PULTEVENT
Live Q&A app for events: 6 session formats and how to moderate each
A live Q&A app should make the moderator's job easier, not add a second job. With PULTEVENT, guests type their questions on their own phones, pick which speaker they want to ask, and hit send. You see each question arrive on the laptop with its author and its addressee, you approve the good ones, park the off-topic ones, and put the right question on the big screen at the right moment. Nobody waits for a roaming microphone, and nobody reads a question aloud that should never have been asked.
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The guest side is deliberately short. Scan the QR code, choose a speaker from the list, write the question, send. An animated confirmation tells them it arrived. Depending on your settings they add their name, stay anonymous, or choose for themselves. Other guests can support a question with a thumbs up, one per phone, so the popular ones rise to the top.
The moderator side is where the control is. Pre-moderation can be switched on or off. Questions can be approved, rejected, hidden after publishing, sent to the screen, or marked as passed to the speaker. You sort by newest, by most supported, by speaker, or by status. It all runs in the browser, on iOS and Android for guests and on any laptop for you, and it needs an internet connection at both ends.
6 event formats where a live Q&A app earns its keep
1 Keynote with questions collected throughout
Guests send questions while the keynote is running. By the final slide the moderator has a sorted list and can open with the most supported one instead of the first raised hand.
How to run it. Ask the host to mention the QR code at the start of the talk, not at the end. Questions come when people think of them.
Q&A starts the second the applause fades, without a slow first minute.
2 Panel discussion with routing
Five panellists and one queue. Every question names its addressee, and sorting by speaker shows who is being ignored and who is getting everything.
How to run it. Spread questions across the panel. The speaker filter makes that easy to do on the fly.
Every panellist gets airtime and the moderator looks well prepared.
3 Sensitive topic, anonymous questions
Restructuring, compliance, a product recall, a difficult quarter. People will ask what they really think only if their name is not attached.
How to run it. Announce clearly that questions are anonymous and that the moderator will not see names either.
You get the questions people discuss in the corridor, asked in the room instead.
4 Press or expert session with names
Where accountability matters, require a name. Journalists, analysts and experts are used to it, and the moderator can introduce the asker before reading the question.
How to run it. Ask guests to add their organisation to the name field. It helps the speaker frame the answer.
Named questions tend to be sharper and better formed.
5 All-day question wall
Leave Q&A open across a full day of talks. Questions for speakers who have already left can be marked as passed to the speaker and answered later by email or in a follow-up post.
How to run it. Assign someone to review the passed list at the end of the day and send it to each speaker.
Good questions are not lost just because a session ran out of time.
6 Lightning Q&A round
Five minutes, top five questions by support, one after another on the screen. The speaker answers each in under a minute.
How to run it. Warn the speaker in advance. Short answers are a skill, and most need a nudge.
A fast, energetic close that fits into a tight programme.
Questions routed to a speaker
Each question arrives tagged with the panellist or presenter it is meant for, so nothing gets lost on a crowded stage.
Three anonymity models
Anonymous only, name required, or the guest's choice. Pick the one that suits the audience and the topic.
Full moderation controls
Approve, reject, hide after publishing, push to screen, mark as passed. Pre-moderation on or off.
Upvotes that settle priorities
Guests support questions once per phone, and the moderator sees at a glance what the room wants.
How moderation works in practice
New questions land in the panel with a status. With pre-moderation on, they wait there until you act. Approve sends them to the approved list, which guests can see and support. Push to screen puts one question on the projector in large type with the speaker's name. If something slips through, hide takes it off both the screen and the feed.
Sorting changes during a session. Early on, sort by newest so you catch everything. Toward the end, sort by support to pick the strongest. On a panel, switch to by speaker every few minutes to see the balance.
Choosing the anonymity model
Anonymous only works for internal events where people fear consequences, or topics that are personal. Name required suits expert audiences, press and client events where accountability improves quality. Guest's choice is the sensible default for most conferences: people who want credit add their name, the others do not.
Whichever model you pick, say it out loud from the stage. Guests trust the system more when the rules are announced, and they write better questions when they know who will see them.
What to say from the stage
At the start: the QR code is on the screen, questions go to any speaker, and you can support other people's questions with a thumbs up. After twenty minutes: we have a dozen questions already, keep them coming. At Q&A time: the most supported question is for our second speaker, and it reads as follows.
That last line matters. Saying how the question was chosen tells the room the process is fair, even when their own question has not come up yet.
Common Q&A mistakes
Turning pre-moderation off to save effort. It feels friendlier until the first joke at a speaker's expense appears on a wall six metres wide. Keep it on for any public or senior audience.
One person moderating and hosting at once. Reading, approving and speaking on stage at the same time is too much. If you can, put a second person on the laptop.
Ignoring the passed list. Marking questions as passed to the speaker is a promise. Send them on after the event.
Try it and pricing
Run a mock panel with your team during the free 72-hour demo, no card required. Then choose monthly access or a one-time payment for lifetime access, both unlocking every section on the platform. Prices are on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who moderates business forums and corporate conferences and has hosted over 500 events since 2014: best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own events first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run a moderated live Q&A at an event
- 1
Add the speakers who will take questions, with names and photos.
- 2
Choose the anonymity model and switch pre-moderation on for public sessions.
- 3
Brand the guest screen and adjust the confirmation text if you want.
- 4
Put the QR code on screen at the start of the session and explain the rules.
- 5
Approve questions as they arrive and sort by support when Q&A begins.
- 6
Push each chosen question to the screen, mark answered ones, and send the rest to speakers.
FAQ
Do guests need to install an app?
Can guests ask anonymously?
Can I remove a question after it appeared?
How do upvotes work?
Can questions go to a specific speaker?
Does it work without internet?
See also
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