15.8: Speech Feedback and Evaluation

Feedback as an Audience Member

Audience members are vital in helping speakers understand how they are doing both during and after the presentation. In the public speaking rounds you will have the chance to practice your active listening skills. Knowing what it feels like to be on stage is often motivation enough for many people to give nonverbal feedback or verbal feedback.

Your instructor will guide the evaluation sessions and will provide some prompting questions to help you give some constructive feedback to your classmates. Part of your assignment points will be determined by your participation in being a good audience member for your classmates’ speeches.

Let’s look at how you can provide nonverbal and verbal feedback to a speaker.

Nonverbal Feedback

Effective listening is more than just using your ears. In fact, Boothman (2008) recommends listening with your whole body, not just your ears. Consider how confident you would feel speaking to a room full of people with their eyes closed, arms and legs crossed, and bodies bent in slouches. These listeners are presenting non-verbal cues communicating that they are uninterested and unimpressed. Meanwhile, listeners sitting up straight, facing you with an intent look on their face, are more likely to offer reassurance that the speaker’s words are being understood.

Eye contact is another nonverbal cue to the speaker that you are paying attention. You don’t want to be bug-eyed and unblinking; the speaker might assume there is a tiger behind them and begin to panic as you seem to be doing. However, attentive eye contact can indicate you are listening and help you to stay focused too. There are some cultures where maintaining eye contact would cause discomfort, so keep that in mind. Also, you may be someone who listens better with eyes closed to visualize what is being said. This can be difficult for a speaker to recognize, so if this is you, consider incorporating one of the following non-verbals while you listen with eyes closed.

Nodding your head affirmatively and making responses such as “Yes,” “Umhum,” or “OK” can help the speaker gauge your interest. Even the speed of your head nod can signal your level of patience or understanding (Pease & Pease, 2006). Leaning in as a listener is far more encouraging than slumping in your seat. Nevertheless, sending too many non-verbal responses to the speaker can go wrong, too. After all, a conference room full of people shifting in their seats and nodding their heads may translate as a restless audience that the speaker needs to recapture.

Verbal Feedback

While speakers sometimes want all questions held until the end of a presentation, asking questions when the opportunity presents itself can help you as a listener. For one, you have to listen in order to be able to ask a question. Your goal should be to ask open-ended questions (“What do you think about….?” rather than “We should do …, right?”). You can use questions to confirm your understanding of the speaker’s message. If you’re not entirely sure of a significant point, you might ask a clarifying question. These are questions such as “What did you mean?” “Can you be more specific?” or “What is a concrete example of your point?” Such questions can help your comprehension while also offering the speaker feedback. When asking questions, approach the speaker in a positive, non-threatening way. A good listener doesn’t seek to put the speaker on the defensive. You want to demonstrate your objectivity and willingness to listen to the speaker’s response.

Finally, paraphrasing what has been said in your interactions with the speaker can be another useful tool for a good listener. Imagine the difference if, before you respond to an upset colleague, you take a moment to say, “I understand you are disappointed we didn’t consult you before moving forward with the product release…” before you say, “we didn’t have time to get everyone’s input.” Reflecting back the speaker’s point of view before responding allows the speaker to know you were listening and helps foster trust that everyone’s voice is being heard.

Non-Verbal Feedback (constructive)	Verbal Feedback (constructive)
Listen with whole body	Ask open-ended questions
Use appropriate eye contact	Questions confirm understanding of message
Nod affirmatively (mmm hmm, yes, OK)	Ask clarifying questions (can you give an example of/did you mean…)
Use listener’s lean	Use paraphrasing to demonstrate accurate understanding
Non-Verbal Feedback (not constructive)	Verbal Feedback (not constructive)
Closed body position	Asking closed questions
No eye contact	Asking questions that don’t relate to speaker’s message
Inattentive, distracted (playing with phones, engaging in side conversations etc.)	Asking rhetorical questions
Slumping, yawning	Making your own speech instead of asking a question

Receiving Feedback

Being open to receiving feedback is the only way to have a better picture of your performance as a presenter or speaker. Combining self-analysis with the feedback of your audience or peers is your opportunity to better understand your strengths as a presenter and what resonated well with your audience.

It may be a bit more uncomfortable to look at things that did not go well or receive feedback that’s judgemental, biased, or otherwise laden with emotion. When receiving and making sense of feedback, it is very important to be self-aware and honest with yourself. This honesty will help you distinguish between an environmental situation, a situation that lies with the audience member, or a situation with the presenter.

Watch this video from Toastmasters.org to gain some helpful tips for providing feedback:

Watch this video to learn about conscious listening:

References

Boothman, N. (2008). How to make people like you in 90 seconds or less. NY: Workman Publishing.

Pease, A., & Pease, B. (2006). The definitive book of body language. New York: Bantam Books.

Attributions

This chapter is adapted from “Professional Communications” by Olds College (on Open Library). It is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.