From politicians to companies and even educational institutions, virtually every industry still leverages polls and surveys to understand their audience. Surveys and polls don’t have to be dreadfully boring exercises — in fact, the key to high converting surveys is to make them fun and engaging.
With live audience polling technologies and data results analysis, we know what works and what doesn’t. So take it from us; here are some ideas for fun poll questions to keep your audience engaged. Some questions provide valuable intel about your audience directly, and others are random questions you can ask your audience to get to know them or simply keep them engaged.
But first, are a survey and a poll the same thing?
No. Although many people use the words interchangeably, surveys feature multiple questions covering a wide range of topics. A poll, on the other hand, features only one question with numerous choices.
A poll
Select your favorite cake.
- Black forest
- White forest
- Red velvet
- Teacake
- Sponge cake
- Tiramisu
A survey
- How many members are in your family?
- What is your occupation?
- Are you/have you ever been married?
- What is your income bracket?
So, you can think of a survey as a set of poll questions. Another significant difference between live poll and live survey questions is that poll questions are mostly close-ended, while survey questions are open-ended or contain choices with a range.
For instance, a survey question like, “How old are you?” would entail age ranges for each multiple choice answer. Also, poll questions give you a maximum of seven multiple choices.
How to create great poll questions
Keep it simple
Ask direct and straightforward questions that will draw equally direct and honest answers. Respondents may not have a lot of time to answer your questions, so the easier you make them, the more productive the poll will be.
Do not ask your target group double-barreled questions like “should the company invest in equipment or the pension plan?”. Both are clearly important to the respondent, so you won’t get the best results.
Also, make sure the polling agent speaks the same language as the respondents. Many polls fail because of language barriers that can be avoided. Besides, an agent who doesn’t speak the same language may come across as patronizing, giving you poor polling results.
Related: How to Create a Live Poll in 25 Seconds
Find the right number of respondents
If you go for too few you won’t get accurate results for your poll and too many will overwhelm your poll. Choose a fitting sample group depending on what you’re asking. This may mean going to the places where you’ll find the right number of respondents.
For example, you can visit a school to poll teenagers and college students, hospitals for polls on bettering healthcare, and music studios to poll musicians. If you’re using a tool like MeetingPulse, scalable app services can actually handle large quantities of people.
Use the right channels
The channel you use will determine the results you get. For example, if you’re polling millennials, live polls using cellular phones is a great option.
Types of Poll Questions
Poll questions can be informative, but they can also be a lot of fun. Here are the main categories of poll questions that you can use for productive responses.
Dichotomous poll question
This is a popular poll question because it only needs a simple yes or no answer. Sometimes people add “maybe” to the choices but that’s not ideal if you want a straight answer. It is an excellent poll question when finding out customer sentiment to a new product or service.
Examples of fun dichotomous questions
1) Would you attend a holiday party for your department?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
2) Would you try a charcoal latte if it were on our menu?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
With the answers found in this type of question, a company or business can categorize customers accordingly and cater to their specific needs.
Opinion poll question using images
This is one of the simplest poll questions available. The respondent is presented with two or three choices of an item and asked which one they prefer.
Example of an opinion poll question with images
3) What is your favourite ice cream flavor?
Strawberry Butterscotch Vanilla sprinkles
Related: Image Polls – New Feature Showcase
NPS poll question
This type of poll question is great for gauging customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. The NPS (Net Promoter Score) is typically used by companies to find out whether their current customers are likely to share information about their products with their circle of influence.
Example of NPS poll question
4) Having completed the 12-week course, how likely are you to recommend it to others?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very unlikely Very likely
Multiple choice poll question
These are questions that provide multiple choices, but the choices also have options. The multiple choice answers provided give a range and respondents choose which one is closest to their experience.
Example of multiple choice poll question
5) How long have you been working at the company?
- Less than 12 months
- 12-24 months
- 24-36 months
- More than 36 months
- Never
6) How many interns would increase the productivity level of your department?
- 1-2
- 2-4
- More than 4
- None
7)
8) If you were stranded on an island, what would you want the most?
- A first aid kit, warm clothing and a raft, SOS signal
- A tool kit, warm clothing, food supply, SOS signal
- SOS signal, raft, a tool kit, food supply
- Warm clothing, a first aid kit, a tool kit and raft 
Likert scale poll question
The Likert scale poll question measures the respondent’s degree of agreement and disagreement. This type of poll question is classified as odd or even Likert scale questions. Even questions do not require a midpoint (neutrality) and have very specific goals. Odd questions accept neutral answers.
