Often, it can be difficult for students to ask for help, or to have the confidence to ask a question in front of the class. Questions from Audience enables educators to engage with their students to help support them. Educators can see if students have any questions at the end of a lesson, they can also see if the same question has been asked several times. If that is the case, it’s a pretty good indicator that perhaps a certain topic or area needs to be revisited. 

# 3. Group discussions and training 

This feature can be used in smallers group discussions, particularly around sensitive topics where perhaps the audience may be nervous about asking questions. 

Facilitators can use the Questions from Audience function here in order to encourage participants to ask questions without feeling nervous. That way, facilitators can promote honest and open discussion within the group.

## 4. More efficient meetings 

If you want to make your meetings more efficient, use Question from Audience to minimize disruptions by allocating a specific Q&A session at the end of the meeting.

With Questions from Audience, meeting participants can access the presentation via menti.com and ask their questions to you via their smart devices. This will stop presentation interruptions and questions can be taken at an appropriate time. What’s more is that all the questions that have been asked can be saved, exported and followed up on later if needed, thus helping you to keep meetings concise and limited within the set time frame. 

# 5. Open space technology 

Open Space Technology (OST) is a versatile approach to purpose-driven leadership. It enables leaders to host meetings, conferences, corporate events in an audience driven way.

Question from audience can be used in this type of setting in order to collect ideas and questions from the group in order to build the agenda and achieve the meeting’s purpose. You can learn more about how to use Mentimeter to conduct an OST event by reading this in-depth blog post. 

# Learn more about Questions from Audience

Take a look at these resources to learn more about how Questions from Audience works:

[Questions from Audience: host the best Q&A sessisons ever!](https://www.mentimeter.com/campaigns/live-questions-and-answers)
[Learn how to use Questions from Audience](http://help.mentimeter.com/creating-presentations-and-questions/questions-from-audience)
[Questions from Audience: the audience perspective](http://help.mentimeter.com/how-to-vote/questions-from-audience-the-audience-perspective)

As always, the best way to experience these features is to create or log into your Mentimeter account and test out the feature!

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5 environments you can use Mentimeter’s Questions from Audience feature 

Whether you’re part of an HR department or a team leader there are a number of different things you can do to help a team bond and thus perform better. We have put together 6 different things that you can start doing today that will encourage team spirit. Continue reading for inspiration!  

# 1. Employ the right people

If creating an environment where team spirit is central, you should start with the employment process. When recruiting new team members, be mindful and ask questions that will focus on whether or not a candidate is a team player and will give the right energy to the team.
 
# 2. Eat lunch together 

Taking everyday opportunities to spend time together as a team can encourage team spirit. One example of this is to create an environment where team members can eat their lunch together either in a nice lunch room or at an organized team lunch. This can be a great way to raise team spirits. This is because colleagues will have the chance to have a break from work during the day and socialise with their team mates. This can help with the development of positive relationships between colleagues as they get to know each other better on a social level. 

# 3. Organize social events

On a similar note, any kind of social events can be a good boost for team spirit. Get your team together for a fun [Mentimeter quiz](https://www.mentimeter.com/quiz-presentations) or plan an out of office event like an escape room that will encourage your colleagues to work as a team in a non-work environment. 

# 4. Workshops can also be useful

Workshops that look at company core values and talk about team building can be a great way to encourage team spirit. Focus on creating an energetic workshop that will encourage team building and support. Check out our blogpost about [how to organize an energentic workshop!](https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/audience-energizers/how-to-keep-the-energy-levels-up-at-your-next-workshop)

# 5. Share praise and feedback 

Make praise and feedback sharing an integral part of daily routines. Use internal email or messaging tools to share praise for achievements and to recognize your colleagues in a public way. Also encourage team members to share feedback and praise with others. This will help to promote open communication in your team and strengthen bonds and understanding between each other. Test out this easy-to-implement template that will help your team to give effective praise:

[Is there someone you would like to thank this week?](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/579a46d3ffdae7b9927c03ec52d65696/bd698f33a193)

# 6. Be Inclusive 

An incredibly important way to encourage team spirit is to make sure that everyone in a workplace feels included. Being actively inclusive in the workplace can be as simple as making sure the language you use is inclusive to making sure that group activities are something that can be enjoyed by everyone. By making everyone feel included, this will encourage team spirit. You can use this Mentimeter template to monitor if people feel included:

[Do you feel included at work?](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/5c305e86a53d4f0b2237ace66169a5f7/5f1cee9e38b6)

Encouraging team spirit can have amazing long-term effects, including better employee retention and well-being. By taking these small steps you will be well on your way to creating a strong team with amazing team spirit. Good luck!



