Guess the Number: unscored estimation

Collect a numeric estimate from the whole room without turning it into a competition — there's no correct answer to score against here, just a spread of opinion.

Guess the Number is the slide to reach for when you want a quick read on how a group perceives a quantity — not when you already know the right number and want to reward accuracy. Think of moments like a training kickoff where you ask "How many support tickets do you think we closed last month?" before revealing the real figure, or an all-hands where you ask people to estimate how long a project will take. The value isn't in being right; it's in seeing how wide or narrow the group's collective sense of a number really is, which is often a more interesting conversation starter than the number itself.

It's easy to confuse this with Pick the Number, which looks almost identical to participants but works very differently behind the scenes: Pick the Number has one objectively correct value and hands out points for how close each guess lands. Guess the Number has no such answer key — it's purely descriptive, which makes it the safer choice whenever you're not certain of the number yourself, or when the exercise is about surfacing perception rather than testing knowledge.

1. Add the slide

   Select New Slide → Guess the Number under Interaction.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The slide type picker open under the Interaction group, with Guess the Number highlighted among the other estimation-style slide types.

2. Ask your question

   Type the prompt into the Question field. "How many hours a week does the team spend in meetings?" is a good example — specific enough to have a real answer, vague enough that people will disagree.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The editor panel for Guess the Number with the Question field focused and a sample question typed in.

3. Set a sensible range

   Use the minimum and maximum fields to bound what counts as a valid guess. Narrowing the range keeps stray taps from skewing the average, especially with a large audience.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The min/max range settings for a Guess the Number slide, shown with example bounds filled in.

4. Set a time limit if you want the round to close itself

   Turn on a countdown in Settings so the slide locks automatically once time runs out, rather than waiting for you to advance it manually.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The time-limit toggle and duration selector in the Guess the Number settings panel.

5. Present and compare

   Every guess plots on the results view alongside the group's average, so you can see the full spread — not just the midpoint — before moving on.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   A Guess the Number results view showing the spread of guesses along a number line, with the group average marked.

Frequently asked questions