Word cloud
A word cloud is a live visual where everyone in the room sends in one word, and the words more people choose appear larger.
It turns a question that would otherwise go round the table into something the whole group answers at once. Thirty people answer in fifteen seconds, and the shape of the answer is visible before anyone has spoken.
In Crowdzo the audience types their word on their own phone after joining with a six-digit PIN. No account, no app, no installation. The cloud builds on screen as the words arrive.
How a live word cloud works
01
Ask one question
Write a question that can be answered in a single word. "Describe last quarter in one word" works. "What should we improve?" does not - that one needs open text.
02
The audience answers
Participants join with the PIN or a QR code and type one word each. They can send more than one, so twenty people can easily produce fifty words.
03
The cloud builds live
Words that recur are counted together and grow. The result appears on the big screen, on participants' own phones, or both.
The limits that apply
- One word per answer, 50 characters maximum.
- Upper and lower case count as the same word, so "Budget" and "budget" are not split in two.
- A word grows in proportion to how many people sent it.
- Participants can send several words, one at a time.
- No account and no email address is needed to take part.
What to ask a word cloud
A word cloud is at its best when you want the shape of an opinion rather than a precise number. These are the questions that work.
Opening a meeting
Describe last week in one word. It takes fifteen seconds, it gets everyone to interact once before the real agenda starts, and it tells you what mood you are presenting into.
Retrospectives
One word for how the project went. The cloud shows whether the team agrees or is split - which a round-the-table discussion often hides behind politeness.
Training and teaching
What comes to mind when you hear this term? Asked before you teach something it shows what people already believe. Asked afterwards it shows what landed.
Conferences and keynotes
What is the biggest challenge in your work right now? A room of two hundred can answer in under a minute, and you get to speak to what actually came up.
Finding shared vocabulary
Which words do our customers use for this? Useful when a group needs common language before it can take a decision.
Word cloud, or another slide type?
Choose a word cloud when the answers are short, hard to predict, and you want to see what the group has in common. Choose a live poll when you already know the options and want the proportions. Choose open text when the answer needs a sentence rather than a word, and when you would rather read answers out one at a time than see them all at once.
Common questions about word clouds
Do participants need an app to join a word cloud?
No. They scan a QR code or enter a six-digit PIN at crowdzo.live in their phone browser. No account and no email address.
How many people can send words at the same time?
A word cloud is built for a full room answering at once. Each participant can send a new word up to five times a minute, which stops one person from flooding the screen.
Are similar words merged?
Identical words are counted together regardless of capitalisation. Different words stay apart, so "meeting" and "meetings" appear as two words.
Can I keep the result afterwards?
With Plus the answers are kept after the session and can be downloaded as CSV. On Free the cloud lives for the length of the session.
Does a word cloud need a projector?
No. Results appear on participants' own phones when you show them, so a word cloud works around a table, or in a video call where you share the big-screen page as a browser tab.
Try a word cloud in your next meeting
Free covers all six slide types, word clouds included, with no limit on how many people join.