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16 constructive feedback examples — and tips for how to use them

Giving constructive feedback is nerve-wracking for many people. But feedback is also necessary for thriving in the workplace. 

It helps people flex and grow into new skills, capabilities, and roles. It creates more positive and productive relationships between employees. And it helps to reach goals and drive business value.

But feedback is a two-way street. More often than not, it’s likely every employee will have to give constructive feedback in their careers. That’s why it’s helpful to have constructive feedback examples to leverage for the right situation. 

We know employees want feedback. But one study found that people want feedback if they’re on the receiving end . In fact, in every case, participants rated their desire for feedback higher as the receiver. While the fear of feedback is very real, it’s important to not shy away from constructive feedback opportunities. After all, it could be the difference between a flailing and thriving team. 

If you’re trying to overcome your fear of providing feedback, we’ve compiled a list of 16 constructive feedback examples for you to use. We’ll also share some best practices on how to give effective feedback . 

What is constructive feedback? 

When you hear the word feedback, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? What feelings do you have associated with feedback? Oftentimes, feedback conversations are anxiety-ridden because it’s assumed to be negative feedback. Unfortunately, feedback has this binary stigma, it’s either good or bad.

But in reality, there are plenty of types of feedback leveraged in both personal and professional relationships. They don’t all fall into one camp or the other. And each type of feedback is serving a purpose to ultimately better an individual, team, or work environment. 

For example, positive feedback can be used to reinforce desired behaviors or big accomplishments. Real-time feedback is reserved for those “in the moment” situations. Like if I’ve made a mistake or a typo in a blog, I’d want my teammates to give me real-time feedback . 

However, constructive feedback is its own ball game. 

What is constructive feedback?

Constructive feedback is a supportive way to improve areas of opportunity for an individual person, team, relationship, or environment. In many ways, constructive feedback is a combination of constructive criticism paired with coaching skills. 

16 constructive feedback examples to use 

To truly invest in building a feedback culture , your employees need to feel comfortable giving feedback. After all, organizations are people, which means we’re all human. We make mistakes but we’re all capable of growth and development. And most importantly, everyone everywhere should be able to live with more purpose, clarity, and passion. 

But we won’t unlock everyone’s full potential unless your people are comfortable giving feedback. Some employee feedback might be easier to give than others, like ways to improve a presentation. 

But sometimes, constructive feedback can be tricky, like managing conflict between team members or addressing negative behavior. As any leader will tell you, it’s critical to address negative behaviors and redirect them to positive outcomes. Letting toxic behavior go unchecked can lead to issues with employee engagement , company culture, and overall, your business’s bottom line. 

Regardless of where on the feedback spectrum your organization falls, having concrete examples will help set up your people for success. Let’s talk through some examples of constructive feedback. For any of these themes, it’s always good to have specific examples handy to help reinforce the feedback you’re giving. We’ll also give some sample scenarios of when these phrases might be most impactful and appropriate. 

Constructive feedback examples about communication skills  

An employee speaks over others and interrupts in team meetings.

“I’ve noticed you can cut off team members or interrupt others. You share plenty of good ideas and do good work. To share some communication feedback , I’d love to see how you can support others in voicing their own ideas in our team meetings.” 

An employee who doesn’t speak up or share ideas in team meetings.

“I’ve noticed that you don’t often share ideas in big meetings. But in our one-on-one meetings , you come up with plenty of meaningful and creative ideas to help solve problems. What can I do to help make you more comfortable speaking up in front of the team?” 

An employee who is brutally honest and blunt.

“Last week, I noticed you told a teammate that their work wasn’t useful to you. It might be true that their work isn’t contributing to your work, but there’s other work being spread across the team that will help us reach our organizational goals. I’d love to work with you on ways to improve your communication skills to help build your feedback skills, too. Would you be interested in pursuing some professional development opportunities?”  

An employee who has trouble building rapport because of poor communication skills in customer and prospect meetings.

“I’ve noticed you dive right into the presentation with our customer and prospect meetings. To build a relationship and rapport, it’s good to make sure we’re getting to know everyone as people. Why don’t you try learning more about their work, priorities, and life outside of the office in our next meeting?” 

Constructive feedback examples about collaboration 

An employee who doesn’t hold to their commitments on group or team projects.

“I noticed I asked you for a deliverable on this key project by the end of last week. I still haven’t received this deliverable and wanted to follow up. If a deadline doesn’t work well with your bandwidth, would you be able to check in with me? I’d love to get a good idea of what you can commit to without overloading your workload.”  

An employee who likes to gatekeep or protect their work, which hurts productivity and teamwork .

“Our teams have been working together on this cross-functional project for a couple of months. But yesterday, we learned that your team came across a roadblock last month that hasn’t been resolved. I’d love to be a partner to you if you hit any issues in reaching our goals. Would you be willing to share your project plan or help provide some more visibility into your team’s work? I think it would help us with problem-solving and preventing problems down the line.” 

An employee who dominates a cross-functional project and doesn’t often accept new ways of doing things.

“I’ve noticed that two team members have voiced ideas that you have shut down. In the spirit of giving honest feedback, it feels like ideas or new solutions to problems aren’t welcome. Is there a way we could explore some of these ideas? I think it would help to show that we’re team players and want to encourage everyone’s contributions to this project.” 

Constructive feedback examples about time management 

An employee who is always late to morning meetings or one-on-ones.

“I’ve noticed that you’re often late to our morning meetings with the rest of the team. Sometimes, you’re late to our one-on-ones, too. Is there a way I can help you with building better time management skills ? Sometimes, the tardiness can come off like you don’t care about the meeting or the person you’re meeting with, which I know you don’t mean.” 

A direct report who struggles to meet deadlines.

“Thanks for letting me know you’re running behind schedule and need an extension. I’ve noticed this is the third time you’ve asked for an extension in the past two weeks. In our next one-on-one, can you come up with a list of projects and the amount of time that you’re spending on each project? I wonder if we can see how you’re managing your time and identify efficiencies.” 

An employee who continuously misses team meetings.

“I’ve noticed you haven’t been present at the last few team meetings. I wanted to check in to see how things are going. What do you have on your plate right now? I’m concerned you’re missing critical information that can help you in your role and your career.” 

Constructive feedback examples about boundaries 

A manager who expects the entire team to work on weekends.

“I’ve noticed you send us emails and project plans over the weekends. I put in a lot of hard work during the week, and won’t be able to answer your emails until the work week starts again. It’s important that I maintain my work-life balance to be able to perform my best.” 

An employee who delegates work to other team members.

“I’ve noticed you’ve delegated some aspects of this project that fall into your scope of work. I have a full plate with my responsibilities in XYZ right now. But if you need assistance, it might be worth bringing up your workload to our manager.” 

A direct report who is stressed about employee performance but is at risk of burning out.

“I know we have performance reviews coming up and I’ve noticed an increase in working hours for you. I hope you know that I recognize your work ethic but it’s important that you prioritize your work-life balance, too. We don’t want you to burn out.”  

Constructive feedback examples about managing 

A leader who is struggling with team members working together well in group settings.

“I’ve noticed your team’s scores on our employee engagement surveys. It seems like they don’t collaborate well or work well in group settings, given their feedback. Let’s work on building some leadership skills to help build trust within your team.” 

A leader who is struggling to engage their remote team.

“In my last skip-levels with your team, I heard some feedback about the lack of connections . It sounds like some of your team members feel isolated, especially in this remote environment. Let’s work on ways we can put some virtual team-building activities together.” 

A leader who is micromanaging , damaging employee morale.

“In the last employee engagement pulse survey, I took a look at the leadership feedback. It sounds like some of your employees feel that you micromanage them, which can damage trust and employee engagement. In our next one-on-one, let’s talk through some projects that you can step back from and delegate to one of your direct reports. We want to make sure employees on your team feel ownership and autonomy over their work.” 

8 tips for providing constructive feedback 

Asking for and receiving feedback isn’t an easy task. 

But as we know, more people would prefer to receive feedback than give it. If giving constructive feedback feels daunting, we’ve rounded up eight tips to help ease your nerves. These best practices can help make sure you’re nailing your feedback delivery for optimal results, too.

Be clear and direct (without being brutally honest). Make sure you’re clear, concise, and direct. Dancing around the topic isn’t helpful for you or the person you’re giving feedback to. 

Provide specific examples. Get really specific and cite recent examples. If you’re vague and high-level, the employee might not connect feedback with their actions.

Set goals for the behavior you’d like to see changed. If there’s a behavior that’s consistent, try setting a goal with your employee. For example, let’s say a team member dominates the conversation in team meetings. Could you set a goal for how many times they encourage other team members to speak and share their ideas? 

Give time and space for clarifying questions. Constructive feedback can be hard to hear. It can also take some time to process. Make sure you give the person the time and space for questions and follow-up. 

Know when to give feedback in person versus written communication. Some constructive feedback simply shouldn’t be put in an email or a Slack message. Know the right communication forum to deliver your feedback.   

Check-in. Make an intentional effort to check in with the person on how they’re doing in the respective area of feedback. For example, let’s say you’ve given a teammate feedback on their presentation skills . Follow up on how they’ve invested in building their public speaking skills . Ask if you can help them practice before a big meeting or presentation. 

Ask for feedback in return. Feedback can feel hierarchical and top-down sometimes. Make sure that you open the door to gather feedback in return from your employees. 

Start giving effective constructive feedback 

Meaningful feedback can be the difference between a flailing and thriving team. To create a feedback culture in your organization, constructive feedback is a necessary ingredient. 

Think about the role of coaching to help build feedback muscles with your employees. With access to virtual coaching , you can make sure your employees are set up for success. BetterUp can help your workforce reach its full potential.

Elevate your communication skills

Unlock the power of clear and persuasive communication. Our coaches can guide you to build strong relationships and succeed in both personal and professional life.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

5 types of feedback that make a difference (and how to use them)

Are you receptive to feedback follow this step-by-step guide, handle feedback like a boss and make it work for you, how to give constructive feedback as a manager, should you use the feedback sandwich 7 pros and cons, why coworker feedback is so important and 5 ways to give it, how to get feedback from your employees, feedback in communication: 5 areas to become a better communicator, how managers get upward feedback from their team, similar articles, corporate jargon: 7 example phrases to avoid and what to say instead, 30 customer service review examples to develop your team, how to give negative feedback to a manager, with examples, how to embrace constructive conflict, 25 performance review questions (and how to use them), stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Blog > Effective Feedback for Presentations - digital with PowerPoint or with printable sheets

Effective Feedback for Presentations - digital with PowerPoint or with printable sheets

10.26.20   •  #powerpoint #feedback #presentation.

Do you know whether you are a good presenter or not? If you do, chances are it's because people have told you so - they've given you feedback. Getting other's opinions about your performance is something that's important for most aspects in life, especially professionally. However, today we're focusing on a specific aspect, which is (as you may have guessed from the title): presentations.