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6 ways you can encourage team spirit in the workplace 

# 1. Prepare a great presentation with amazing content

The key to having a great presentation and looking like a star on stage is great content. Without a great presentation, it’s going to be difficult to impress your audience and keep them engaged. When you start preparing your presentation, make sure that you research the area you are planning to talk about in great detail. Think about taking a unique approach to a topic or that your audience will really find interesting.

Whilst content is important, there are a number of other elements that are needed in order to create a great presentation. If you are presenting something on a screen ensure that it is of high quality in terms of design, spelling, and grammar. You want to look like a pro, not an amateur. 

# 2. Include your audience in your presentation

For your conference presentation to make an impact make sure that your audience is engaged from the start. You can help improve engagement by actively including your audience. Do this with interactive presentations, for example. Add some fun quiz questions or ask your audience their opinion on something. You can also include your audience by asking them to raise their hands on a question or topic or clap or cheer at certain times. Whatever you do, make sure that involving your audience is light-hearted and fun where appropriate. [Test out these icebreaker templates](https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/audience-energizers/ready-to-use-icebreaker-templates-for-every-occasion) to get your audience energized!

# 3. Don’t rely on your slides too much

No one enjoys sitting in an audience when the presenter reads off their slides. It makes you look ill-prepared and definitely not a star! Here’s a two-pronged approach you can take to avoid this. First, don’t cram information onto your slides, instead, add information sparingly and use images to enhance what you are talking about. This will remove the temptation of reading from your slides and also create a better experience for those listening. Secondly, spend time practicing your presentation. The more comfortable you feel with the content, the less likely you will need to read from the slides. Of course, you can have some presentation notes on hand to help you out with any tricky parts or if you get stuck.


# 4. Add some humor

Where appropriate, your presentation should be entertaining. Don’t be afraid to add some light humor to help your audience relax and to break the ice a little bit. Avoid making jokes about sensitive topical issues or something that is likely to cause offense. 

# 5. Practice, practice, practice

We mentioned earlier that practice is essential to make sure that you look like a star on stage. It’s so important that we will mention it again! Practicing in front of a mirror or with some colleagues will help you assess your performance. 

# 6. Record yourself for a 360 review

It’s great if you can get others to give you feedback on your presentation before the event, but it can also be really useful to record yourself. If you record yourself and watch back, you can assess the body language you are using, address your speaking pace and presentation performance in general. After watching how you perform, you should create some specific things you want to remember to do or improve on before the big event! An extra pro tip is to record your live performance and watch it back afterward to see how you performed.

You can also use Mentimeter to gather feedback from the audience at the end of your presentation. [Try out this Mentimeter template](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/8522a2d751fc5ed3c2bc8b34306a0ea6/a14687a01cac) that you can use at the end of your presentation to collect feedback that will help you to improve in the future. 

# 7. Practice again (on the stage)

Again, practice is important. If possible, you should practice your presentation on the stage that you will be speaking on. This help calms any nerves, as you will be more familiar with the environment, and it will also give you a chance to see how you can use movement on the stage to engage your audience. 

# 8. Triple check the technical equipment

If you are using any technical equipment during your presentation, check to see if and how it works before you present. Some things to check could include the internet connection, microphones, projectors or screens, the computer you are using to run your presentation on and any clickers or remotes you need. When you’re live on stage you need to focus on your audience and the content of your presentation, not worry about technical equipment.  

