Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes - The Goodman ...

Evaluations
Nothing improves performance like measurement, and evaluation forms are the most
common yardstick for presenters. Many organizations that invite you to speak will
provide evaluation forms for the audience, and in those cases, it’s up to you to contact the
organizers after the event and ask for a copy of the results. (In my travels, I have never
encountered a conference organizer who refused to share them, and in many cases they
were provided before I had even asked for them.)
When meeting planners have not covered this base – a question worth adding to your
pre-presentation checklist – bring your own evaluation form. (As above, I have never
encountered anyone who objected to this practice.) Audiences are notoriously impatient
with long questionnaires, especially when they have to dash off to another session, so keep
it short. In his book, Life is a Series of Presentations, Tony Jeary says evaluation forms should
take a maximum of three to five minutes to complete. While brevity is your watchword,
though, be sure to cover the basic categories:
Category
Clarity
Relevance
Length
Interaction
with presenter
Interaction
with audience
Quality of visuals
Quality of
handouts
Platform skills
Sample Language for Evaluation Form
Was the material presented in a clear and
well-structured manner?
Do you see ways to use the information presented
in your work?
Was the time allotted sufficient for the material
covered?
Did you have sufficient time to interact with
the presenter?
Did you have sufficient time to interact with other
members of the audience?
How would you rate the quality of any supporting
visuals (e.g., PowerPoint)?
How would you rate the quality of any handouts?
Was the presenter effective in engaging the audience
and making the subject matter compelling?
See Checklists to Go
for a detachable
summary of this section.
pg. 69