The importance of feedback

Take a minute to think about the first presentation you've given: what was it like? Was it perfect? Probably not. Practise makes perfect, and nobody does everything right in the beginning. Even if you're a natural at speaking and presenting, there is usually something to improve and to work on. And this is where feedback comes in - because how are you going to know what it is that you should improve? You can and should of course assess yourself after each and every presentation you give, as that is an important part of learning and improvement. The problem is that you yourself are not aware of all the things that you do well (or wrong) during your presentation. But your audience is! And that's why you should get audience feedback.

Qualities of good Feedback

Before we get into the different ways of how you can get feedback from your audience, let's briefly discuss what makes good feedback. P.S.: These do not just apply for presentations, but for any kind of feedback.

• Good feedback is constructive, not destructive. The person receiving feedback should feel empowered and inspired to work on their skills, not discouraged. You can of course criticize on an objective level, but mean and insulting comments have to be kept to yourself.
• Good feedback involves saying bot what has to be improved (if there is anything) and what is already good (there is almost always something!)
• After receiving good feedback, the recipient is aware of the steps he can and should take in order to improve.

Ways of receiving / giving Feedback after a Presentation

1. print a feedback form.

Let's start with a classic: the feedback / evaluation sheet. It contains several questions, these can be either open (aka "What did you like about the presentation?") or answered on a scale (e.g. from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree"). The second question format makes a lot of sense if you have a large audience, and it also makes it easy to get an overview of the results. That's why in our feedback forms (which you can download at the end of this post), you'll find mainly statements with scales. This has been a proven way for getting and giving valuable feedback efficiently for years. We do like the feedback form a lot, though you have to be aware that you'll need to invest some time to prepare, count up and analyse.

• ask specifically what you want to ask
• good overview of the results
• anonymous (people are likely to be more honest)
• easy to access: you can just download a feedback sheet online (ours, for example, which you'll find at the end of this blog post!)
• analysing the results can be time-consuming
• you have to print out the sheets, it takes preparation

2. Online: Get digital Feedback

In the year 2020, there's got to be a better way of giving feedback, right? There is, and you should definitely try it out! SlideLizard is a free PowerPoint extension that allows you to get your audience's feedback in the quickest and easiest way possible. You can of course customize the feedback question form to your specific needs and make sure you get exactly the kind of feedback you need. Click here to download SlideLizard right now, or scroll down to read some more about the tool.

• quick and easy to access
• easy and fast export, analysis and overview of feedback
• save feedback directly on your computer
• Participants need a working Internet connection (but that usually isn't a problem nowadays)

3. Verbal Feedback

"So, how did you like the presentation?", asks the lecturer. A few people in the audience nod friendly, one or two might even say something about how the slides were nice and the content interesting. Getting verbal feedback is hard, especially in big groups. If you really want to analyse and improve your presentation habits and skills, we recommend using one of the other methods. However, if you have no internet connection and forgot to bring your feedback sheets, asking for verbal feedback is still better than nothing.

• no prerequisites
• open format
• okay for small audiences
• not anonymous (people might not be honest)
• time consuming
• no detailed evaluation
• no way to save the feedback (except for your memory)
• not suitable for big audiences

Feedback to yourself - Self Assessment

I've mentioned before that it is incredibly important to not only let others tell you what went well and what didn't in your presentation. Your own impressions are of huge value, too. After each presentation you give, ask yourself the following questions (or better yet, write your answers down!):

• What went wrong (in my opinion)? What can I do in order to avoid this from happening next time?
• What went well? What was well received by the audience? What should I do more of?
• How was I feeling during this presentation? (Nervous? Confident? ...)

Tip: If you really want to actively work on your presentation skills, filming yourself while presenting and analysing the video after is a great way to go. You'll get a different view on the way you talk, move, and come across.

Digital Feedback with SlideLizard

Were you intrigued by the idea of easy Online-feedback? With SlideLizard your attendees can easily give you feedback directly with their Smartphone. After the presentation you can analyze the result in detail.

• type in your own feedback questions
• choose your rating scale: 1-5 points, 1-6 points, 1-5 stars or 1-6 stars;
• show your attendees an open text field and let them enter any text they want

Note: SlideLizard is amazing for giving and receiving feedback, but it's definitely not the only thing it's great for. Once you download the extension, you get access to the most amazing tools - most importantly, live polls and quizzes, live Q&A sessions, attendee note taking, content and slide sharing, and presentation analytics. And the best thing about all this? You can get it for free, and it is really easy to use, as it is directly integrated in PowerPoint! Click here to discover more about SlideLizard.

Free Download: Printable Feedback Sheets for Business or School Presentations

If you'd rather stick with the good old paper-and-pen method, that's okay, too. You can choose between one of our two feedback sheet templates: there is one tailored to business presentations and seminars, and one that is created specifically for teachers assessing their students. Both forms can be downloaded as a Word, Excel, or pdf file. A lot of thought has gone into both of the forms, so you can benefit as much as possible; however, if you feel like you need to change some questions in order to better suit your needs, feel free to do so!

Feedback form for business

Template as PDF, Word & Excel - perfect for seminars, trainings,...

Feedback form for teachers (school or university)

Template as PDF, Word & Excel - perfect for school or university,...

Where can I find a free feedback form for presentations?

There are many templates available online. We designed two exclusive, free-to-download feedback sheets, which you can get in our blog article

What's the best way to get feedback for presentations?

You can get feedback on your presentations by using feedback sheets, asking for feedback verbally, or, the easiest and fastest option: get digital feedback with an online tool

Related articles

About the author.

Pia Lehner-Mittermaier

Pia works in Marketing as a graphic designer and writer at SlideLizard. She uses her vivid imagination and creativity to produce good content.

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How to give feedback on a presentation

Knowing how to give feedback on a presentation helps people become better presenters, sharpens their message, and gauges audience engagement ahead of time.

December 7, 2022

How many times have you been asked to give feedback on a presentation, and, while trying to organize your thoughts after hearing the presentation in real-time, found it hard to muster anything more than, "It's good"?

Or, you've taken the time to give thoughtful, nuanced advice on how a colleague can improve their presentation, only to find that you don't know exactly how to communicate it, or they don't know exactly how to implement it?

Any kind of creative feedback is difficult to conceptualize without the proper context, and that's doubly true for presentations, where you're often asked to listen to the presentation, absorb the information it's conveying, process your thoughts, and deliver a critique — all in real time. No one can give good feedback that way, but it's not the presenter's fault (or yours!). You just need a better feedback process.

Giving better presentation feedback requires examining two things:

• The feedback itself
• How it's being given (and received)

Ready to learn how to improve them both? Let's get started.

Why it's important to give feedback on a presentation

Giving feedback on a presentation comes with several key benefits.

It promotes growth and builds better presentation skills

No one is born an effective presenter. It takes time, skill, and practice to build public speaking and communication skills to where you can knock a presentation out of the park — every time.

As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. Giving practice presentations for feedback from trusted peers and colleagues gives you an opportunity to get more presenting time under your belt — with lower stakes.

And by giving effective, actionable feedback (more on that below) to a colleague, you help ensure their next presentation is even better, which can benefit your company or organization.

It helps sharpen the message

When it comes to getting the message exactly right in a presentation, self evaluation can really only go so far. Sometimes it takes another point of view (or several of them, from all across your organization) to collaborate and craft exactly what key points you want attendees to take away from a presentation. Giving feedback allows you to help refine and sharpen the message — and to work with others who are also giving feedback — until it's perfect.

It gauges audience engagement

One of the hardest things about giving a presentation is holding audience attention from the first slide until the last.

This is especially true for an oral presentation that doesn't have any audiovisual components. In this case, it's crucial to know if there are any points where audience members might be more prone to losing focus — like if your presentation gets a little too in the weeds.

Giving feedback allows you to put yourself in the audience's shoes. Try to see and hear the presentation from their perspective, and if there's any point where you feel your mind start to wander, make a note of it — that's a point where audience engagement may be at risk during the real thing.

All feedback is not created equal

It's important to note that not all feedback is good feedback.

Not all feedback provides a benefit to the person giving the presentation. It isn't all actionable. It isn't all relevant. It isn't all useful.

When feedback is bad, it's usually for one of two reasons.

The feedback itself is of poor quality

Even when you have the best of intentions, you might still give bad feedback.

Some examples of poor quality feedback include:

• Feedback that's vague or unclear
• Feedback that's overly personal or meant as an attack
• Feedback that's dishonest, even if intended to spare the presenter's feelings

The feedback isn't communicated effectively

It's also possible to have useful feedback to give to a presenter, but to lack an effective system for communicating it. This can be especially challenging when there are multiple people trying to give feedback on one presentation at the same time. 

That's why bubbles is the best way to give feedback on a presentation. 

The presenter can record their speech, including a video of their screen to capture a Powerpoint presentation or any other visual aid they plan to use. Then, colleagues who are giving feedback can do so by leaving their comments at the exact, time-stamped moment where their feedback applies — and they can give their critique in text, audio, or video. Anyone can respond to a comment within a thread that captures (and preserves) all the context of the conversation so far. This makes it easier for a group to give feedback collaboratively, and makes it possible for the presenter to refer back to feedback at any time.

6 ways to give effective feedback on a presentation

Ready to give feedback that will turn a good presentation into a great one? The six tips below will help you give feedback that's effective and useful to the presenter, leaving them with clear takeaways they can use to level up their presentation. Let's get started.

Be specific

When giving feedback, try to be as specific as possible. Rather than saying something like, "I thought the presentation was effective," tell the presenter exactly what was effective. For example, a better piece of feedback is: "The key takeaway from the fifth slide was clear and really resonated with me." It tells the presenter exactly what you thought worked, rather than a vague, catch-all compliment.

If you're having trouble being more specific with your feedback (like if you aren't sure how to articulate your advice), sometimes an example can help! In your bubble comment, use a snippet of your own presentation (or even a Ted Talk or other professional speaking event) to more clearly illustrate what you're asking the presenter to do or change.

When you leave comments on the presenter's bubble, be sure to time-stamp them to the exact part of the presentation where the feedback applies. This can help ensure that the presenter gets the most value from your feedback, and can see what you mean in the proper context.

Be actionable

Even if your feedback is as specific as possible, it won't help the presenter if there's nothing they can do about it. That's why the next tip is to give feedback that's actionable — that is, don't just tell the presenter what they should change, but tell them what steps they can take to improve.

For example, don't just say someone needs to work on their body language while presenting. Tell them, as specifically as possible, how their body language could be improved; for example, if they should make more eye contact with audience members or gesture more with their hands while speaking.

You can even take this a step further and explain why you made this suggestion. For example, this feedback might be something like, "I would suggest making an effort to make eye contact with more members of the audience. This will engage more people and hold their attention, while helping your speech sound more natural."

Be constructive

In the same vein as giving actionable feedback is making sure you're giving constructive feedback — that is, that your feedback is about things the presenter can control and change.

