Oh, That Feedback!
Yesterday's post was about wondering what the audience is thinking during and after I speak. Well, two answers came since then that help. A lot.
I got an email from my webpage from a listener at my latest Reading Romance talk, and a personal email from the person who arranged my latest Write, Edit, Publish Workshop. Both were positive and specific, telling me what they'd heard from participants and what their own response was as well.
That's very helpful. I'm not one for giving negative criticism unless I'm asked for specifics about what should be changed to improve something. Feedback about what IS good, however, is always welcome, and I try to pass it out liberally, knowing how hard the work is. My mother always said to find something nice to say, so I do, and I appreciate those who do the same. No response to a speaker or an author means they don't have a clue, and doubt tends to fill that void, at least for me. Negatvity makes a person's hackles rise, and they tend to defend themselves rather than taking the criticism under consideration. But specific feedback about what was good, what you liked, points a person in the right direction. A person who told me after the workshop, "Thank you for this (the handout). It's going to be a lot of help." Okay, now I know that all my hard work on that is appreciated. The email said that people commented that four hours "flew by." Okay, now I know my pacing is good; I'm not putting anyone to sleep.
See what positive feedback does? It indicates what to build on. I often tell audiences to write to authors and tell them what's good about their work. (I'm still a believer in if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing (unless they ask a specific, "Did you like it?") The interesting thing is once you've commented positively, you could slip in a suggestion and it won't hurt so much. "I loved the presentation, although I wish we could have spent more time on publishing, because that's what I know least about."
I think I'd get the hint, but I'd still love the positive part.
I got an email from my webpage from a listener at my latest Reading Romance talk, and a personal email from the person who arranged my latest Write, Edit, Publish Workshop. Both were positive and specific, telling me what they'd heard from participants and what their own response was as well.
That's very helpful. I'm not one for giving negative criticism unless I'm asked for specifics about what should be changed to improve something. Feedback about what IS good, however, is always welcome, and I try to pass it out liberally, knowing how hard the work is. My mother always said to find something nice to say, so I do, and I appreciate those who do the same. No response to a speaker or an author means they don't have a clue, and doubt tends to fill that void, at least for me. Negatvity makes a person's hackles rise, and they tend to defend themselves rather than taking the criticism under consideration. But specific feedback about what was good, what you liked, points a person in the right direction. A person who told me after the workshop, "Thank you for this (the handout). It's going to be a lot of help." Okay, now I know that all my hard work on that is appreciated. The email said that people commented that four hours "flew by." Okay, now I know my pacing is good; I'm not putting anyone to sleep.
See what positive feedback does? It indicates what to build on. I often tell audiences to write to authors and tell them what's good about their work. (I'm still a believer in if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing (unless they ask a specific, "Did you like it?") The interesting thing is once you've commented positively, you could slip in a suggestion and it won't hurt so much. "I loved the presentation, although I wish we could have spent more time on publishing, because that's what I know least about."
I think I'd get the hint, but I'd still love the positive part.
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