The Challenge
Dra. Ana Laura Pérez Martínez is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering at UNAM, where she regularly organizes academic talks and discussions with students and colleagues. When planning a conversation on women in engineering and academic careers — with around 300 attendees expected — she wanted the audience to do more than just listen.
"I wanted the audience to actively participate rather than just listen," Ana Laura said. "AhaSlides seemed like an excellent way to make the session more dynamic and interactive."
The challenge was familiar to anyone who has run a large academic event: with a room that size, students often hold back. Asking a question in front of 300 people takes confidence not everyone has. She needed a way to lower that barrier — anonymous participation, live questions, and quick polls that let the audience engage comfortably without the pressure of speaking up.
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How She Solved It
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Ana Laura explored several audience interaction tools before landing on AhaSlides. What stood out was the combination of ease of use and range — polls, word clouds, and live Q&A in one platform, without a steep learning curve.
"AhaSlides stood out because it is very intuitive, visually engaging, and easy to implement in a live presentation," she explains.
For the conversatorio, she used:
- Live Q&A to collect anonymous questions from the audience in real time.
- Word clouds to surface audience perceptions of engineering and women in STEM.
- Quick polls to sustain engagement and gather opinions throughout the discussion.
The anonymous format was key. Students who would never raise their hand in a room of 300 people were suddenly part of the conversation — their questions and opinions visible on screen alongside everyone else's.
The Result
The event went well beyond expectations.
"The event went really well and we are very happy we were able to run such an interactive activity with the audience," Ana Laura shared afterward.
At the close of the session, she asked attendees to submit one word describing their experience with AhaSlides. The word cloud that appeared told the story clearly — the audience called it interactive, dynamic, entertaining, participative, innovative, didactic, and incredible.
There was also an unexpected highlight. The word "pozole" appeared repeatedly across submissions — a nod to an inside joke during the event, where one of the academics revealed her pet chicken shares a name with the traditional Mexican dish. The moment became one of the most memorable of the afternoon, and proof that when an audience is truly engaged, even the unexpected becomes part of the experience.
"Instead of a passive audience, people become active participants in the discussion," Ana Laura notes. "This is especially valuable when discussing topics such as career paths, women in STEM, and academic experiences — where hearing many voices enriches the conversation."
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A Few Words for Educators
For faculty members organizing academic events, Ana Laura points to ease of implementation as a key factor. AhaSlides required no technical setup burden, fit naturally into a live presentation, and worked for an audience that had never used the platform before.
She also sees broader potential beyond events. In her classes, she plans to use AhaSlides for interactive learning activities, quizzes, and feedback sessions — bringing the same participatory energy from the conversation into everyday teaching.
How the Faculty of Engineering at UNAM Uses AhaSlides
- Live anonymous Q&A to encourage participation in large academic audiences
- Word clouds to visualize audience perceptions in real time
- Quick polls to sustain engagement throughout panel discussions
- Interactive activities and quizzes for classroom learning
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