Constructive criticism can be difficult to do well. It requires pointing out ways a presenter can improve — sometimes ways that can feel personal to them as they're on the receiving end of the feedback. But if the feedback is truly constructive, it's better to give it than to sugarcoat your critique to spare a presenter's feelings. And if hurting the presenter's feelings is the goal for the feedback, it's definitely not constructive.

Call out positives along with points of improvement

When giving feedback on a presentation, it can be easy to only focus on things you feel the presenter needs to improve. But it's just as important to give positive feedback that lets them know what they're doing well.

In fact, you might want to work even harder to find the positives than to point out places where the presenter can improve. In one study, conducted by academic Emily Heaphy and consultant Marcial Losada, team effectiveness was measured and compared with the ratio of positive and negative comments that team members made to one another. Heaphy and Losada found that in the most effective teams, the ratio was 5.6 — meaning those team members gave each other nearly six positive comments for every single negative one.

Medium performing teams averaged 1.9 positive comments for each negative one. And low performing teams were more negative than positive, with a 0.36 ratio (nearly three negative comments for every positive one).

The research shows that, as tempting as it may be to only point out ways a presenter can improve, it may help them even more to find as many positives as possible to go along with your constructive criticism.

This is another tip where you have a balance to strike. You should give feedback to the presenter quickly, but not so quickly that you don't have time to absorb their presentation and process your thoughts, first.

Giving feedback in real-time (for example, in a review meeting) can seem effective, since it gives the presenter a way of receiving feedback instantly. However, giving instant feedback isn't always ideal for the colleagues who are critiquing the presentation, who might give more helpful feedback if they have more time to gather their thoughts.

When you use bubbles to give feedback on a presentation, it allows everyone on the team to give feedback at their own pace. It also allows people to watch the presentation more than once, or go back through certain sections they'd like to revisit before giving feedback.

It also eliminates the need to schedule a meeting to deliver presentation feedback. Even if the presenter and people giving feedback are separated by time zones , they can watch the presentation and deliver feedback at times that are convenient for them — and the presenter can access (and action) that feedback whenever they're back online.

Do a few rounds of feedback

As everyone gives their feedback, they can collaborate in comment threads in the bubble. This allows everyone to see what's been said already, including all the context and nuance of the discussion, keeping everyone on the same page. The presenter can follow up with comments, and those giving feedback can watch the presentation more than once to give a few rounds of feedback.

This helps ensure that feedback is as comprehensive as possible, and that the presenter and everyone critiquing their presentation is able to focus on any key messages that come out of the feedback rounds — what changes are most impactful? What will really take this presentation to the next level?

Make feedback more comprehensive and collaborative

Giving feedback on a presentation will be most effective when your entire team can work together, seamlessly, to give comprehensive feedback to the presenter. With bubbles, you can have that conversation together, with all the context necessary to craft the perfect presentation.

Get started today with bubbles' free Chrome extension and start working together, in context.

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.css-1qrtm5m{display:block;margin-bottom:8px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5714285714285714;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.35px;letter-spacing:-0.35px;font-weight:300;color:#606F7B;}@media (min-width:600px){.css-1qrtm5m{font-size:16px;line-height:1.625;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:-0.5px;}} Best Practices Become a better presenter -- with a little help from your friends

by TED Masterclass Team • May 12, 2020

Getting useful feedback can be a critical step in developing an effective presentation - it can also be harder to find than you might expect. Honest feedback calls on you to be vulnerable, and forces your feedback partner to sometimes deliver difficult constructive criticism. The good news is that this type of deep and authentic feedback can encourage personal growth and a willingness to take creative risks.

Get high-quality feedback that elevates your presentation skills by putting in a little extra preparation and focus.

First, decide who to ask for feedback

Feedback can feel personally risky if it’s coming from a close friend or colleague. Because these relationships are so important to us, honest feedback can end up feeling critical. In these situations, it can become tempting to give non-critical feedback, but that’s not helpful.

The person you work with to give you feedback should be someone:

• You want to learn from, who pushes you to think creatively
• With a different perspective - it can help to look beyond the people you spend a lot of time with personally or professionally
• Who shares your enthusiasm for acquiring new skills and is excited for you to become a better presenter

Then, prepare to receive feedback

Just as important as deciding who will be giving you feedback, is creating an environment and mindset where giving and receiving constructive feedback is easy.

• Create a distraction-free time and space for getting feedback. Ideally both of you should be present, focused, and open. If we’re feeling stressed or pressed for time, it’s hard to be a good feedback partner. That’s why it’s wise to tune in to how you’re feeling before you schedule a session.
• Remind the person that you’re looking for honest feedback to be the best presenter you can be.
• Before getting started, tell the person if there are any specific aspects of your idea or talk that you’d like them to focus feedback on.

Finally, ask the right questions

Giving feedback can be overwhelming for your partner if they don’t know what they should be focusing on. Decide on these areas ahead of time, and let your partner know. Then follow up with questions that will help them hone in on the most helpful feedback points for you.

Get overall feedback using these three questions:

• What works?
• What needs work?
• What’s a suggestion for one thing I might try?

Get specific feedback using these questions:

• Delivery: How is it landing for you overall? Are there places where your attention is wandering? What’s distracting?
• Content: Do you get this - will the audience? What questions do you have? Where are you engaged? Surprised? Moved? Is there a clear takeaway for the audience? Do you have any clarifying questions?

Good feedback is a gift that can really elevate your presentation skills. Make the most of your feedback opportunities with a little preparation.

© 2024 TED Conferences, LLC. All rights reserved. Please note that the TED Talks Usage policy does not apply to this content and is not subject to our creative commons license.

How to Give Feedback on a Presentation Professionally

Master the art of professional communication in business settings with expert guidance. Learn how to give feedback on a presentation professionally.

As professionals, we frequently find ourselves in situations where we need to provide feedback on presentations. Whether it's in a corporate setting, educational institution, or any other professional environment, the ability to offer constructive criticism is a valuable skill. This guide aims to provide comprehensive insights and practical strategies for effectively giving feedback on presentations, ensuring a positive and growth-oriented approach.

Understanding the importance of giving professional presentation feedback

Enhancing the Learning Experience for the Presenter

Providing feedback on a presentation plays a vital role in enhancing the learning experience for the presenter. It offers them an opportunity to gain valuable insights into their strengths and areas for improvement. By providing constructive feedback, presenters can refine their skills, leading to continuous growth and development. When feedback is given professionally, presenters feel encouraged and supported in their efforts to improve, fostering a positive learning environment.

Fostering a Culture of Improvement and Growth

Understanding the art of giving professional presentation feedback helps in fostering a culture of improvement and growth within a team or organization. When feedback is delivered effectively, it promotes a mindset of openness and continuous learning. This, in turn, creates an environment where individuals are motivated to strive for excellence, leading to overall progress and success.

Building Constructive Relationships Through Honest Feedback

Professional presentation feedback allows for the building of constructive relationships between the presenter and the audience. It demonstrates a commitment to the presenter's success and professional development, fostering trust and transparency. By offering feedback in a professional manner, relationships are strengthened, leading to enhanced collaboration and communication.

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Practical examples of dealing with proper presentation feedback

Scenario : In a team meeting, a colleague presents a project but lacks clarity and coherence.

Common Mistakes :

Providing vague or unclear feedback that doesn't address the specific issues in the presentation.

Using a confrontational tone that may demoralize the presenter.

Best Expression : "I appreciate the effort you put into the presentation. It would be helpful to streamline the content for better clarity and precision. Let's work together to ensure the next presentation is impactful and well-structured."

Scenario : A team member exhibits nervousness and lacks confidence during a presentation.

Overlooking the emotional aspect and focusing solely on technical errors.

Criticizing without acknowledging any positive aspects of the presentation.

Best Expression : "Your dedication and effort are evident. Let's focus on building confidence through practice and incorporating storytelling techniques. Your passion for the topic will undoubtedly resonate with the audience when presented more confidently."

Scenario : Providing feedback to a team leader on their presentation.

Feeling intimidated and hesitant to provide honest feedback.

Overemphasizing minor issues, which may dilute the impact of the feedback.

Best Expression : "Your insights were valuable. Let's further emphasize the key points to provide a more impactful message. With enhanced clarity, the presentation will effectively drive our team's objectives."

Consequences of inadequate presentation feedback

Impeding the Presenter's Growth and Development

Inadequate feedback can hinder the presenter's growth and development. Without constructive criticism, the presenter may continue to exhibit the same shortcomings, impeding their professional advancement.

Hindering Team Progress Within Professional Settings

Insufficient feedback can hinder team progress within professional settings. When presentations lack constructive input, it may lead to a stagnation of ideas and innovation within the team, impacting overall productivity.

Creating an Environment of Ineffectual Communication and Ambiguity

Failure to provide professional feedback on presentations can create an environment of ineffectual communication and ambiguity. It may lead to misunderstandings and a lack of clarity in conveying ideas and information, affecting the organization's effectiveness.

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Step-by-step instructions on providing professional presentation feedback

Understanding the context and objectives of the presentation

To provide effective feedback, it's essential to gain a thorough understanding of the context and objectives of the presentation. Consider the audience, the purpose of the presentation, and the key messages that need to be conveyed.

Utilizing a structured approach to formulating and delivering feedback

Structure the feedback by addressing specific areas such as content, delivery, and overall impact. This provides a clear framework for the presenter to assess their performance and work on areas that need refinement.

Incorporating empathy and constructive criticism in the feedback process

Approach the feedback process with empathy, recognizing the effort and dedication of the presenter. Combine this with constructive criticism to guide them towards improvement while maintaining a positive and supportive tone.

Providing actionable recommendations for improvement

Offer actionable recommendations by suggesting specific strategies for improvement. This empowers the presenter to implement practical changes, thereby fostering continuous growth and development.

Articulating professional presentation feedback

When articulating professional presentation feedback, it's essential to focus on building rapport and trust while employing encouraging language that emphasizes growth and improvement. Emphasizing the importance of clarity and specificity in feedback further ensures the effectiveness of the communication process.

Professional feedback: do's and dont's

In conclusion, understanding how to give feedback on a presentation professionally is an invaluable skill that contributes to personal and professional growth. By recognizing its importance, incorporating best practices, and leveraging practical examples, individuals can navigate the feedback process with confidence and proficiency, ultimately fostering an environment of continuous improvement and excellence.

How can i offer criticism without demoralizing the presenter?

Offering criticism without demoralizing the presenter involves framing feedback constructively, focusing on the potential for improvement, and recognizing the efforts made by the presenter.

What if the presenter disagrees with the feedback provided?

In the event of disagreement, it's important to engage in open dialogue, understanding the presenter's perspective, and collectively working towards finding common ground for constructive feedback.

How do i deliver feedback to a superior or manager professionally?

When providing feedback to a superior or manager, it's essential to approach the conversation with respect, clarity, and a solutions-oriented mindset, ensuring that the feedback is aligned with the professional context and objectives.

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Collecting Presentation Feedback to Improve Your Skills

Why Is Getting Presentation Feedback So Important?

