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Here is how the Iowa caucus works for Republicans (Democrats have a different system):

You attend a caucus event on caucus night at the appropriate precinct.

People will be asked to speak in favor of candidates they support.

Everyone at the precinct votes for their candidate in a secret vote.

The results are called into the State party and tabulated as a (in 2016) binding vote for the precinct.

Then the same people vote for a representative of their precinct to go to the county caucus (99 county caucuses). Those representatives will then choose delegates from their county to go to the district caucus (4 district caucuses). The district representatives will then choose the delegates who will represent Iowa at the Republican convention.

For political purposes, the straw poll is the most important event. It is very unlikely that Iowa’s actual delegates at the convention would make or break a candidate’s chances. But that straw poll at the beginning of the precinct caucuses can crash campaigns in a few hours.