Live presentation or survey: the ultimate guide to voting pace

Before creating a Mentimeter presentation it is important to assess your purpose and what you want to get from using Mentimeter. Whether you are going to host a live survey/feedback in the room (presenters pace) or send it to be answered post-session and to collect information (audience pace).

With Mentimeter, you have the unique option to switch between two different presenter modes, audience pace and presenter pace. However, you cannot change the voter pace if you use the quiz competition feature.

If you have Presenter Pace turned on, it allows the audience to only see the slide you are currently showing or to vote on the question you have on that slide. They will only be able to view the next slide when you choose to move to the next one in your presentation.

Presenter Pace gives the presenter the most control over their presentation. It enables them to choose when they are ready to move on and what they want the audience to see on their screens. Presenter’s pace is great to keep the audience’s attention on the same slide or topic they are discussing. For live presentations, presenter pace is recommended.

For your audience to be able to join your presentation, show the presentation full screen in Present Mode. Tip: press F on your keyboard for full-screen mode. Once presenting, a code will be shown at the top of the screen, this is the Voting Code. The participants then go to menti.com and enter the code in the search bar and click ‘submit’.

Tips: If you are using Mentimeter to ask questions or vote in presenter pace, be aware that if you move onto the next slide and not everyone is voted, they will not be able to.

Audience Pace is the second option you have with Mentimeter. This enables the audience to go through the presentation at their own pace and spend as much time as they like on a certain question or slide. This can help participants fully grasp the question and answer it to their best understanding without any time pressure. This option is great for remote surveys and offline uses of Mentimeter, such as feedback or post-training evaluations.

Remember: In order to host audience pace surveys (feedback or general surveys) and to send it via email you have to use the QR code or direct access link. The voting code should not be used for this option because it will expire after four hours.

If you are not doing a live presentation you must share the presentation via direct link or share the QR code. Both of these are unique to your presentation and do not expire, they will always stay the same. These options are great if you are sending out a survey or if you want to share the presentation beforehand so people can prepare.

To share using a Direct Link, go to your presentation dashboard where you can see a list of your presentations in your account.

Click on the three dots, then ‘share voting link’ to get your shareable link. Then copy the link and send it out to your participants!

You can also access the direct link from the Share tab.

To share using the QR code, enter the edit view of the presentation you want to share. Click ‘share', if you scroll down you can download the QR code and distribute to whoever you wish to access the presentation.

The other option is to share the code when you are actually presenting the presentation in full screen. When you are live presenting and you want participants to join you can click the settings cog in the bottom left-hand side of your screen. Then choose ‘more’, and another side menu will appear giving you the option to ‘share QR code for presentation’. The QR code will display on the screen and the audience can use their camera to access the presentation.

Pro tip: You can also use the shortcut key 'i' to show or hide the QR code.

How to change between Voting Pace settings?

When you are in the Edit View of your presentation press settings with the cogwheel icon, located at the top of your screen. Under navigation, you can choose Presentation Pace, either presenter pace or audience pace.

Inspiration for using Mentimeter not live in audience pace

If you are in audience pace, you can send participants surveys which they can fill in and complete in their own time. This is great if you want to do some research or get feedback when participants need some more time to think about their answers.

See how to use Mentimeter for a quick form or survey

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Inspiration for using Mentimeter live in audience pace

Using Mentimeter live, you have an endless amount of options and ideas to use the tool. In audience pace mode, participants can perform:

Feedback sessions - in the workplace you could use Mentimeter in audience pace for feedback sessions. Ask colleagues questions, feedback and reflections and they can answer at their own speed. The presenter can then go back and analyze the results after the presentation has finished.

Icebreakers - Ask the audience some icebreaker questions, to lighten the mood.

A pop quiz test - for teachers or professors that use Mentimeter, a great way to use audience pace in a live presentation is to test knowledge or use it for an exam. Students can go at their own pace answering questions and go back to previous slides and change answers if they need to.

Inspiration for using Mentimeter live in presenter pace

Using presenter pace whilst presenting live means you, as the presenter have the control and can give a more impressive presentation. This setting in presenter pace is recommended for all live presentations. This is perfect for situations such as:

Training sessions: If you are doing an informative presentation and you want your audience to stay on the same slide as you so you can explain the key points and so they pay attention.

Teaching lessons: Introducing new topics or just teaching, in general, you want your students to be focused on what you are talking about instead of being able to see what is coming up next.

Quiz competitions e.g. pub quiz, fun family parties, holiday quiz competitions. Check out some of our free ready-to-use quiz competition templates.