Collecting presentation feedback is probably low on your list of priorities, especially if you’re terrified of public speaking and not making a fool of yourself in front of a group of people is your biggest concern. But having some sort of response system in place so your audience can provide you with feedback on your presentation is an incredibly useful (not to mention inexpensive) way to improve your public speaking skills and become an even better presenter.

Why is getting presentation feedback so important?

For starters, when people provide you with feedback—even if it’s negative—you know they were paying attention. They were listening and watching, and by telling you what they thought of your presentation, they’re giving you input on your overall message, from what you said to how you said it .

That’s powerful information; it’s the best way for you to know if your presentation is doing what you want it to, whether that’s to inform, persuade, or motivate other people. Who better to tell you than the people in your audience?

Choose The Right Response System

Despite its usefulness, speakers continue to pass up the opportunity to poll audiences to get their feedback on a presentation. Certainly, no one wants to feel rejected or be told their presentation was terrible, but wouldn’t you rather be told your presentation missed the mark, than to continue delivering bad presentations that don’t engage audiences?

Not only that, but without presentation feedback, a speaker is forced to self-evaluate. Some will be overly-critical while others will be self-congratulatory—neither of which are beneficial or inspire the speaker to get better.

Offer a Presentation Feedback Form

In our Presentation Skills Training workshops, we talk about the importance of making a connection with the audience, and that connection doesn’t need to end with the presentation.

An immediate response system, such as providing your audience with a presentation feedback form to fill in and return at the end of the presentation is one way to gauge your performance. You can also encourage audience members to use other methods to provide feedback, such as directly to you through temp email , on social media, or online on Google or Yelp. This way, they’re not only helping you by rating your presentation, but their positive reviews will bolster your reputation, which will encourage others to work with you. And they’re staying connected with you beyond the presentation.

If the thought of having people “judge” your presentation frightens you, think about how getting positive feedback will make you feel. If you’re someone who lacks confidence or tends to be self-critical of your performance, hearing others tell you your presentation was inspiring or enjoyable can go a long way to helping you overcome your feelings of inadequacy.

Using Presentation Feedback to Achieve Your Goals

Whatever the situation that’s brought you to the podium—whether you’re a keynote speaker at a fundraiser or delivering a sales pitch—getting presentation feedback can be energizing. Consider how you feel when a manager or co-worker congratulates you on a job well done. You feel invigorated and motived to continue doing a good job that gets recognized.

The same is true of positive presentation feedback: When you know you’ve achieved your goal of connecting with an audience , you’re motivated to keep making those connections—and make them even better.

So what should your presentation feedback form (or other response system) look like? That’s up to you. But however you decide to collect presentation feedback, use the comments you receive to:

• Assess what you are doing well and where you need to improve
• Understand how your message is being received by others
• Direct you toward achieving your goals (e.g., increase your number of sales)

Not All Feedback is Bad

The term ‘feedback’ has earned a bad rap with some people. They hear it and run because they’re afraid someone will say something negative about them.

Not all feedback is negative, and not all of it is positive. But it should always be constructive, and as a public speaker you should want to hear it all. It’s the best way to know what your audience is getting from your presentation so you can improve your public speaking skills.

Do you provide opportunities for your audiences to give feedback? Tell us about it in the comment section or find us on social media and bring the conversation there. We’re on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and LinkedIn .

16 Comments

I joined Toastmasters a year ago and have had some good feedback and some not so good. Some of the members were in my shoes, really not sure how to evaluate my presentations very well. Feedback is great but I guess it depends on the person giving the feedback.

Self evaluation is always hard to do. I’m a firm believer in having another person critique your work- it’s an opportunity to learn more about yourself!

Good post! I also had a bad feeling about the feedback until I read this post. I’ll be definitely using feedback form next time. I might still feel a bit uneasy, though.

I would like to get some professional feedback on my delivery. I think I will have someone video my presentation and send it to you guys to evaluate it.

I am a corporate trainer and give presentation feedback to our managers. Most of our folks really appreciate having good feedback so they can make their next presentations better.

Soliciting feedback is scary but necessary if you want to improve and I do…very scary though. Good article 

Since I have written feedback forms for companies myself, I know how they work.But reading this blog set me thinking as to how it helps the presenter. I agree with the author that feedback, whether good or bad, definitely helps us in evaluating oneself.

Yes. I agree with everyone who says feedback can be scary-but it can also be helpful. The key is getting people to use constructive criticism. You are also going to have to get used to the occasional remarks from someone who is just being spiteful. Learn to recognize constructive criticism and take it to heart.

I used to take all feedback as negative. I wasn’t able to differentiate “bad” from “constructive”. This greatly hurt me in the workforce and I actually lost my first job fresh from college over it. I have come a long way but I am still learning and things like this help me a lot. Public speaking on any level has never been easy for me but I have always been way too hard on myself. I see that now.

I have never had anybody give me any feedback on my presentations.

One of the cardinal characters of people who want to succeed is the courage to accept valid criticism. Feedbacks must not be good but it is a necessity that will help to know if you rea making progress

Great feedback is absolutely essential to one’s ability to polish one’s skills even as an experienced speaker. Without it, we are unable to assess our strengths and growth opportunities along the way. Who wants to fall into a rut and never improve when called upon to speak? I would say no one which is why feedback is a must for both amateur and experienced speakers.

Good article. Very knowledgeable and informative. I would like to read new articles related to this! I Would also like you to read our articles related personality development and mental health.

Good article. Very knowledgeable and informative.

Your article provides helpful tips on how to collect feedback to improve our presentation skills.

good bro. Thx!

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How to Give Effective Presentation Feedback

A conversation with sam j. lubner, md, facp.

Giving an effective scientific presentation, like all public speaking, is an acquired skill that takes practice to perfect. When delivered successfully, an oral presentation can be an invaluable opportunity to showcase your latest research results among your colleagues and peers. It can also promote attendee engagement and help audience members retain the information being presented, enhancing the educational benefit of your talk, according to Sam J. ­Lubner, MD, FACP , Associate Professor of Medicine and Program Director, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship, at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, and a member of ASCO’s Education Council.

Sam J. ­Lubner, MD, FACP

In 2019, the Education Council launched a pilot program to provide a group of selected speakers at the ASCO Annual Meeting with feedback on their presentations. Although some of the reviewers, which included members of the Education Council and Education Scholars Program, as well as ASCO’s program directors, conveyed information to the presenters that was goal-referenced, tangible, transparent, actionable, specific, and personalized—the hallmarks of effective feedback—others provided comments that were too vague to improve the speaker’s performance, said Dr. Lubner. For example, they offered comments such as “Great session” or “Your slides were too complicated,” without being specific about what made the session “great” or the slides “too complicated.”

“Giving a presentation at a scientific meeting is different from what we were trained to do. We’re trained to take care of patients, and while we do have some training in presentation, it usually centers around how to deliver clinical information,” said Dr. Lubner. “What we are trying to do with the Education Council’s presentation feedback project is to apply evidence-based methods for giving effective feedback to make presentations at ASCO’s Annual Meeting, international meetings, symposia, and conferences more clinically relevant and educationally beneficial.”

GUEST EDITOR

The ASCO Post talked with Dr. Lubner about how to give effective feedback and how to become a more effective presenter.

Defining Effective Feedback

Feedback is often confused with giving advice, praise, and evaluation, but none of these descriptions are exactly accurate. What constitutes effective feedback?

When I was looking over the literature on feedback to prepare myself on how to give effective feedback to the medical students and residents I oversee, I was amazed to find the information is largely outdated. For example, recommendations in the 1980s and 1990s called for employing the “sandwich” feedback method, which involves saying something positive, then saying what needs to be improved, and then making another positive remark. But that method is time-intensive, and it feels disingenuous to me.

What constitutes helpful feedback to me is information that is goal-referenced, actionable, specific, and has immediate impact. It should be constructive, descriptive, and nonjudgmental. After I give feedback to a student or resident, my next comments often start with a self-reflective question, “How did that go?” and that opens the door to further discussion. The mnemonic I use to provide better feedback and achieve learning goals is SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, as described here:

• Specific: Avoid using ambiguous language, for example, “Your presentation was great.” Be specific about what made the presentation “great,” such as, “Starting your presentation off with a provocative question grabbed my attention.”
• Measurable: Suggest quantifiable objectives to meet so there is no uncertainty about what the goals are. For example, “Next time, try a summary slide with one or two take-home points for the audience.”
• Achievable: The goal of the presentation should be attainable. For example, “Trim your slides to no more than six lines per slide and no more than six words per line; otherwise, you are just reading your slides.”
• Realistic: The feedback you give should relate to the goal the presenter is trying to achieve. For example, “Relating the research results back to an initial case presentation will solidify the take-home point that for cancer x, treatment y is the best choice.”
• Timely: Feedback given directly after completion of the presentation is more effective than feedback provided at a later date.

The ultimate goal of effective feedback is to help the presenter become more adept at relaying his or her research in an engaging and concise way, to maintain the audience’s attention and ensure that they retain the information presented.

“Giving a presentation at a scientific meeting is different from what we were trained to do.” — Sam J. Lubner, MD, FACP Tweet this quote

Honing Your Communication Skills

What are some specific tips on how to give effective feedback?

There are five tips that immediately come to mind: (1) focus on description rather than judgment; (2) focus on observation rather than inference; (3) focus on observable behaviors; (4) share both positive and constructive specific points of feedback with the presenter; and (5) focus on the most important points to improve future ­presentations.

Becoming a Proficient Presenter

How can ASCO faculty become more proficient at delivering their research at the Annual Meeting and at ASCO’s thematic meetings?

ASCO has published faculty guidelines and best practices to help speakers immediately involve an audience in their presentation and hold their attention throughout the talk. They include the following recommendations:

• Be engaging. Include content that will grab the audience’s attention early. For example, interesting facts, images, or a short video to hold the audience’s focus.
• Be cohesive and concise. When preparing slides, make sure the presentation has a clear and logical flow to it, from the introduction to its conclusion. Establish key points and clearly define their importance and impact in a concise, digestible manner.
• Include take-home points. Speakers should briefly summarize key findings from their research and ensure that their conclusion is fully supported by the data in their presentation. If possible, they should provide recommendations or actions to help solidify their message. Thinking about and answering this question—if the audience remembers one thing from my presentation, what do I want it to be?—will help speakers focus their presentation.
• When it comes to slide design, remember, less is more. It’s imperative to keep slides simple to make an impact on the audience.

Another method to keep the audience engaged and enhance the educational benefit of the talk is to use the Think-Pair ( ± Share) strategy, by which the speaker asks attendees to think through questions using two to three steps. They include:

• Think independently about the question that has been posed, forming ideas.
• Pair to discuss thoughts, allowing learners to articulate their ideas and to consider those of others.
• Share (as a pair) the ideas with the larger group.

