Open Ended: full-sentence responses

When a word or two won't cut it, Open Ended collects a full response from each person and lists them out individually, rather than clustering them like a word cloud.

Use this whenever the value of the answer is in its wording, not just its frequency. A retrospective asking "What's one thing we should change about how we run sprints?" needs the actual sentence, not a size-weighted keyword. So does a training session gathering "What's still unclear after today's session?" or a classroom collecting short reflections at the end of a lesson. Open Ended is slower to skim than a chart-based slide, so it works best with a smaller audience or when you plan to read a handful of responses aloud rather than process every single one live.

If you find yourself wanting a one-word or short-phrase answer instead — something that clusters naturally — Word Cloud will give you a much more scannable result for the same amount of setup. And if the goal is really a queue of things to address one at a time rather than a feed of opinions, Q&A's upvoting will surface the most important entries instead of showing everything in submission order.

1. Add the slide

   Select New Slide → Open Ended under Interaction.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The slide type picker with Open Ended highlighted under the Interaction group.

2. Ask for detail

   Fill in the Question field with a prompt that invites more than a single word — "What's one thing we should change?" works better than something answerable in one term.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The Open Ended editor with the Question field focused and a sample reflective prompt typed in.

3. Choose whether names show

   Toggle whether responses appear anonymously or attributed to the participant's name — anonymous tends to get more candid feedback for sensitive topics.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The anonymity setting for Open Ended, toggled between named and anonymous responses.

4. Decide when responses appear

   Reveal answers live as they arrive, or keep them hidden until you're ready to review the full list yourself before showing the room.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   The reveal-timing toggle for Open Ended results, set to hold responses until the presenter shows them.

5. Present and read the feed

   Responses list individually, in full, as they arrive — scroll through them live or come back to the list afterward.

   Coming Soon · Screenshot

   An Open Ended results feed with several full-sentence responses listed one after another, scrollable.

Frequently asked questions