The Importance of Feedback in Developing Presentation Skills

Have you ever received feedback on your presentation skills?

To truly develop ourselves as public speakers, presenters, and leaders, one crucial aspect we often need more of is feedback.

Reflecting back over 35 years, as a young manager, I thought I knew it all. I was climbing the corporate ladder at an impressive rate; everything seemed to be going my way, or so I believed. One day, the CEO became excited about a new initiative: encouraging the entire management team to participate in something called 360-degree feedback. Eager to receive validation from my boss, peers, and staff, I anticipated glowing reviews.

You can guess what came next.

To my dismay, I learned that others did not regard me as highly as I viewed myself. It was a hard lesson, and I came crashing back to earth. It became evident that I needed to make several serious adjustments to my management style, thinking, and leadership.

Though painful, that experience became one of the most valuable lessons of my career. It’s a process I now embrace frequently, using it as a reality check to stay on the right path.

The lesson proved invaluable as a development tool and continues to be relevant today as I work as a presentation skills coach and business owner.

Embrace Feedback for Growth

If you’re genuinely interested in improving your presentation skills, take the time to ask for feedback. After presenting, a few times each year, reach out to a few trusted individuals and ask them to share their perspectives on your performance. Offer them the option to provide feedback anonymously or directly.

Make sure to assure them that you genuinely want to know their thoughts, and promise that you can handle their honesty. If you can’t do that, it’s best not to ask. The one thing you seek is absolute candor.

Here are some questions you may want to consider asking:

– What was your first impression within the first 5 minutes of my presentation?

– Was my message clear, and if so, what was it?

– What did you think of my presentation skills (posture, gestures, eye contact, vocal variety, movement, etc.)?

– How did I support my message through explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, or anecdotes?

– What did you think of the visual aids I used? Did they enhance or detract from my presentation?

– How did I make you feel during and after my presentation?

– Was everything I shared relevant and valuable to you?

– What do you remember from my presentation that was helpful?

– How did my presentation make your life better, easier, or happier?

– What aspect of my presentation needs the most improvement, and how would you suggest I achieve this?

– If you could change anything about my presentation skills, what would it be?

Courage to Ask

This exercise is undoubtedly challenging; it requires great courage to ask for feedback and to be open to the answers. If it feels overwhelming, start small by asking just one of these questions after each presentation.

The most important question you could pose is, “How did I make you feel?”

There are of course a number of very effective ways to develop your presentation skills.

Book yourself on a presentation skills training course.

Invest in some mindful, one to one public speaking coaching.

Find yourself a powerful public speaking course.

Whatever you do, if you want to take your presentation skills to a whole new level of impact, get some feedback.

No matter what you choose, if you want to elevate your presentation skills to a new level, seek feedback.

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