The value of this exercise is that it helps participants retain the information presented, encourages individual participation, and refines ideas and knowledge through collaboration.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SLIDE DESIGN

• Have a single point per line.
• Use < 6 words per line.
• Use < 6 lines per slide.
• Use < 30 characters per slide.
• Use simple words.
• When using tables, maintain a maximum of 6 rows and 6 columns.
• Avoid busy graphics or tables. If you find yourself apologizing to the audience because your slide is too busy, it’s a bad slide and should not be included in the presentation.
• Use cues, not full thoughts, to make your point.
• Keep to one slide per minute as a guide to the length of the presentation.
• Include summary/take-home points per concept. We are all physicians who care about our patients and believe in adhering to good science. Highlight the information you want the audience to take away from your presentation and how that information applies to excellent patient care.

Speakers should also avoid using shorthand communication or dehumanizing language when describing research results. For example, do not refer to patients as a disease: “The study included 250 EGFR mutants.” Say instead, “The study included 250 patients with EGFR -mutant tumors.” And do not use language that appears to blame patients when their cancer progresses after treatment, such as, “Six patients failed to respond to [study drug].” Instead say, “Six patients had tumors that did not respond to [study drug].”

We all have respect for our patients, families, and colleagues, but sometimes our language doesn’t reflect that level of respect, and we need to be more careful and precise in the language we use when talking with our patients and our colleagues.

ASCO has developed a document titled “The Language of Respect” to provide guidance on appropriate respectful language to use when talking with patients, family members, or other health-care providers and when giving presentations at the Annual Meeting and other ASCO symposia. Presenters should keep these critical points in mind and put them into practice when delivering research data at these meetings. ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Lubner has been employed by Farcast Biosciences and has held a leadership role at Farcast Biosciences.

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How to Write an Email Asking for Feedback

Last Updated: December 5, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Alyson Garrido, PCC . Alyson Garrido is an International Coach Federation accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Facilitator, and Speaker. Using a strengths-based approach, she supports her clients with job search and career advancement. Alyson provides coaching for career direction, interview preparation, salary negotiation, and performance reviews as well as customized communication and leadership strategies. She is a Founding Partner of the Systemic Coach Academy of New Zealand. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 1,037,209 times.

If you need to write an email asking for feedback at work, school, or for a written manuscript, knowing how to phrase, time, and structure your message can help you get the most timely and helpful response. This wikiHow article will show you how to write polite and effective requests for feedback and review via email. We'll also give you some sample feedback request emails to get you started!

Asking for Feedback at Work

• You can say, “I was working on the presentation for tomorrow when I ran into a snag with the format—I’m not sure if I’m following the company’s standard. I’ve attached the presentation. Do you have any suggestions for the format? Thank you for your help with this.”
• Don’t forget to thank them in the email.

• You can say, for example, “I wasn’t sure how to proceed with the Eastman file. The client hasn’t responded to my emails, and since it is a high-priority assignment, I thought it best to email you to see what I should do.”
• If you are looking for more general feedback in the form of a review or report, request that specifically. Being polite, concise, and as specific as you can will help. For instance you could ask for a report on your efficiency or creativity. If you are asking for feedback from those who report to you, you may need to conduct an anonymous survey.

Alyson Garrido, PCC

Try the KISS method when you're requesting general feedback. The KISS model is a great way to help people give you appropriate, actionable feedback. Ask the person, "What should I keep ? What should I improve ? What should I start ? And what should I stop ?"

• Make sure you reply within 1-2 days at most.

Asking for Feedback at School

Asking for Feedback on a Manuscript

• You can include a brief description or an abstract , depending on whether the person you're emailing is a friend or a colleague.

• Positive feedback need not be un-constructive. If they explain why they like what they like, you can learn a lot about your manuscript. [13] X Research source
• If you get negative feedback, give yourself time to respond. If they are your friend, they likely only want to help. If they are a professor, no matter how angry or upset you feel, you should not respond in that manner. Instead, thank them for their help, and move on. After some time you may find that the feedback was helpful, even if the manner in which it was delivered was not.

Asking for Feedback from Customers

• When you do respond, be candid and professional. In today's viral internet culture, you can ruin a company's reputation in a second if you respond with anything other than professionalism and sincerity.

Email-Writing Help

Expert Q&A

• Don't badger people for feedback. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• Maintain proper email etiquette for the situation. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
• A little humility goes a long way. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1

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• ↑ https://fortune.com/2015/05/22/asking-performance-feedback-work/
• ↑ http://michaelhyatt.com/e-mail-etiquette-101.html
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/694/1/
• ↑ https://www.elsevier.com/authors-update/story/publishing-tips/5-ways-you-can-ensure-your-manuscript-avoids-the-desk-reject-pile
• ↑ http://journalistsresource.org/tip-sheets/reporting/interviewing-a-source
• ↑ https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-get-manuscript-readers-to-tell-you-the-truth-8d0d562e0d75
• ↑ http://www.wiseinkblog.com/planning/at-first-draft-the-6-minimal-steps-to-revising-your-manuscript-before-submission/
• ↑ http://jimmiescollage.com/2010/12/positive-feedback-writing/
• ↑ https://www.kayako.com/blog/the-proper-way-to-ask-for-customer-feedback/
• ↑ https://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-feedback/
• ↑ https://www.canva.com/learn/best-email-designs/
• ↑ http://blogs.constantcontact.com/mobile-friendly-emails/

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Feedback email templates

What is a feedback email? 

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Improving Presentations through Feedback: How to Receive Helpful Responses!

After the presentation comes before the presentation – the key to improvement lies in feedback. After a presentation, every speaker tends to review the performance and evaluate it. Did it go as planned? Was I confident enough? Was I able to convince the audience?

These questions can only be inadequately answered by ourselves, as we don’t truly know how we are perceived by others – unless we simply ask them…

Why a presentation needs detailed feedback

The presentation is over. Technically, how it went doesn’t matter anymore because nothing can be changed. This perspective can be fatal. There are good reasons why professional football coaches analyze games with their teams and why teachers encourage their students to correct their mistakes in exams.

It’s about learning and training . It’s about knowing our strengths and weaknesses and working on them . Only a few people are naturally good speakers. Everyone else also benefits from practice and working on their strengths and weaknesses. To identify them and improve, feedback is the best tool.

Why self-perception isn’t enough: the Johari Window

Sure, to some extent, we can assess ourselves, and we should. Recording our own speech with a camera and tripod and watching it afterwards can be very revealing.

But self-assessment can also mislead us as it solely relies on our self-perception . And that perception can be both significantly more positive and significantly more critical than the image others have of us. Hence, for a realistic evaluation, we always need external perception.

The so-called Johari Window sheds light on this dynamic. The model by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham illustrates the dynamics of self- and external perception and is based on the idea that communication can be improved by bringing these two spheres closer together.

The model is divided into four areas :

• Public Self: This is the area that both we and others can see. It includes aspects of our personality that are known to us and are also perceived by others.
• Blind Spot: This represents aspects of our personality or behavior that are not consciously known to us but can be recognized by others (e.g., facial expressions or body language). It’s the blind spot in our self-perception.
• Hidden Self: This involves aspects of our personality that we know but are not recognized by others. These are things we consciously hide from others.
• Unknown Self: This is the area that is unknown to both us and others. It contains potential abilities, emotions, or behaviors that haven’t been discovered yet.

In the context of self-reflection after presentations, the Johari Window can be a valuable aid. After a presentation, we have a subjective perception of how we presented ourselves, but this can differ from the actual perception of the audience. This is where the concept of the blind spot comes into play.

At this point, it’s crucial to ask for feedback from your listeners. Through their insights, you can learn how you were perceived and reduce your blind spot. Moreover, you’ll find out if your messages were conveyed as planned . With the information from the feedback, you can adjust future presentations and speeches.

Overall, the Johari Window enables deeper self-reflection after presentations because it encourages actively seeking feedback to gain a more realistic and comprehensive view of presentation skills.

Why Feedback is Important in All Industries

Feedback is important regardless of your industry affiliation. It plays a crucial role in skill development, performance enhancement, and fostering personal and professional growth . We’ve compiled an overview of why feedback is important in various industries:

• Academic Environment : In the education sector, feedback is a central tool to promote learning. Teachers provide students with feedback on their performance to identify strengths and weaknesses. In higher education, feedback is crucial to deepen students’ understanding and support their academic development.
• Business World : In the business world, feedback plays a vital role in employee development and increasing efficiency. Regular feedback allows employees to review their performance, adjust goals, and enhance skills. Managers can use feedback to motivate teams and improve company performance. This category also includes presentations and feedback for speakers. Feedback from listeners in the business world can help adjust customer interests and further develop products.
• Healthcare : Not to be underestimated – in healthcare, feedback is essential to improve clinical practice and optimize patient care. Medical professionals use feedback to refine diagnoses, adjust treatments, and increase patient satisfaction.
• Technology and Engineering : In technical and engineering professions, feedback is indispensable to drive innovation and optimize products. Design and performance issues can be identified, and technical solutions can be improved. Here too, feedback through PowerPoint presentations can be important for advancing innovations.
• Customer Service : In the customer service industry, feedback from customers is a key indicator of the quality of services offered. Companies use customer feedback to identify problems, make improvements, and increase customer satisfaction.
• Journalism and Media : In the media industry, feedback from readers, viewers, and listeners is a significant factor. Journalists and media professionals use feedback to evaluate the relevance of content, maintain journalistic standards, and engage the audience.

Relevant Criteria for Constructive Feedback

It makes sense not to give or seek feedback in a general manner, but rather to think in specific categories. For presentation feedback, the following areas are particularly relevant:

• Content and Structure : Was the topic covered comprehensively and clearly? Was there a logical and coherent structure?

• Visualization : Was the presentation well-organized and visually appealing? Were visual aids used effectively?

• Language : Was the speaker easy to understand? How was the tone? Was the choice of words and expression appropriate?

• Body Language : How was the facial expression and gestures? Were there eye contacts? What impression did the body language convey?

How to Gather Feedback after a Presentation

Feedback generally doesn’t come on its own . If you want to receive feedback after a presentation, you need to actively seek it.

The choice of the right method to gather feedback depends on your target audience, presentation goals, and available resources . Integrating feedback tools and technologies allows presenters to collect feedback in diverse ways and continuously improve the quality of their presentations. In today’s digital era, besides seeking feedback in person, there are numerous tools and technologies that can be used to efficiently and effectively gather feedback after presentations. These tools provide innovative ways to collect, analyze, and respond to feedback. Here are some examples:

• Question and Answer Session after the Presentation

The most immediate way to use feedback is through the question and answer session following the presentation. This is where both direct and indirect indications of the presentation’s success can be gathered. Indirectly, much can be inferred from the audience reactions .

Polite applause and an audience that seems eager to leave the room may not be a great sign. If there are many comprehension questions and doubtful looks, the presentation might not have been as clear and coherent as hoped.

For those seeking more detailed information, it’s possible to directly ask the audience for feedback. If it involves people you interact with frequently (such as colleagues), you can also inquire later on. However, immediate feedback isn’t always very fruitful and insightful , as many people are hesitant to openly express criticism – even if it’s constructive.