# 9. Have a backup plan

Sometimes things can go wrong. For example, there may be an unexpected technical problem on the day which means you can't display your presentation on the screen, or maybe you find that your audience isn’t engaging with your content. Think about the things that could go wrong and prepare a backup plan. As the saying goes: “prepare for the worst and hope for the best”. 

# 10. Enjoy yourself!

Last, but not least - enjoy yourself! Presenting on stage is a unique experience where you can connect to larges audiences. When you are onstage - be in the moment, smile and have fun! You will be a total star! Good luck!


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10 things you can do to be a star on stage at your next conference 


# Align your goals

The most fundamental step to build a high-performing team is to get every member in sync with the same goals in mind. Hold discussions to establish what is achievable, versus what is considered overly ambitious. Such discussions are always powerful because they inspire the team to put in their 110%. It is good to ensure that everyone holds the same vision, and therefore expects one another to be on the same level of commitment. What better way to motivate everyone to believe that they are going to achieve something great and have a positive impact!

# Get organized

Even with goals and objectives laid out, it is not sufficient to ensure that they will be achieved without a proper system in place. How you manage the workflow determines how well the team moves forward. Define action points of things that need to be done, such as fixing a bug, reaching out to a sales lead, or learning a new tool. However, creating a list of action points is only the first step in  getting your team organized. To create accountability, use tools to manage those tasks, assign responsibilities, create checklists, and have daily team check-in sessions to share any progress that has been made. Once that is done, set deadlines for completing tasks. This will keep the team on track and keep projects moving forward. Always bear in mind that all of you are running this race together, so be there to support one another.

# Ensure team satisfaction

After a team has put in a lot of hard work into a project, it's time to let loose and have fun! This can also be a great opportunity to reflect on the project and take a look at what you achieved and if anything could be improved in the future. When every member feels appreciated or acknowledged for the team’s achievement a team’s energy can be increased. Nonetheless, there is always a reason to celebrate - sealing a deal, hitting a new target, hiring a new employee or even shifting to a new office. When your team finds enjoyment in many aspects of being together, this greatly enhances team pride and spurs one another to work closer and better.

I hope the above suggestions help you get closer to reaching your goals and building a high-performing team, so that you can achieve many great things!  Once your team gets it right, all of you will be ready to conquer all future challenges. 

With Mentimeter, you can quickly gather feedback from one another. All you need to do is to ask your question and you will receive the responses all at the same time. The best part? They will be presented live on the screen (while staying anonymous), so all of you can get an understanding of what everyone is thinking right away.

Here are some ways (and ready-to-use templates) you can use Mentimeter to achieve qualities of an awesome team!

[Is it clear what we are going to achieve by the end of the year?](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/9d9fb0bc65218713e510524f4d9322b1/349219e1fe65)

This question can be posed every quarter to nudge every member to not lose sight of the main goal. It is also a chance to check the understanding of every member if there is a strategy shift.

[How do I rate my achievement vs the recognition I get?](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/a885ef78dbf0aac44250cf323a645463/1652c828e6b1)

The feedback gathered from this question will greatly help you manage and understand your team, and make adjustments if needed to ensure that everyone is happy with their contribution.

[How should we celebrate when we reach our goal?](https://www.mentimeter.com/s/226659c112306ad3e986c1f6a55d078f/2d6354371410)

Hype up your team to face any upcoming challenges and get them excited to give in their best for the ultimate reward!

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Climbing mountain

How to build a high-performing team

# Understand what leadership is

Before you can take on the challenge of being a leader, you need to understand what your new role entails. This doesn’t only mean knowing what goals or tasks you have to fulfill; you also need to understand what being a leader means for you and your team. Leadership isn’t about delegating tasks from a fancy office or micro-managing individuals. In fact, there is no single interpretation of leadership.  The [definition of leadership](https://www.thebalance.com/leadership-definition-2948275) has changed throughout the years as organizations and society have changed. Therefore, in order to excel at your first leadership job, you need to make sure you understand what your new role requires from you. Take inspiration from great modern leaders. There are some [fascinating Ted talks](https://www.ted.com/topics/leadership) that go into what being a leader means.

