Encourage participation
Far too often meetings and classes been centered around notes on a whiteboard (or a chalkboard if you remember the good old days). We all recall suffering a slow and painful death by PowerPoint, sitting in a circle, staring at the floor too afraid to speak up when asked for suggestions. The goal of these sessions is to spark debate, trigger conversations and kindle ideas. People need to be engaged - not bored to sleep or daydreaming of life away from meetings and classes.
Messing around with new tools, new ways of brainstorming and experimenting with games and fun activities is the perfect way to both pique a group’s curiosity and retain their attention. Mentimeter’s interactivity is a great way to get everyone involved and present them with an engaging alternative to the standard ‘I speak then you speak’ model.
Word cloud slides, for example, are a great way to throw out ideas for debate while open ended questions are great to spark a creative back and forth discussion. Our interactive slides are designed to encourage everyone to participate, to share their ideas as a base from which to build a creative and collaborative dialogue.
What ideas do you have for this project?
Create a safe space for ideas
The jump from forming an idea in one's mind to voicing it aloud in front of a group of strangers, coworkers or even friends, can be intimidating. Evaluation apprehension is a very real phenomenon and it can cripple someone’s willingness to participate. Good leaders need to be able to recognize this and work to overcome it. Participants need to feel comfortable voicing their ideas for their creative process to work.
To circumvent this problem, Mentimeter’s anonymous voting can help everyone submit their ideas without this fear of judgement. Kill two birds with one stone at the very beginning of the session by using an ice breaker: you will familiarise everyone with the voting process and you can highlight that each and every idea and suggestion are welcome and anonymous.
People need to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and Mentimeter is designed to help participants do just that. Everyone can now contribute without the fear of being put on the spot in front of their peers. This can be the best way of gathering honest answers and to improve response rates and audience participation.
The benefits of collecting anonymous data
You want people to participate and to give their honest opinions. Letting people do so anonymously can help them feel more at ease and more likely to contribute. Click 'Read More' for more about collecting anonymous data.Overcome time constraints
Encouraging people to be creative may be challenging; asking them to do so at a specified time can be problematic. Our brains work in a completely unique way: some experience a creative burst early in the mornings while others need the clam of the evening to feel inspired. So how exactly can we overcome this time issue? Simple!
Let everyone contribute when it suits them best. Use the audience pace feature and send your Mentimeter presentation in advance of the class or meeting. Whether it’s a part of homework or sent with a meeting agenda, allowing everyone to contribute beforehand will let them mull things over and toss around ideas so you can jump straight into a productive discussion from the get go.
But don’t stop there! Follow up again in a few days or a week's time. See if people still stand by their ideas, if they have other points to add or if they wish to examine something further. Let them digest all this information and toss it all over in their minds. Your Mentimeter presentation isn’t just a tool designed to help spark creative thinking during your session, but also before and after. Learn more about using Mentimeter's Quick Form feature.
A tool built to foster creativity
Mentimeter presentations have been designed to engage audiences and encourage participation and interaction. Each of these is a vital element in a creative atmosphere. By asking people to be creative we are, in turn, asking them for their opinions and to work through their thought process. To do this we must listen to what they have to say and provide them with the opportunity to speak up. This is what the Mentimeter team wants to help you achieve.
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