How to manage questions and answer sessions and Powerpoint can be found in our article “ PowerPoint Q&A “.

• Feedback Form with Standardized Questions

A feedback form that covers all relevant criteria can be very useful. It can be distributed or made available after a talk, either in person or via email to the participants . Since a feedback form can be filled out anonymously and at one’s own pace, it’s usually more productive than directly requested feedback.

Classic email surveys are still effective for collecting detailed feedback. Tools like Mailchimp or Sendinblue can help you create and send appealing survey emails. You can easily find templates for evaluation forms on the internet. Good and clear formats can be found, for example, here: link1 and link2 .

They are practical and provide good ideas. Of course, a feedback form can also be created from scratch . You can be more creative and open in your wording (e.g., “In your opinion, what are three things that could have been done better in the presentation?”).

• Send Online Surveys to Participants

A third option for requesting feedback is through online surveys . They are created using appropriate tools and made accessible to participants via a link. The structure typically resembles that of a traditional feedback form. The biggest disadvantage here is that the feedback opportunity is often only accessed by a few people.

Possible survey tools are SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Typeform. These tools allow you to create and send tailored surveys. With pre-made templates or individually designed questions, you can specifically ask for opinions, ratings, and suggestions.

Another example of an online feedback platform is Provenexpert. Through this platform, you can easily send a survey to your participants, asking them to rate you with stars and provide a personal experience report. Of course, the more personal and closer your contact is with your audience, the more likely you are to receive a rating.

Here is my Provenexpert profile with numerous reviews I’ve collected over the years for my presentations and seminars: My proven expert profile .

• Video Feedback Platforms

Platforms like VidGrid or Vosaic allow you to record your presentations and request targeted video feedback from the audience . This method offers not only verbal comments but also captures the body language and emotions of the feedback providers.

Similar to online surveys, one disadvantage is that this option is little used to provide feedback.

• Feedback Apps

Feedback apps like Feedbackly, Emplify, or 15Five offer comprehensive options for gathering feedback. They enable continuous feedback, mood analysis, and team communication. For instance, you can include a QR code link within your presentation to directly reference the feedback opportunity.

• Social Media Surveys

Social media provides a straightforward way to gather feedback from a broader audience . Platforms like Twitter or Instagram allow for surveys or polls to quickly gather feedback (see the next subchapter).

• Real-time Audience Interaction

Platforms like Mentimeter and Slido allow you to engage the audience in real time during the presentation. Participants can answer questions, express opinions, and conduct polls . This fosters engagement while providing valuable insights.

Using Social Media for Feedback

These days, reaching people through social media is effortless. Skillfully leverage social media platforms to gather feedback. They offer an effective way to collect feedback from a wider audience and gain valuable insights into how your presentations are perceived.

Moreover, using social media has the advantage of allowing you to gather opinions from individuals across different regions and backgrounds . This way, you receive feedback from a diverse audience.

Through various forms of interaction, you can gather opinions, ratings, and suggestions from a diverse group of people. Here are some ways you can use social media platforms for feedback:

• Polls and Voting : Social media platforms enable you to create polls and voting options to gather targeted feedback on specific aspects of your presentation. You can ask questions related to content, structure, or presentation style. Involving your followers allows for quick and easily understandable feedback.
• Comments and Discussions : After sharing your presentation on social media platforms, you can encourage comments and discussions about your content. Readers can share their thoughts, opinions, and suggestions, fostering open feedback interaction. Collecting different perspectives can help you understand various viewpoints and identify areas for improvement.
• Direct Messages : Some platforms allow users to send you direct messages. Here, you have the opportunity to receive personal feedback that might not be shared publicly. These direct conversations can offer detailed insights and encourage open exchanges.
• Story Features : Platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer story features where you can post short surveys or questions. This allows you to receive real-time feedback while enhancing the interactivity of your followers.

Handling Feedback in Presentations

Dealing with presentation feedback is typically similar to handling product reviews on major online stores. There are some overly enthusiastic 5-star reviews that make you doubt their authenticity, and there are some 1-star reviews that suggest the buyer might have been simply incompetent for the product.

In between, there usually exists a larger pool of mixed reviews that mention pros and cons, which often prove to be the most helpful. Such a distribution also often emerges in feedback for presentations, and in principle, it can be dealt with in the same way. What matters are the overall impression and the relevant pointers.

When it comes to handling feedback, the following tips should also be considered:

• Welcome All Feedback : Every listener is entitled to their opinion. Regardless of the content or the person delivering it, feedback should be accepted with gratitude. It’s worth noting that the source of the feedback, whether it’s from a superior or an apprentice, shouldn’t matter.

• No Feedback on Feedback : Especially with direct critical feedback, there’s often an inclination to debate, defend, or justify. However, it’s often better to simply accept what’s said with a thank you, regardless of whether it’s perceived as justified or not.

• Feedback isn’t Binding : Speakers also have the right to their opinion. Not everything mentioned in feedback needs to be implemented. What to change or implement is ultimately a personal decision.

Feedback is Not a One-Way Street

For those who appreciate valuable feedback, they should also be able to respond appropriately when asked for their own evaluation. To make feedback truly useful and helpful, it should fulfill the following criteria:

• Be Specific : When requesting feedback, it’s not just about receiving praise or criticism; it’s about getting specific pointers. For example, rather than saying “The presentation was engaging,” it’s better to say “The use of examples to illustrate individual factors made the presentation engaging.”

• Use “I” Statements : When giving feedback, you can only speak for yourself. Therefore, use first-person statements and not terms like “one.”

• Offer Improvement Suggestions : Constructive feedback ideally should be positively formulated and include improvement ideas. For instance, instead of saying “You spoke too quickly,” you could say “I would have found it easier to follow the presentation if you had spoken slower and incorporated more pauses.”

• Include Positive Criticism : It’s often forgotten that criticism doesn’t necessarily have to be negative. Learning what aspects of a presentation were well received can be just as important for presenters.

• Describe Instead of Judge : Feedback should describe the personal perception. Judgments or accusations are inappropriate. For instance, rather than saying “Your presentation was bad because you just read from the slides,” you could say “Since you read a lot from the slides, I felt the audience interaction was lacking.”

No Feedback Without Respect

Valuable feedback is closely tied to mutual respect. This should always be kept in mind by both those providing and receiving feedback. Feedback should be seen as a means of guidance and assistance , not a tool for evaluation. When given and received correctly, feedback can be extraordinarily useful.

Moreover, constructive feedback and even criticism can mean more recognition and respect than insincere praise. This sentiment was likely acknowledged by philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell when he stated:

Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement. Bertrand Russell

Conclusion: Skillfully Gathering and Implementing Feedback

In conclusion, adeptly seeking and implementing feedback can help you keep your presentations more professional and tailor your content to your target audience. Consider which feedback-receiving method works best for you and give it a try!

If you have questions about the article, feel free to email us at [email protected] . We’re here to help!

Looking for visually supportive and professionally designed slide templates? Browse our shop. We have numerous slides available for download covering various (business) topics. Check it out today! ► Visit the Shop

You might also be interested in these articles:

• Preparing Presentations: 11 Tips
• Target Group Analysis
• Mastering Question and Answer Sessions

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Tress Academic

#119: Why giving feedback to conference presentations–and how

April 12, 2022 by Tress Academic

Have you presented at a conference and found yourself wanting more useful feedback from the audience? Were you hoping the audience would recognise the hard work you put into your talk? We all need feedback to learn what we could improve to give a better presentation. Here, we would like to provide simple guidelines for presentation feedback at conferences. 

In our courses, we teach researchers how to successfully present their work to their peers at conferences, and we also discuss the reasons why participants want to present at conferences at all. Not everyone enjoys giving presentations, and many soon realize that successful conference delivery requires  investing a lot of time and effort. 

Despite the potential discomfort or additional workload, one of the key motivations to present for many of our course participants is that they appreciate receiving feedback from their peers on their talks. But when they’re presenting at conferences, the desired feedback is seldom provided. And if feedback is expressed, it’s not in the way the presenters were hoping for. Have you had similar experiences?

Here, we aim to encourage anyone joining a conference talk to provide good feedback to the presenters and establish a feedback-culture. To help you provide such feedback, we’ve created a free Presentation Feedback Sheet to download that you can use the next time you join an event where colleagues will present their research. 

I. What is presentation feedback?  

First of all, it is a sign from the audience that they followed the presentation and have feelings they wish to express about it. They can signal admiration, support, agreement, disagreement, or any other reaction that might be helpful for the presenters. Feedback is not a critique of the talk. It is not meant to turn the presenters down or cast them in a bad light in front of their peers. Presentation feedback can include positive, negative, or neutral input—but it should always aim to be useful to the presenters.  

Typically at conferences, a Q&A (questions and answers) session follows up the presenters’ talks. In the Q&A, the audience asks questions on the content, provides comments, or shares similar findings they’ve made. The Q&A should increase understanding of the presented research and help to embed it in a context familiar to the questioners and general audience. 

Presentation feedback goes beyond the Q&A part of a talk. It’s more than someone from the audience requesting additional information from the presenter on a specific aspect of the talk. Feedback also addresses how a presentation is delivered, organised, structured, or composed. It includes technical, communicative, as well as didactic aspects. It allows for an emotional response to the talk and considers the entire performance of the presenters and the way they conveyed their message to the audience. 

At academic conferences, Q&A and feedback can be mixed and come together. Yet, our own experience shows that most people from the audience prefer to ask questions to clarify or comment on a specific element of a talk rather than provide holistic feedback. Feedback is unfortunately not so common! 

II. Why is feedback necessary?  

Presenting at conferences can be quite nerve-wracking—particularly for early-career researchers and less-experienced presenters. Some told us that they are even more afraid of the Q&A at the end of their talks than of the talk itself. Even when they feel that they presented well, they’re afraid of receiving questions that they don’t understand and cannot answer. Balanced feedback, which may include a few questions, can provide a far better ending to a presentation for all involved. 

We heard another example from one of our course participants who had recently prepared a talk for a conference.  The delivery went well, but after the talk, there were neither questions asked nor feedback provided. It was silent, and then the chair went on to the next presentation. This silence felt very uncomfortable for the presenter. Understandably, it is awkward, if not down-right disappointing, to prepare a good talk, deliverwell, and have no one say anything about it. Was all the hard work a complete waste or not noticed? 

We had a similar experience back in the years when we studied in Heidelberg. We had a class with a professor in urban climatology, his name was Heinz K. Every student in his class had to prepare a paper and deliver it to the class in a short presentation. When it was our turn, we both delivered two separate papers and presented them. We had put a lot of effort into the papers because the subject was so interesting and we enjoyed doing it. For every paper delivered in class, two fellow students had to prepare as opponents and present feedback. 

Obviously, the fellow students who acted as our opponents were not living up to our professor’s expectations, as they hardly commented on anything. At the end of our session, the professor stood up and said “Doesn’t anyone realise that we just saw two excellent presentations?” And then he told the entire class why he thought we had done so well. 