# Equip yourself with the right tools

You can’t expect yourself to be an expert from day one, leadership is a role that you will grow into over time. In order to grow into your new role, equip yourself with the tools you need to be a successful leader. These tools might be [books written by or recommended by other leaders](http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-top-25-leadership-and-success-books-2016-2?r=US&IR=T&IR=T), [podcasts](https://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/12-podcasts-that-will-make-you-into-better-leaders.html), courses and other resources that can help you learn more about your new role.

# It isn’t just about you anymore
 
One of the core differences about taking on a leadership role is that your working day doesn’t focus around you anymore. Previously, you may have only been responsible for making sure you got your tasks done. However, now you are responsible for several people, and their goals too. In order to succeed in your new role, you need to work out how to [balance your time](https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/299296) between completing your own tasks as well as leading your team. There are many different ways you can do this without having to work all day and night. It is all about managing your time and being as effective as you can. Remember, that in order for you to be successful in your first leadership role, your whole team needs to succeed!

# Stop doubting yourself

It’s common to feel like you’ve been thrown in the deep end. But now is [not the time for self-doubt](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/06/29/questioning-your-leadership-ability-heres-how-to-cast-away-the-doubt/#433d6c4b645a). You have worked hard to get this position, so trust yourself. Understand that you will make mistakes, but taking the approach of failing fast will help you to learn quickly. If you feel like you have no idea what you are doing, fake your confidence until you feel it for real; your team is counting on you.

# Don’t be afraid to ask for help

This one is really important. You shouldn’t be afraid to [ask for help](https://www.fastcompany.com/3047784/how-leaders-can-ask-for-help-and-keep-their-teams-confiden) when you’re in your new role. In fact, you should definitely ask for help and advice when you need it. Make sure you have regular catch-ups with your boss so that you can ask any questions or get feedback. Consider finding a mentor, someone who has experience in leadership that can help you in your leadership journey. 

# Engage your team from the get-go

Set the right tone as leader of your team by encouraging engagement from the start. By encouraging engagemnt in your team, they will understand that you are working together to reach the same goals. There are many ways to do this; from self-reflection to collaboration. 

# Be excited, this is just the start 

Your first leadership job is the start of an amazing adventure, so be excited! During the course of your leadership career, you will have the opportunity to learn a lot about how to lead teams to success, how to be a successful leader and a lot more about yourself. Good luck! 

# What is your opinion on leadership?

We would love to hear what you think the most important skill for a leader is. Click the link below to vote with your smartphone! We are looking forward to hearing what you think.

[Which skill do you think is most important for leaders?](https://www.menti.com/b15af5)


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How to excel at your first leadership job

We are often faced with this question when making important decisions when we graduate from school or university or are looking to change jobs or career. It can be difficult to see our own skills as skills. Perhaps we don’t see them as skills but rather just things we do. Therefore, it is worth spending some time to make a self-assessment to find out what you are good at. Try one or several of the suggestions below to learn more about yourself and find out what you are good at.

# 1. Take a personality test 

[Personality tests](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-really-good-reasons-to-take-a-personality-test_us_55d21e55e4b055a6dab0f34a) can be a great way of getting a deeper insight of yourself. There are many different types of personality test with [Myers-Briggs](http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1) being one of the most popular. When taking a personality test you will be asked questions about different areas of your life, and you should aim to answer honestly as possible; there are no right or wrong answers. Taking a personality test has a lot of different benefits. You will understand yourself better and perhaps even discover what you are good at. You will also be able to see what types of career or studies might suit you best. 

# 2. Ask for feedback 

Often the people who you work with or spend a lot of time with have a more balanced view of yourself than you do. When [asking for feedback](https://hbr.org/2014/12/how-to-ask-for-feedback-that-will-actually-help-you), you should be as specific as possible, don’t just ask: “Do you have any feedback for me”. Ask your manager or colleagues what they think your strengths and weaknesses are. Ask them to be honest, to get a clearer picture of what others think that you are good at and listen without judgment. Write down their thoughts so that you can compare feedback from others and explore it further in your own time.

