Use Poll Everywhere with PowerPoint for macOS
You can easily use Poll Everywhere on the web to present your activities to participants. Additionally, you can embed your activities into your PowerPoint presentation. This allows you to engage your audience, gather feedback, or present real-time results directly from PowerPoint without disrupting your presentation. You can integrate Poll Everywhere slides into PowerPoint by following these basic steps:
- Install the Poll Everywhere app.
- Sign in to the Poll Everywhere app.
- Insert your activities.
- Present your activities.
This guide will walk you through using activities with PowerPoint on macOS and some troubleshooting considerations. Before you begin, consider the following:
- This guide is intended for macOS users. For those using Windows devices commonly found in classrooms, please refer to: Use Poll Everywhere with PowerPoint for Windows.
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Avoid using the Poll Everywhere Add-in found within the Add-ins menu of PowerPoint, as it will not work.
Step 1: Install the Poll Everywhere app
First, Poll Everywhere needs to be installed on your device. Although activities are typically used on the website, presenting them in PowerPoint requires a separate app to run alongside your presentation. Ensure that the Poll Everywhere for MacOS app is installed on the presentation computer if it's different from the one you used to create the presentation.
Step 2: Sign in to the Poll Everywhere app.
After installing the Poll Everywhere app, the next step is to sign in with your presenter account on your device. This is necessary for PowerPoint to recognize the owners of the activities.
To sign in, find and open the Poll Everywhere app on your computer by going to the Applications folder on your Mac. If you are using macOS Sonoma or a newer version, select Allow to permit the app to run.
Choose the Launch log-in window prompt. When prompted, enter your UIW email, choose Next, and continue with Login with the University of the Incarnate Word.
If you receive an error when attempting to login, you may not have a Poll Everywhere presenter account. Request a Poll Everywhere account.
When prompted, choose Authorize to allow the Poll Everywhere app to run and finish the login process.
After logging in, the Poll Everywhere for MacOS app will open in a separate window from PowerPoint. While the app is running, you will see the Poll Everywhere icon in your dock and at the top of your screen in the menu bar.
Step 3: Insert your Activities
Now that you have installed the Poll Everywhere for PowerPoint app and signed in, you're ready to start adding activities to your presentation. To do this, make sure both PowerPoint and the Poll Everywhere app are open and:
- Open the app and select the Activities tab.
- Select or create the activities you want to insert.
- Select Insert Slides, twice if prompted.
- Select Allow if prompted, and find your slides in your PowerPoint presentation.
For an in-depth guide on inserting activities, visit Poll Everywhere's guide on inserting.
Step 4: Present your Activities
Our next and final step is to showcase our activities during the presentation. When you're ready, launch the presentation mode in PowerPoint. You can do this by selecting the Slide Show tab and choosing to Play from the Start or Current Slide.
For an in-depth guide on presenting activities, visit Poll Everywhere's guide on presenting.
The activity will remain locked and unavailable for response until you navigate to that slide during your presentation. Once you do, the live activity will be displayed, unlocked, and ready to receive responses. Once you navigate away from the slide, the activity will be closed to further responses.
You can check that your activity is working properly by hovering through the bottom area of the slide and finding the toolbar, which has the clear responses option. If the toolbar appears, you're good to go. If not, visit the FAQ section for troubleshooting.
Tips for Success
- You must log in to the Poll Everywhere app on each computer you plan to present from. If you teach or present in multiple spaces, it’s considered best practice to log into Poll Everywhere via PowerPoint before the presentation in that space.
- You cannot use embed code collected from pollev.com to record responses in PowerPoint.
- Poll Everywhere slides can be re-arranged in your presentation after insertion. This will not break activities.
- Users on macOS must keep the separate Poll Everywhere app open during their presentation for activities to function properly.
Video Guide
If prompted, sign in with your university credentials to view the video.
FAQ
The activity slide launches but doesn’t activate or allow responses.
You can tell your activity isn't working if you see the multi-colored squares in the corners of the slide and the prompt at the bottom of the slide, pictured below.
Common solutions to this issue are:
- Ensure you're logged into to Poll Everywhere app and that it's open and running during the presentation.
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Check the Force Monitor setting. If the default Auto option does not work, try each aspect ratio to see what works. This will vary on each display.
- Restart PowerPoint.
- Remove the current activity slide and use the Poll Everywhere app to reinsert the activity.
The activity launches, but spills off-screen
This is due to the display resolution of the screen.
The slide doesn’t display correctly or activate while I'm sharing in a Teams meeting.
If you’re using screen-sharing software, such as MS Teams, ensure you are sharing the entire screen instead of just the PowerPoint app from the "Windows" option in the share menu. Do not use the PowerPoint Live feature in Teams.
The Poll Everywhere activity works on a personal device, but not in a classroom/meeting room computer.
Remember, Poll Everywhere must be installed on the device you are presenting from, not just from the device that created the presentation. Contact the UIW Help Desk or a local Technical Support Specialist for assistance to check if Poll Everywhere is installed on the presentation computer. It's best practice to try your presentation in a space you plan to teach or present from.
I adjusted my display resolution, but the activity slide is still wonky and doesn’t display properly.
Update to the latest version of Poll Everywhere. Open the Poll Everywhere app, select Poll Everywhere (Upper left of screen), then select Check for updates.
My issue is still not resolved after troubleshooting
If you have a different issue with Poll Everywhere or you cannot resolve the problem, consider the following support options:
- If you need further detailed and quick support for Poll Everywhere
- If you have an issue using Poll Everywhere on a classroom computer
