How To Give Speech Feedback

Do you know how to give effective feedback on a speech or presentation?

Imagine, you have just delivered a presentation. You were nervous beforehand but it seemed to have gone OK. But then your boss tells you all the things you did wrong. You feel crushed.

Maybe some of the advice your boss gave was encouraging and could have been valuable learning, but you were upset and so didn’t take it in.

It’s the cave dweller in you coming out.

Perhaps we’d better explain that last comment! In prehistoric times, we were more likely to survive if we were part of a community than if we were on our own. So, being accepted by other humans was life-or-death important.

Even in modern times, we are still hard-wired by evolution to crave social acceptance. When we receive critical feedback, it can trigger our basic survival instincts in the same way that physical danger does.

Critical feedback can make the rational part of the brain shut down and send the recipient into fight, flight or freeze response.

Providing psychological safety means letting someone know that they are accepted, well-regarded and safe, so that they are ready to hear some constructive feedback without feeling threatened.

Giving Speech Feedback

Because of our evolutionary sensitivities, people naturally tend to be more conscious of the negative feedback than the positive. This means that you should limit commenting on areas for improvement and emphasise the positive more.

How you deliver the feedback depends on your relationship with the speaker, and what the most important message is that you need to give them.

A Feedback Sandwich

The sandwich method of giving feedback means starting with some positives, then mentioning some areas for improvement, and ending with more positive feedback. It has been a popular method because it keeps the feedback balanced.

Whether you use the sandwich method is a matter of personal preference. The most important thing is that your positive feedback should always be sincere.

Even speakers at the earliest stages of their development journey show potential in areas which you can call out and recognise. Did they have a steady stance without nervous shifting? Were they clearly audible from the back of the room? Were they demonstrably enthusiastic?

There might be an emerging improvement you can mention, ‘by the end of the speech, Jane was starting to find a much steadier stance. There was some distracting shifting from foot to foot at the outset, but she collected herself and corrected this, which made a big difference to how well her speech came over and showed that she has presence of mind under pressure.’

If a speakers is low in confidence and anxious about their performance, the most important thing for them to hear first is what they did well. This is about making them psychologically safe.

Limit areas for improvement to the one or two things that will have the most impact on improving their speaking. These should ideally also be things that are easy for them to correct. And where you can demonstrate how to achieve the improvement.

Don’t say, ‘Fred shifted from foot to foot in a nervous way’.

Do say, ‘If Fred could practice keeping his feet still and planted, it would help him to come across as confident and collected’.

Feedback is only valuable when it tells people exactly how they give a better presentation or speech next time.

Opinions

Remember, there are no absolutes, everything is your opinion. Others in the audience may have a different perspective. Rather than,

“I think it might have been even more effective if Dan had raised his voice at this point,”

it might be more appropriate to say

“varying the volume of the voice a bit more, such as raising his voice when he has a point to emphasise, could make the speech even more compelling.”

It’s best if you demonstrate this with an example, but use an example point in your own feedback – let Dan decide what to emphasise in his speeches.

Good Because

Highlighting the strong points is important. And it’s equally important to explain why they have added to the effectiveness of the speech.

“Did you notice how Mary paused after humorous parts of her speech. That gave us time to laugh and relax for a second before focussing back on the presentation.”

Generally, speakers have put a lot of work into their speeches, so acknowledge it.

When Is It Okay To Start With A Critical Point?

If the speaker knows you well, trusts your feedback, and it’s important for them to know where the speech can be improved, it might be appropriate to give constructive criticism first.

Some people like to hear the critical things first, to get them out of the way. So, sometimes this is actually the kindest approach! Try to find out what approach your speaker prefers.

Even so, be sure to tell them plenty about what they did well, for reassurance.

Finishing Off

At the end of your feedback, it might be appropriate to summarise the most important points. At Bromsgrove Speakers Club, our preference is to end on a positive, whether you’re using the sandwich method or not. Even confident speakers appreciate a little reassurance.

The most important things to remember are: people pay more attention to negative feedback than to the positive feedback, don’t give negative feedback if you can’t give a practical suggestion for improvement, and always, always be sincere in the positive feedback that you give.

Two Ways to Prepare Your Feedback

There are two approaches you can take to giving feedback, again, perhaps depending on the context of the speech.

You could think about all of the aspects that you need to consider and write down headings for the key things that the speaker might include in the presentation. This helps form an outline for delivering the feedback.

For example, when considering how body language was used, headings could be for facial expressions, hand gestures and eye contact.

It will act as a reminder of what you are looking for and can make sure that important aspects are covered in the feedback.

Make notes under your various headings while the presentation is in progress. Then they can be tidied up and written up in a structured way before providing your guidance.

If you are looking for a less clinical approach, just sit and listen to the speaker and make a note of anything that stands out.

You’ll probably have less to say as a result but it will let you focus on what’s made an impression with you.

Unless you are fairly experienced, it’s probably better to take the first approach and have a prepared list of headings. It will help to stop you worrying you might have missed something important.

Your initial feedback is likely to be verbal but it’s a good idea to follow it up with written guidance, as it allows the speaker to reflect and look back when developing their next speech.

Find Out More

Read about negativity bias, thoughts on how to overcome it plus cavemen and more.

And when negativity turns into a fear of public speaking, here’s how to overcome it.