Examples of odd Lickert scale poll questions
9) The organization has invested in the physical well being of its employees.
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
10) The company has a tradition of protecting its executives.
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Somewhat agree
- Neutral
- Somewhat disagree
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
Examples of even Lickert scale poll questions
11) The product was well received on the market.
- Agree
- Strongly disagree
12) Our firm should provide more funding opportunities for outside training.
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
As you will notice, the Even Lickert scale question do not have the option of neutral.
Short Answer or Open-ended Poll Questions
These types of questions are also commonly referred to as Reddit-style questions. With open-ended questions, the respondent can provide any response they wish to. Like Reddit, the answers become visible to all respondents, and they can vote for the best answer allowing it to rise to the top as the most comprehensive response to the question.
Examples of Short Answer poll questions
13) What is your favorite part about your job?
14) What was your favorite class in the English Department?
15)What is the best product we offer, and why?
16) How do you think customers like our new iPhone app?
17) What restaurant should we choose to cater for the meeting next month?
Related: Introducing Q&A Autotranslation
Semantics differential scale poll question
This type of polar question is used to measure the performance of a product or service in comparison to its competitor. These questions use weak and strong polar adjectives and are framed in the easiest fashion. You will find such poll questions at the end of a phone call with service providers or once you purchase something online.
Example of Semantics differential scale poll question
18) How satisfied are you with this product?
Visual analogue scale questions also use a similar scale but are used mainly by healthcare specialists to monitor the pain in patients ranging from no pain to excruciating pain.
Rank Order Poll question
This type of question asks the respondent to rank a product or service, starting from their best to their worst.
Examples of rank order poll questions
19) Rank the software in order of efficiency
- Sisense
- Oracle BI
- Chartio
- Jaspersoft
- Geckoboard
- InsightSquared
20) Which social media option brings the most traffic?
Try making your own free poll at Meetingpulse.net!
21) Please rank the best music video creation tools of 2019
- Wistia
- VideoScribe
- Vimeo
- Vidyard
- Videoshop
Demographic poll question
These types of poll questions are prevalently used in political campaigns and election periods. They require the respondent to give private information that is used to determine their demographic. The information can vary from age and ethnicity to religious and sexual orientation.
Examples of Demographic poll questions
22) What is your career level?
- Entry level
- Mid level
- Senior level
- Top management
23) What is your age group?
Under 18 18 to 30 years 30 to 45 years 45 to 60 years Over 60 years
24) What is your occupation?
White-collar job Blue-collar job Self-employed Retired
25) What geographic area best describes the area in which you live?
Urban Suburban Rural
Related: Using Creative Live Polls to Break the Ice
funny poll questions
26) If age is based on your state of mind, then how old do you think you are?
- A child that is going through the terrible two
- Dramatic teenager
- Crazy mid-lifer
- Awesome grandparent
27) When passing by a reflective surface, I ..
- Check to see if anyone is stalking me
- Check myself out
- Contemplate the meaning of life
28) Which superpower would you like to have?
- Invisibility
- Mind reading
- Flying
- Teleportation
- I already have a superpower
29) Have you ever
- Peed in the swimming pool?
- Fart in front of your boss?
- Sharted in front of your crush
- stole shampoo and conditioner from hotels?
- Lied that you didn’t receive work emails when in fact, you did?
If you don’t think any of these are funny because they are too outrageous, then add one funny answer to a serious multiple-choice poll instead.30) Why did you decide to join this event today?
- Building my knowledge
- Networking
- Speaker line-up
- My boss made me
31) What do you hope to get out of this important meeting?
- Updates on the project
- Get a solution to a problem
- Understand how the other teams work
- Free food
If you find that the energy in the room is low, you can get people to stand up and switch seats. Basic physical movement helps to energize people.
32) If you have a time machine, what would you want to see?
- past
- future
33) If your city were a breed of dog, what breed would it be?
- German Shepherd — elegant and poised, but scary
- Jack Russell — adorable, robust, small, and opinionated
- Poodle — beautiful and flashy
- Tibetan Mastiff — rare and special
- Golden Retriever — warm, cuddly, and gets along with the kids
- Pitt Bull Terrier — may look vicious, but is known as the babysitter dog.
- Labradoodle — A fun hybrid that is perfect for a family with allergies
Conclusion
Good poll questions make the poll fun and effective at the same time, depending on your audience and sample group. Poll questions should be a well used tool in any business setting or institution for better management and service delivery.
Check out our services at MeetingPulse to find out how to get started.
