Word cloud explained

What is a word cloud? 

A word cloud is a visual representation (image) of word data. In other words, it is a collection, or cluster, of words depicted in different sizes. The bigger and bolder the word appears, the more often it’s mentioned within a given text and the more important it is. 

Reasons to use word cloud polls 

Word cloud visualization is very popular among presenters & teachers alike. The fun and interactive way of displaying it makes it a popular choice as an ice breaker or start to a meeting. It also gives a quick insight into what the most popular or pressing issues are.  

 Word cloud is used to: 

• Get insight into the most popular concepts or to reveal sentiment. 
• It provides instant analysis & visualization of word data and feedback. 
• It engages & sparks excitement among participants. 
• It can be used as a quick summary slide or take away after a lesson or meeting, aiding in meeting & class retention. 
• Start friendly debates.
• Get some demographic from your participants by asking questions such as where they are from, what company do they represent, where do they currently study, etc.  

 When using word cloud remember: 

1. Participants can send in multiple responses. 
2. Each word is sent individually. 
3. The size of each word reflects its frequency in the word cloud image. 
4. Words will automatically be sent in when you use the space bar. 
5. If the profanity filter is selected in your session settings, it will automatically be applied to your word cloud polls. 
   Note: Word cloud will not appear on participant device screens. The word cloud is generated in the present view for the audience to see on the big screen (live events) or on their computer screens (online meetings & classes).

 Tips for selecting word cloud topics: 

• Keep questions simple. 
• Narrow down your topic. Remember you ultimately want one word responses. 
• Give clear instructions to your participants. Start your sentence: “In one word, describe..”  
• Make sure the question is relevant to every participant. For example, ask a general question like ‘Where would you like to go on your next holiday?’.   
• Use it as crowdsourcing for ideas & suggestions i.e ask ‘What should we name our new Bot?’ 
• Give participants enough time to answer the poll. Participants need to be more creative and have time to text when submitting responses.  
• Best results will be when word frequency comes into play.  
• Test your word cloud question on someone else before you use it in a live environment.  
• When your question has multiple word answers, it is best to use other polling types.  
• You can manually filter words from the word cloud in your dashboard. Read the article on how to remove a word in word cloud.  

How do participants input their word cloud responses? 

 The polling question will appear at the top of the participant device screen.  

 Participants are automatically reminded that they can send multiple responses, but that each word is sent individually.  

 Ideally, each word response should be independent – rather use ‘USA‘ than typing in United States of America. Alternatively, link two words with an underscore i.e. United_States or use a hyphen United-States.   

 When using the space bar or ‘Send’ button the word response will automatically be sent.  

There are 2 ways to display word clouds 

1. Seamless and automatic. 

 Run your word cloud question from the control bar in present view.

 Open your poll, remember to keep it open for a reasonable time, then close it and the word cloud will automatically appear on the present view screen as a static image.  

2. Want some more control?  

 Use the dashboard to open your poll. Give your participants adequate time to answer and send in their responses.  

 If you want to filter some of the responses simply click on the response. It will become greyed out and will be omitted from the word cloud.  

 From the dashboard, you can close the poll and then decide to either show the results in present view to the participants (select publish results) OR  

 Hide the results to download at a later stage.  If you choose not to show the results, then select the ‘Next’ option.  The participant screens will automatically revert back to the Q&A board.  

Impress your participants with dynamic image building  

Show dynamic image building on-screen as participants are busy submitting their word cloud responses. The word cloud grows and becomes bigger as more participants submit their responses, live for everyone to see.  

When you want to show the dynamic building of your word cloud follow these steps: 

 Go to present view. 

 Open the word cloud poll with the control bar at the bottom. 

 Press the ‘Show results’ button while the participants are busy submitting their responses.  

 The word cloud poll will update every few seconds as more participant responses are received.

When you close the poll, the last image will stay on screen until you move on to the next question. 

Want to see who contributed what words in a word cloud?

We always recommend using Vevox in an anonymous way to ensure honest feedback. But if you want to know who contributed what words, be sure to set your session settings to 'Profiles On' so your participants can be identified. But you will have to wait to view the data report at the end of the session.