What are Audience Response Systems?

Audience response systems are hardware and software combinations that allow a presenter, facilitator or instructor to add interactivity to presentations, focus groups, classroom lectures and other group meetings.

The hardware component typically comes in the form of a wireless hand-held keypad with 7 – 10 buttons that are distributed to each member of the audience. A receiver, or “base station,” connects to the presenter’s computer and collects data from the keypad entries. The audience response software also resides on the presenter’s computer, and includes presentation capabilities as well as data collection and reporting functions.

How Do Audience Response Systems Work?

The facilitator advances through the presentation, which has been projected onto a large screen. Some audience response software packages work directly within PowerPoint, while others have their own presentation software integrated with the polling slides. The audience, which could range in number from 2 to 20,000, interacts with the presentation using the wireless keypads. Each presentation slide poses a question and offers several possible responses. When all participants have responded (or time runs out), the aggregate data is graphically displayed within the presentation for all to see.

Presenter can either track polling results to individual participants or allow all inputs to remain anonymous. Polling situations that involve voting or consensus-building typically favor anonymity. Classroom or training environments, however, often require the professor or instructor to capture responses in order to grade quizzes or take attendance electronically.

Because of its unique versatility, and its contribution to ROI, audience response is utilized across a broad spectrum of industries. AV production companies use audience response systems for large-scale meetings and conferences; corporate trainers use portable audience response systems for on-the-road employee training; universities and other educational institutions employ audience response technologies in both small classrooms and large lecture halls.

Audience Response Offers Many Unique Benefits Unattainable Through Traditional Presentation Techniques

These are just a few of the potential benefits:

• Improves attentiveness
• Increases retention of information
• Offers anonymous polling
• Provides tracking features to gather individual responses
• Tallies and displays data immediately
• Speeds up decision making
• Emphasizes participant ownership of group decisions
• Creates an interactive and fun learning environment
• Gathers data for reporting and analysis
• Confirms participant understanding of key points immediately

John Timmerman