Evaluation cards – Use them to quickly improve your presentation skills

Want to quickly improve your presentation skills? Use an evaluation card after every public speaking opportunity.  Evaluation cards are a great way to get real and immediate feedback from your presentation audience.

Evaluation cards let you know the true effectiveness of your presentation.  Did you grab their attention?  Did your message have value to them.  Did you connect with your audience? Regardless of how much work you put into your presentation, the audience always has the final say.

The key to an effective evaluation card is to have simple questions that can be easily answered.  My evaluation card has 8 questions.  The first five questions are short and can be answered with a numerical rating of 1 – 5, 5 being the top level.  Below the video, you can see my full evaluation card along with comments on each question.

 Speaker Evaluation: Charles Greene III Presentation Magician
Using the scale of 1 – 5, respond to each of the following statements, where:
1 = Strongly Disagree   2 = Disagree   3 = Neutral   4 = Agree   5 = Strongly Agree

The speaker grabbed my attention. How strong was my opening?

The presentation had value for my professional life. As a business speaker I want to know if my message connected with them on a professional level.

The speaker was able to stimulate and maintain interest. Did I keep them interested?  Attention levels always drop in the middle of a presentation, but what did they think?

Satisfactory explanations were provided to questions asked. How were my responses to their questions?  Did I give them what they requested?

I received value from this presentation. Was it worth their time?  Was it an educational experience?

What did you like best? What was the highlight?  What is the one thing that they’ll remember most?

What did you like least? What was the low-point?  Every presentation has one.

What question do you have now that you wish had been answered by this speaker?  Even though I allow lots of time for Q&A, there might be a topic that wasn’t covered or needed more time for discussion. 

The critical 3 questions – The final three questions require a little more thought, but provide me with the best information for future improvement and growth.

Question 6 “What did you like best?” The responses to this question rarely give me new information, but it sets up the next two questions, which are critical in providing the best evaluations for improvement of your presentation and professional growth as a speaker.

Question 7 “What did you like least?” Every presentation has a weak link.  Even though you may repeat the same presentation, the weak spot can change from audience to audience.  Sometimes it can be a specific message point.  Sometimes it can be a factor that is totally out of your control, like the temperature of the room.  Knowing what your audience like least will give you a sense of what they experienced while listening to your presentation.

Question 8 “What question do you have now that you wish had been answered by the speaker?” The responses to this question tell me what I need to address more closely in future presentations.  These responses have also given me direction for new presentation on a specific topic.

You might be thinking, why not use only questions 6, 7 & 8?  A three question evaluation card might work, but the additional questions will give you better vision of how an audience viewed your presentation.

Feed back from an evaluation card is invaluable.  Get it as often as you can.  It provides you with the best window into how your audiences view your presentation.  Reading the responses to an evaluation card will let you quickly improve your presentations.  However, it’s your job to decipher their responses, make adjustments, and then incorporate the revisions into your next great presentation.

If you have questions on how to create an effective evaluation card, simply send me a message and I’ll take a look at your work.

Have a super day!
Charles Greene III Presentation Magician
Washington, DC