The feedback we got at this very moment from our professor was so helpful, inspiring, and an enormous motivation booster. It was so good to hear that he recognised the hard work we put into our papers. Receiving his feedback has taught us a lot and encouraged us to become even better. We still remember it, and wish everyone could receive feedback as we received it that day in Heidelberg!

For us, providing feedback on conference presentations serves four purposes: 

1) Recognizing the work and time that presenters invested

All presenters want to deliver well and get their messages across, and everyone wants to have a positive impact on the audience. Some are more successful with this task than others, but all have that intention–otherwise they wouldn’t show up and present. Somehow the presenters need to know whether they were successful in this attempt or not, and feedback can provide that answer.  

2) Preventing the post-presentation gap

Giving a presentation means being the centre of attention. All eyes are on the presenter during a presentation, and everyone is following every word and every visual being shown. Many presenters enjoy the lime-light, others not, but regardless, they have worked hard to prepare for it. But if the presentation is over and no feedback is expressed, and the audience just moves on to the next talk, the presenter falls into the post-presentation gap. 

Nobody seems to notice them and if no one comes and talks to them, it can feel completely underwhelming or disappointing. Why did they then go through this exceptional and nerve-wracking process if their talk had no effect on anyone? It is frustrating for presenters to be ignored this way. It can happen all too easily at academic conferences: One presenter just follows the next one, and so on. Ideally, someone would tell the presenters how they honestly felt about their talk so that the presenter can see a purpose in the whole presenting exercise.

3) Providing helpful and critical input 

In every presentation there are ups and downs, but it is difficult for the presenters to spot them themselves. Being in the audience and listening to the talk makes it easy to see immediately what worked well and what did not. You might assume the presenters know that as well, but they most likely are not aware of it. You’re of great help if you let presenters know what the good and not so good elements of their talk were. Then they can build on their strengths and work on the weak parts, and their next talks will be better! Otherwise, they will do the same the next time and you will also feel the same. 

4) Establishing a relationship with the presenters

Providing feedback shows care for the person behind the presentation. If you liked their topic or the way they presented, giving feedback can be the first step in establishing a connection with them. You can wait and see how they behave offstage, and determine whether you would like to establish contact with them for future collaboration. Providing feedback is a great way to introduce yourself and begin a conversation with them about their work.

III. How to provide good feedback  

It’s great that you are considering providing feedback to presenters in the first place, but you also want to  ensure that your feedback is useful and well-received by the presenters. Here are some tips on how to do it right: 

• Be constructive: Even if you didn’t like everything the presenter came up with, feedback is the wrong place to air your negative thoughts. Instead, the goal is to improve the situation so that the presenters do better the next time they are up on stage. Therefore, suggest realistic steps for improvement and offer your suggestions if possible. 
• Be honest: If you did not like the talk, then don’t say it was a great talk. The presenters want to know how you really felt. You don’t need to give praise where it isn’t due, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friendly, kind, and supportive when you express less-positive feedback. But if you felt it was a great talk, then tell them, don’t be too modest! 
• Be fair: It’s so easy to fall into a mode of criticising from your comfy seat in the audience, but are you being fair? Put yourself in the presenter’s situation, and consider which types of feedback you would like to recieve. Always express your feedback in a form and mode that is considerate and accounts for the speaker’s feelings. Treat them as you would like to be treated. 
• Be timely: Provide feedback as close to the talk as possible. Then, you can still remember all the small details and the presenters can easily recall their talks. 
• Be specific: A general comment like “Oh, it was a great talk” is good, but it is even more helpful when you can point out specific moments in the talk that were good. Or, point out what specifically the presenter could do to improve. 
• Be careful in criticising publicly: Depending on where you provide your feedback, in private or in a larger group, provide critical comments in a personal exchange with the presenter rather than in a large group. Criticism can easily hurt the presenter, even if you did not intend it. It is easier for the presenters to take these comments in private, and you will likely have better results this way. 
• Be modest: Whatever you say, make it clear this is YOUR specific view, your opinion. It is not helpful to claim something is generally wrong or right because different people may have different thoughts about it. Rather, say “I think you could try this way,” instead of saying “You should do it this way.”
• Don’t ‘but’: Avoid using sentences like “Overall it was a very good presentation but …” The negative turn wipes out all of the praise. The presenter only hears the ‘but’ and waits for the negative news. Rather, say “I think you gave a really good presentation because ….” Then continue with a separate statement where you could say “I think on this specific aspect it would be better to do it this way …”
• Be positive: Let the presenter know what was really good, and provide an example. End in a positive tone to leave the presenter motivated. After all, feedback is about encouragement! 

Giving honest, fair and constructive feedback can raise the quality of presentations a lot. Feedback is not a judgement—good or bad—but an essential interaction and a learning process. Conferences are events where peers exchange, interact and learn from each other—they’re about communicating science. It is not a worthwhile experience if the only communication is from the presenters to the audience with no back-and-forth. When you give feedback to a presenter, you enable two-way communication, you pay them back for the time and effort they invested, and they will be grateful for it. Use our Presentation Feedback Sheet for your next conference and tell the presenters what you liked about their talks. By the way, even so-called “experienced” presenters are grateful to receive feedback! 

Resources: 

• Worksheet: Presentation Feedback Sheet
• Smart Academics Blog post #26: First conference presentation? 17 life-saving tips
• Smart Academics Blog post #30: Questions from the audience you should be prepared to answer
• Smart Academics Blog post #95: Apply these 5 tips to improve any presentation
• Smart Academics Blog post #116:  How to be a great conference chair—Part 1: Prepare and open the session
• Smart Academics Blog post #117: How to be a great conference chair—Part 2: Managing time, presenters and questions

More information

Do you want to present successfully at conferences?  If so, please  sign up to receive our free guides.

Photo by Arif Kusuma on unsplash.com

© 2022 Tress Academic

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Sep 15, 2022

How to write a customer feedback email with sample email flow and templates

Check out these 5 feedback email samples and templates and read our guide on how to write customer feedback emails.

Saku Kahkonen

Growth Lead

Table of contents

One of the most valuable things you can do for your customers is show them you care about what they have to say. Customer feedback emails are designed to nurture connections and foster a deeper sense of appreciation with your customers.

You likely already know how important it is to consider your audience’s thoughts and feelings. After all, they’re the ones you make your products for! 

But how do you get the information you need without coming off too strong? And how can you get customers to respond to feedback requests, like surveys and questionnaires?

The answer lies in crafting a personalized customer feedback email. In this guide you have everything you need to start.

This is where Flowrite comes in handy, as you can create personalized feedback emails super fast. For example, check out our thank you for feedback template in action:

How to write a customer feedback email

To kick things off, every customer feedback email needs 3 key elements:

• An attention-grabbing subject line
• An engaging but brief body
• A strong call-to-action

Subject line gets your customers to open an email, but the body and CTA will be what makes them take the next steps. 

How many companies have hit a roadblock trying to get their customers to do more than simply open their emails? And how many more struggle to even get their messages seen in the first place?

With Flowrite’s AI-powered technology, you can put these tips into practice and craft irresistible copy your customers will love.

Before we dive deeper, let’s go over some customer feedback email etiquette, shall we?

How to ask a customer for feedback by email

There is a right and wrong way (actually, many right and wrong ways) to ask for customer feedback. Here’s what you don’t want to do:

All of these subject lines feel like commands. They give recipients obligations when they should be providing options . To politely and effectively ask for customer feedback, you need to align your request with a benefit that motivates your audience to respond.

Benefits needn’t be over-the-top. It can actually be something as small as saving someone time. What matters is that you demonstrate, right off the bat, that you value your customers’ input, and you want to show your gratitude.

Here are some polite, non-salesy examples for requesting customer feedback:

Why are these effective? In example one, you offer a clear benefit through a small credit. Not only does this encourage a customer to buy again, but it also makes them more likely to open your email. Half the job is already done!

In example two, you provided a clear purpose and demonstrated that you value your customers’ time. They can make a difference in your company without compromising their own schedule to answer lengthy questionnaires.

Now, let’s move onto some of the finer points of customer feedback emails. 

Customer feedback email format

1. customer feedback subject line.

Your subject line is the most critical part of your email. Why? Because if people don’t resonate with it, they’ll never bother to read the fantastic copy you’ve tucked inside your email.

Our previous examples covered why some subject lines are ineffective and provided two alternatives. 

Whenever you write a subject line for a customer feedback email, ensure that you are clear about your purpose and provide some value. Worlds like “Help” and “Reminder” are less effective than you might think. 

Instead, opt for terms like “Invite” or “Share”. These are less demanding of the recipient and immediately give them an option to engage. 

People who feel like you value their choices are more likely to engage. 

Also, personalization goes a long way. Using the recipient’s first and last names, when appropriate, can make a difference. Consider the contrast between these two subject lines:

Subject line 2 is personal, to-the-point, and focuses more on the consumer’s feedback than your desire for it.

2. Customer feedback email body

The email itself should be under 300 words. You’re there to make a simple request and extend the opportunity to provide feedback, nothing more. Start off with a friendly salutation, then follow up with your proposal.

If you’re offering an incentive, such as a discount, then make sure you include this early on. The goal isn’t to bribe your audience, however. You really want them to share their thoughts because it helps your company improve its service.

So, the email body should accomplish 5 things:

• Let the customer know why you’re writing
• Express why you want their feedback
• Let them know how you’ll apply their feedback (aka how it benefits them)
• Tell them how long it will take
• Provide a clear CTA they can engage with on their own terms

3. Customer feedback email signature

Closing off your email should be short and sweet. Include a large CTA (preferably a clickable button) that they can interact with if they want to proceed. It should be undeniably clear where they need to go and what they need to do if they decide to share their thoughts. 

It’s best to sign off before your CTA, leaving the button as the last thing the customer sees on the page.

Avoid placing any text after the CTA. This can serve as a distraction that discourages participation.

Customer feedback email examples and templates

Now that you know how to write a customer feedback email let’s look at some examples you can use for your own company.

We’ve crafted an example email sequence with 5 emails you can use for inspiration. From first reaching out to following up, this series illustrates how to navigate the entire customer feedback process, or just the step you need to take.

Beyond simply stating a request, we’ve included a thank you email to customer for feedback template and emails to send when you receive positive or negative responses. 

5 Customer feedback email samples

1. sample email requesting feedback from customer, 2. reply to customer feedback email sample, 3. thank you email to customer for positive feedback, 4. sample email response to customer for negative feedback, 5. sharing customer feedback with employees email sample, 2 customer feedback email templates.

Now that we’ve looked at a customer feedback email flow, here are two customer feedback email templates you can use for your own brand. We’ve included one requesting feedback via email, and another requesting feedback via survey. 

Let us know how these templates work for you! Please adjust the tone, style, and verbiage to suit your business’s tone. 

1. Customer feedback request email template

2. customer feedback survey email template, final words.