# 3. Assess what you love

Write a list of the things that you love, and analyze the list to see if you can identify any patterns. This may hint at what you are good at, or at least (and perhaps more importantly) what you enjoy doing. 

# 4. Try a lot of new things

An important part of discovering what you are good at is trying a lot of new things. By trying new things and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, you may uncover your hidden talents. Commit to trying something new on a regular basis. You could write a list of different things you would like to try and assign them to different dates in your calendar. This will give you a good plan going forward. Don’t forget to reflect on each new thing you tried and evaluate whether you were good at it. Remember: many things take practice before you are good at it, so don’t be disappointed if you're not a pro on your first try!

# 5. Get a mentor

Finding someone who is older and wiser than you can really help you to discuss what you might be good at. They will be able to give you guidance and help you tackle some tough challenges you may face, as they might have been through similar challenges themselves. They will be able to use their experiences to guide you, plus, it’s always great to have someone to talk to about these things.

# 6. Reflect on your previous accomplishments

Take some time to reflect back on what you have already achieved; it is difficult to learn without reflection. Write down things that you consider to be great achievements. If you can see a pattern or repetition in your achievements, you might be able to identify what you are good at. 

By understanding what you are good at you can understand yourself more. This can be incredibly beneficial for your personal and career development and help you to make better decisions.  

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6 things to try to find out what you are good at

Making advancement in today’s workplace is tough. Some claimed that it is impossible to compete against several years of experience, some felt that the burden of everyday work is enough to keep one occupied, much less to do anything else special or extraordinary to up your reputation. But, deep inside, you want to be the one who stands out, the one who is known. The truth is, using an approach of self-promotion does not work as much as doing something for the betterment of the company.

Here are some simple ways I have thought of to help yourself get more noticed in your workplace, basing from some of my own experiences and observations.

# Be the one who inspires others
You may ask, “How can I be inspiring?” Being inspiring may sound like an inborn characteristic, but it is actually achievable if you try! To start off in your company, you can initiate learning opportunities such as sending out useful articles that you encounter, and adding on your own reflection about how things from the article can be applied to the company. 

If time permits, you can consider organizing mini workshops that can improve the skills of colleagues, such as ‘customer relations best practices’ in the sales team, or ‘UX hacks’ in the design team. To make lunch time a little more interesting, our Mentimeter team has arranged to watch a TED talk video on World’s Usability Day!

# Be the one who creates fun
You don’t necessarily need to be the party dude. Doing fun stuff together makes the workplace enjoyable, and you will be appreciated for lifting everyone’s spirits! Build rapport with team-building activities. You can organize something fun to conclude a hectic week, or celebrate an achievement. Go for escape rooms, have themed lunches (Mentimeter had our own Harry Potter themed lunch on Halloween!) or play your company’s favourite sport. Know about the latest tech meetup in the city? Invite your colleagues to go together.

# Be the one who revolutionizes the ways of working
To allow a company to progress, certain things need to be changed. Stand out by recommending something ‘revolutionary’. It could be a new method, a new system of doing things, or a cool tool to wow your colleagues. Often, the tools you use to manage your company highly influence the company’s values, such as transparency, efficiency and openness. Could there be something that can help everyone work more efficiently, or get the team to be more organized? If you want something to help your company align goals more easily, or create a more open environment for sharing, I would definitely recommend you to use Mentimeter! 

# Be the one who helps others
The little help you provide to your colleagues especially when it reduces their stress is definitely going to be much appreciated. Do you see anyone getting stuck in the work? Do you think you might know the answer to the problem? If yes, that is your chance to show yourself! When your company recognizes your genuine desire to help others succeed, you build a strong working relationship. If you are the one who are more experienced in the job, you possess more capability to guide the rest, and your efforts will not go unnoticed. 

Are you feeling motivated to make a difference in your workplace now? I hope the above suggestions are easy enough for you to achieve! It is always easy to remember that one who fills others’ cups with daily dose of inspiration, the one who adds positivity and fun to the working environment, the one who influences the team to pick up a useful tool and process, and the one who you can rely on for help. Pick one that you are good at becoming and your colleagues will never see you the same way again!



Stand out - Get ahead