Video and Interactive Demo
This video explains how to make a live quiz, including everything in this article. If you’re looking for a specific part, click the bottom-right button to watch it on YouTube, where each section is timestamped in the video description.How Does a Quiz Work?
In a quiz, participants in your presentation compete against each other to get the most points by submitting the most correct answers to your quiz questions. You progress through the quiz, pausing at each slide for players to answer the question on that slide. All players see a question at the same time on their personal devices and submit their answer from there before the time runs out. Here you can see the screens of the quiz host (on the left-hand computer) and the quiz player (on the right-hand phone).Step 1: Choosing a Quiz Slide
On the presentation editor, create a new slide and select any of the 5 ‘quiz’ slides as the format for that question (Spinner Wheel is not a scored quiz slide):- Pick Answer — A multiple-choice question with text or image answers.
- Short Answer — An open question with no answers to choose from. Players must type their answers.
- Match Pairs — A question with a set of prompts and a set of answers. Players must match the prompt to the right answer.
- Correct Order — A question with statements in random order. Players must put the statements in the correct order.
- Categorise — A question with categorized items. The player must classify the provided items into the corresponding groups.
The leaderboard slide does not update in real time. It fetches the latest results only when you refresh it or return/move to it from another slide, as it’s designed for live presentations.
Step 2: Editing a Quiz Slide
Now you can edit your slide. Here’s what a ‘Pick Answer’ slide looks like when it’s ready to edit:1
Write your question
In the right-hand column, write your question in the box labelled ‘Your question’.
2
Write your answer options or generate them
Write up to 8 answer options for your players to choose from. Mark at least one option as correct by checking the box next to it — or generate answers with AI to quickly create answer options for your questions. See Generating Questions and Answers Using AI.
3
Change the settings
Scroll down in the right-hand column to find the settings for your quiz question. Every per-slide setting — points, time limit, partial scoring, hints and audio — is covered in Quiz settings on AhaSlides.
Step 3: Joining a Quiz
When you’ve created your quiz slides, you can either invite your players to join your presentation, or join it yourself on your phone to test it out (recommended). To start, press the purple Present button in the top-right corner of the editor. This takes you into the quiz lobby, where players join your quiz before you start hosting it. In the lobby, your players can join your quiz using either the URL code or QR code in the left-hand column. When the host presents a quiz slide:- The host sees the lobby on their screen — all the players who have joined the quiz and are waiting to play.
- The player is asked to enter their name and choose an avatar for the quiz. Once chosen, they appear in the quiz lobby.
Step 4: Presenting a Quiz
When all your players have joined the quiz and are showing in the quiz lobby, press the blue button below that says Start the Quiz! Your first question shows on your screen and each player’s phone screen. Players have the time limit you specified in the settings to answer. Proceed through your quiz like this until the final winner is announced at the end!Where to Go Next
Quiz settings on AhaSlides
Every setting for a quiz — per-slide points, time limits, partial scoring, hints and audio, plus the general quiz settings and audience-paced quizzes.
Quiz troubleshooting and FAQs
Fixes and answers for the questions we get most often about running a quiz — timers, character limits, hiding results and slide layout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't my quiz asking players for their names?
Why isn't my quiz asking players for their names?
Usually for one of two reasons: (1) you may have chosen a Poll slide instead of a Pick Answer slide — these slides look similar, but only Pick Answer is a quiz slide and asks for names; or (2) you may be presenting a non-quiz slide. If players join while you’re presenting a heading, list, image, or other non-quiz slide, they won’t be asked for a name — once you move to the first quiz slide, they will be.
How can I clear player answers on my quiz?
How can I clear player answers on my quiz?
If you’ve just tested your quiz with a real device, want to reuse a quiz, or made a mistake and want to start over, you can clear any submitted answers without affecting the content of your quiz. You can clear all responses or just the responses from one question — see Resetting the Results.
How can I test my quiz?
How can I test my quiz?
The best way is Preview Mode, which lets you try your quiz from both the presenter screen and the player screen. You can also join it on your own phone or get friends to join and play along — if you do, remember to clear your own answers afterward.