Live polls collect structured feedback during a HeySummit session, so attendees can answer without leaving the talk page. Polls are part of the interactive features alongside Chat and Q&A, and can be used with embedded live streams and prerecorded videos when enabled for the event or talk.
Create a poll
Open Audience Tools from your event dashboard and choose Polls, then Create poll. You can also create a poll from the Polls tab in the session’s chat widget using the + button.
In the Poll tab, enter your question and choose the question type. Add answer options or rating settings as needed.
Set Response Time from 1 minute to 24 hours, and choose whether results are visible live or after the broadcast. Choose whether a response is mandatory and turn on Allow replay responses? if replay attendees should be able to answer.
Open Scheduling to choose the destination and automatic timing, then create the poll.
Schedule a poll or start it yourself
In Audience Tools, use Choose where this poll appears to select the session, stage or event lobby.
For a session, turn on Schedule automatically and choose a whole number of minutes after its scheduled start. Use 0 to open it at the start, and choose a time before the session ends.
Confirm the schedule when prompted. It runs automatically even when Audience Tools and your browser are closed. A scheduled poll's live response time is capped at the session time remaining when it opens; choosing 24 hours does not keep it open beyond the session.
Leave scheduling off to save a draft and use Start poll when you are ready. Lobby polls are started manually.
See Access Audience Tools from Your Event Dashboard for the full preparation workflow, including automatic chat messages.
Manage polls and repeating sessions
The Polls board groups items into Draft, Scheduled, Active and Finished. Use Close poll to stop live responses and View results to review a finished poll. Enabled replay responses continue until you disable them separately.
A scheduled poll runs again when its session auto-repeats. Each automatic run has separate responses, so previous results are retained.
Choose Cancel schedule from the poll’s action menu to stop future automatic runs, including repeats. It stays saved as a draft. Cancelling does not close a poll that has already opened.
A poll’s destination can change only before it opens, receives responses or has an automatic execution history. Create a new poll to use it in another session after that.
Automatic activation runs at minute intervals. Check any error shown on the board if a poll does not open; missed polls are not opened after their recovery window expires.
Collect responses during replays
Turn on Allow replay responses? when creating or editing a poll. It is off by default.
Only polls activated during the session occurrence being replayed qualify. A saved draft that never opened will not collect replay responses.
Each attendee has one hour from their first replay visit to answer eligible polls. Reloading, rejoining or seeking does not restart the window.
Each person can respond once across live and replay. An attendee who answered live cannot answer again during the replay.
Closing live voting does not stop enabled replay responses. To stop replay answers, open the poll's action menu, choose View poll details or View results, and turn off Allow replay responses? in Poll details and results. This setting can be changed after live voting.
Results combine live and replay responses. Hover over the combined response count to see the Live and Replay breakdown. Each repeating session occurrence keeps its own results.
Download poll results
For several sessions in one CSV, go to Content & Schedule > Reports > Chat & Polls, apply your session and date filters, then choose Export polls. See Review and export session chat and poll activity for totals, date-range behavior and export details.
For an individual session or stage date, go to Content & Schedule > Reports > Sessions or Stages. Open the relevant row's action menu, choose Export Poll Results, and select the export settings.
HeySummit emails you a download link when the CSV is ready.
Show or hide polls
For event defaults, go to Event Settings > Event Experience > Live & Replay Experience and use Hide Polls Tab?.
For one talk, open its Advanced Settings, choose Override event defaults, turn on Turn Interactive Features On? and adjust Hide Polls Tab?.
Public Access talks do not show live chat, Q&A or polls. Use the normal registered-attendee broadcast experience when attendees need to answer polls.