The best way to request customer feedback through email is to be specific, direct, and polite.

You want to avoid coming off as demanding or placing any obligation on your audience. Instead, open a line of communication that encourages them to share what they feel — the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

All of it helps your brand improve and become a better business. Using these free customer feedback email templates can help you easily craft compelling copy people relate to.

And as always, you can take your emails a step further by exploring Flowrite’s AI writing tool, that works like this:

Flowrite is hands-down the fastest email writing experience, that can help you scale your email outreach, while keeping the personal touch.

And the best part is that you can get started for free, so signup today!

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AI, Your Side Hustle Hero to Make Money from Home

Think AI is just for super-smart scientists? Nope! There are tons of ways you can use AI to make some serious cash from home.

Ready to turn your tech-love into a side hustle? Here are some amazing ideas:

1. The Content Creation Powerhouse

Ai, your writing buddy.

Imagine having a writing assistant that never gets tired, bored, or has writer’s block! AI tools like Jasper and Rytr help you crank out blog posts, website copy, product descriptions, and even creative stuff like poems or short stories.

You can write paid articles for websites or companies, or use AI to make your own online business shine with tons of fresh content. AI can even help you find ideas and make sure your writing is on point!

Pics in a Flash

Ever wish you could draw anything you imagine? AI image generators like DALL-E and Midjourney let you do just that!

Just type in what you want to see – like “a cat flying a spaceship” or “a watercolor landscape of a hidden waterfall” – and the AI will create it.

You can sell your images on stock photo sites, use them to make your blog posts stand out, or turn them into cool digital art pieces you can sell online.

Movie Magician

AI can help you become the next editing superstar! Services can cut and paste video clips, add background music, and even turn your dialogue into subtitles for different languages.

Imagine helping YouTubers make their videos snappier, or editing short videos for businesses– it’s a skill you could even be paid for!

2. AI Expert Services

The global chat champ.

If you know another language (or more!), AI translation tools become your BFFs. Instead of taking forever on translations, AI does the basic work, and you fine-tune it for accuracy and style.

Get gigs translating websites so they reach worldwide markets, translating important documents, or even adding subtitles so movies and videos can be enjoyed by everyone!

Meet Your Robot Assistant

Businesses want to offer help 24/7, but that’s impossible for humans! That’s where chatbots come in.

Platforms like Dialogflow let you “train” little AI assistants to answer common questions, take orders, or gather information from potential customers even when everyone’s asleep.

It’s like coding and customer service rolled into one cool job.

Data Detective

AI is amazing at spotting patterns way too huge for humans to see alone. You can offer services by using AI to analyze mountains of social media chatter to see what people really think about products or brands.

Investors might pay you to use AI to spot stock market trends. Businesses might want you to use AI to track their rivals and see what sneaky plans they might be hatching!

3. Affiliate Marketing with a Techy Twist

Ai reviewer: the ultimate comparison tool.

Imagine being able to gather tons of information on different products in a flash! That’s what AI lets you do. Let’s say you want to review the best robot vacuums.

AI tools can help you scrape customer reviews, compare features across different brands, and even summarize the pros and cons. You write awesome reviews, include your special affiliate links, and whenever someone clicks your link and buys, you earn cash.

It’s like being a super-helpful shopping guide and getting paid for it!

Super-Niche Websites: Your Secret Weapon

Sometimes the biggest money isn’t in the broadest topics, but the super-focused ones. Imagine a website not about pets, but all about the cutest outfits for teacup poodles! AI tools help you find these “micro-niches” – topics huge groups of people are obsessed with but might have fewer websites dedicated to them.

Once you’ve picked your niche, AI can help with everything else. It can find keywords that help people find your site, suggest tons of article ideas, and even help you write some of the content.

AI can also help you find products related to your niche to promote with affiliate links, making your awesome website into a money-making machine.

4. Build Your AI Empire

Tool time: coding for cash.

If you have some coding skills, you can build super-useful, bite-sized AI tools that people will happily pay for. Think of common problems people have: resizing a ton of images is a pain, long articles can be a drag to read, and catching every single grammar error is tough.

You could build simple tools that offer AI-powered solutions – a quick image resizer, an article summarizer, or an extra-smart grammar checker. Sell these tools on online marketplaces, and suddenly you’re not just using AI, you’re selling it!

Plugin Power: Supercharge Popular Programs

Do you know your way around popular software like Photoshop, Excel, or even game design programs? You can become a plugin superstar! Create little add-ons that use AI to do cool new things.

Maybe your plugin adds AI filters to Photoshop, or teaches Excel to predict future patterns based on the data. Find platforms that allow developers to sell plugins for their software, and your creations could make you money while helping others work smarter.

AI Business Sensei: The Ultimate Consultant

If you get really good with AI, and understand how businesses work, you could make serious money as a consultant. Companies often have no idea how to start using AI to their advantage.

You could be the expert that helps them! Teach them how AI can find them new customers, help them analyze huge amounts of data to make better decisions, or even automate some parts of their business to save them time and money.

As AI gets more important, companies will be desperate for consultants like you!

Things to Remember:

Humans still needed: the ai hype is real, but….

AI is a powerful tool, but it’s still just that – a tool. It can mess up, make stuff that’s just plain weird, or even be used for harmful things if we’re not careful. That’s where you come in!

Your job is to double-check AI’s work, make sure it sounds natural and makes sense, add your own creative spark, and be the one to make sure the AI is doing good, not harm.

Find Your Thing: Be the Specialist

Trying to be an expert in everything AI-related is a recipe for a headache. Instead, become known as THE person for something specific.

Are you the best AI product reviewer for tech gadgets? The go-to person for building customer service chatbots? The genius who finds hidden stock market patterns using AI?

Specializing makes it easier for clients to find you and know exactly what you can do for them.

Never Stop Learning: The AI Train Keeps Rolling

AI technology changes at lightning speed! New tools, techniques, and updates are happening all the time. To stay ahead of the game, you’ve got to be curious and willing to learn.

Subscribe to tech newsletters, mess around with new AI programs as they come out, and take online courses. The more you know about cutting-edge AI, the more valuable your skills become!

View, manage, and install add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

When you enable an add-in, it adds custom commands and new features to Microsoft 365 programs that help increase your productivity. Because add-ins can be used by attackers to do harm to your computer, you can use add-in security settings to help protect yourself.

Note:  This article only applies to Microsoft 365 applications running on Windows.

View installed add-ins

You can directly install add-ins from this page or select  More Add-ins  to explore.

In the Office Add-ins dialog, select  My Add-ins  tab.

Select an add-in you want to view the details for and right-click to select  Add-in details  option.

Click a heading below for more information .  

Add-in categories explained

Active Application Add-ins      Add-ins registered and currently running on your Microsoft 365 program.

Inactive Application Add-ins      These are present on your computer but not currently loaded. For example, XML schemas are active when the document that refers to them is open. Another example is the COM add-in: if a COM add-in is selected, the add-in is active. If the check box is cleared, the add-in is inactive.

Document Related Add-ins      Template files referred to by open documents.

Disabled Application Add-ins     These add-ins are automatically disabled because they are causing Microsoft 365 programs to crash.

Add-in      The title of the add-in.

Publisher      The software developer or organization responsible for creating the add-in.

Compatibility      Look here for any compatibility issues.

Location      This file path indicates where the add-in is installed on your computer.

Description This text explains the add-in function.

Note:  Microsoft Outlook has one add-in option in the Trust Center: Apply macro security settings to installed add-ins . InfoPath has no security settings for add-ins.

Permanently disable or remove an add-in

To disable or remove an add-in follow these steps:

Select  File > Get Add-ins . Alternatively, you can select  Home > Add-ins .

In the Office Add-ins dialog, select  My Add-ins  tab.

Select an add-in you want to remove and right click to select  Remove  option.

View or change add-in settings

You can see and change add-in settings in the Trust Center, descriptions of which are in the following section. Add-in security settings may have been determined by your organization so not all options may be available to change.

Select  File  >  Get Add-ins .

Select  More Add-ins > Manage My Add-ins.

Select  Trust Center  >  Trust Center Settings  >  Add-ins.

Check or uncheck the boxes you want.

Add-in settings explained

Require Application Add-ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher      Check this box to have the Trust Center check that the add-in uses a publisher's trusted signature. If the publisher's signature hasn’t been trusted, the Microsoft 365 program doesn’t load the add-in, and the Trust Bar displays a notification that the add-in has been disabled.

Disable notification for unsigned add-ins (code will remain disabled)      When you check the Require Application Extensions to be signed by Trusted Publisher box, this option is no longer grayed out. Add-ins signed by a trusted publisher are enabled, but unsigned add-ins are disabled.

Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality)      Check this box if you don't trust any add-ins. All add-ins are disabled without any notification, and the other add-in boxes are grayed out.

Note:  This setting takes effect after you exit and restart your Microsoft 365 program.

While working with add-ins, you may need to learn more about digital signatures and certificates , which authenticate an add-in, and trusted publishers , the software developers who often create add-ins.

Manage and install add-ins

Use the following instruction to manage and install add-ins.

To install a new add-in:

You can directly install popular add-ins on the page or go to More Add-ins  to explore. 

Select the add-in and select  Add . Or browse by selecting  Store  tab in the Office add-in dialog to find other add-ins to install and select Add for that add-in.

To manage your add-ins:

Select  File > Get Add-ins and from the bottom, select More Add-ins.  Or select  Home  >  Add-ins > More add-ins.

In the Office dialog, select My Add-ins tab. If you are not able to see your add-ins, select  Refresh to reload your add-ins.

Select  Manage My Add-in  to manage and select  Upload to browse and add an add-in from your device.

How to cancel a purchased add-in

If you've subscribed to an add-in through the Microsoft 365 Store that you don't want to continue, you can cancel that subscription.

Open the Microsoft 365 application and go to the Home  tab of the ribbon.

Select  Add-ins  and then select  More Add-ins > My Add-ins tab   to view your existing add-ins.

Select the app you want to cancel and select  Manage My Add-ins .

Under the Payment and Billing section choose Cancel Subscription .

Select  OK and then Continue .

Once that's complete you should see a message that says "You have cancelled your app subscription" in the comments field of your apps list.

Why is my add-in crashing?

Some add-ins might not be compatible with your organization's IT department policies. If that is the case with add-ins recently installed on your Microsoft 365 program, Data Execution Prevention (DEP) will disable the add-in and the program might crash.

Learn more about DEP

Get a Microsoft 365 Add-in for Outlook

Get a Microsoft 365 Add-in for Project

Taking linked notes

If you're looking for Help on linking notes in OneNote to a Word or PowerPoint document, see Take linked notes .

Excel Windows Add-ins

If you're looking for Help on specific Excel Add-ins, such as Solver or Inquire, see Help for Excel for Windows add-ins .

If you're looking for additional help with Excel add-ins using the COM Add-ins dialog box, see Add or remove add-ins in Excel .

Get a Microsoft 365 Add-in for Excel

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