Giving an oral presentation is rather like a performance. For this reason you should evaluate your performance just like an actor would!
The way that you perform is probably the way that your audience feels too. If you look confident and positive, you will project these feelings to the audience. They in turn will feel positive towards the presentation.
But how can you evaluate your presentation to ensure improvement?
There are many tools to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your presentation. You can develop your own or select templates from a range of sources including the internet, colleagues, books and publications and organisational specific documents.
Evaluation techniques are also varied and may include:
 audience evaluation worksheets. These could be designed to encourage participants to
‘rate’ particular aspects of the presentation from poor to excellent.
 self-evaluation report or reflections. Often a presenter will write down their thoughts immediately following the session whilst their feelings are still fresh in their mind.
 self-assessment checklist. This may be as simple as asking yourself “Did you...” for each segment or aspect of the presentation.
 video your performance. Videoing may be initially confronting but it can be extremely beneficial as you can objectively watch your performance and the reactions of your audience. You have the benefit of ‘hindsight’ to help make the next presentation much better.
 action research. This is a type of informal, qualitative, interpretive, reflective and experimental methodology where participants collaborate in order to bring about positive change.
 critical friends, peers, colleagues or family members. Their input can be instrumental in supporting you in your endeavours and at the same time, help you to improve.
 focus group interviews. These is an u nstructured group interview technique where generally 8 to
12 people are brought together, under the guidance of a trained interviewer, to focus on a specific concept, product, or subject. The group dynamics generate ideas and provide insights into audience reactions and perceptions.
 one-on-one interviews with participants and other personnel involved in the presentation. You speak with your audience members and ask for their critical but positive feedback as a means of improving the presentation for the next audience.
A word of warning: evaluation techniques should steer clear of subjective and negative criticism of the presenter. Rather they should be designed to allow positive feedback for improvement. No-one wants to be judged negatively so we should always be careful in our

feedback. Likewise, audience evaluation worksheets should also be designed to enable positive critical feedback not personal insults. Aligned with this is that feedback should focus on the presentation and not be an opportunity to ridicule or attack the person.
When designing or adapting evaluation ‘tools’ and techniques the following criteria should be specified:
 Is the venue appropriate
 Was the purpose communicated
 Was there sufficient information delivered
 Did the presenter exhibit personal confidence
 Did the presenter have sufficient knowledge of the topic
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Was the language appropriate
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Did the presenter have adequate eye contact with all the audience
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Did the presenter project their voice suitably
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Was timing appropriate
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Was there a logical flow of points
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Did the presenter establish a rapport with the audience
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Were there difficult audience members and if so, were they handled appropriately
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Were the audio visual technologies utilised
 Was the audience engaged throughout the presentation
 Was there a backup plan and was there a need to use this plan
The wise presenter will evaluate using criteria such as above. A presenter should always self critique their performance in addition to any other evaluation method.
Feedback received from the audience following a presentation should be analysed and collated. Feedback will undoubtedly contain valuable information for you to consider before your next presentation. Here are two different scenarios to consider.
The analysis of an audiences’ evaluations reveals that:
1.
Questions were not handled well in a recent presentation. Respondents indicated that too few questions were asked and when they were, they were irrelevant or ambiguous and did not add any value to the presentation content at all.
In a situation such as this, it is prudent to ask an experienced presenter “How can questions help participants to clarify key concepts and central ideas?”
Questions play a major role in many presentations in particular when
‘facilitating’ groups of people. “Thought- full” questions that are posed at the right time and in the right way will challenge the audience to think about things from a different perspective.

Open-ended questions require more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. They stimulate thinking and will often begin with ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘when’ or ‘why’.
Questions should be clear and concise. They should provoke a thoughtful response from the audience but they should also be relevant to the presentation. Questions should not be ‘tricky’ or ambiguous or too difficult for this audience.
Questions can be directed to the entire audience or to specific people or they may be rhetorical. Phrasing and posing appropriate questions is a skill in itself, and should be practised.
Questions provide opportunities to assess the audience level of understanding, to clarify.
Consider inviting the audience to make comments rather than just saying
“Any questions?” You may be pleasantly surprised by the depth of your audience’s experiences, ideas and thoughts not to mention their grasp of the meaning of the presentation!
A word of warning however; if questions are not handled well this may damage the presentation. Some members of the audience may be embarrassed or a question may lead to discussion that deviates from the purpose of the presentation. In the worst situation, questions may show the presenter to be ill informed on their presentation topic.
2.
Nerves caused a presenter to ‘babble’ in a recent presentation. A respected colleague indicated that some parts of the presentation, the introduction in particular, did not flow coherently.
The presenter and colleagues recommended the following strategies to deal with anxiety to ensure that the next presentation would be smoother:
 don’t be afraid to slow down and pause at various points in the presentation.
 stop talking; take a moment to compose yourself, and breathe .
 don’t panic, just check the cue cards or session notes to continue at the appropriate place and
 try to memorise the first few minutes of the introduction so well that you know every word and gesture to use. This can be very empowering.
Colleagues are a great resource when it comes to seeking professional advice. Experienced presenters in particular may provide examples of the right way and the wrong way to conduct a presentation. Listen to their stories and learn from them. You don’t necessarily have to do things their way, but their experiences and advice may be of benefit to you too one day!

It’s very interesting also, to read comments from the audience members. Generally, they provide an insight and a unique perspective that is extremely useful. Their feedback may be the best that you can get. Here are the people who have just experienced your presentation and are now able to help you do better next time. They are the people who know if you’ve
‘hit the mark’ or not! It makes perfect sense then, that you take their input and use it as an opportunity for continuous improvement. The main thing this requires is that you have an attitude that you want to know what you’ve done well and where improvement is needed.
Likewise don’t just take on board the positive feedback and ignore the negative.
In order to provide the most effective presentations, the feedback from audience members should be gathered and used as a continuous improvement strategy for future sessions.
Participant evaluations vary from one organisation to another however, the one that you select should adequately ‘capture’ the main elements of a presentation.
Evaluations should identify presenter obvious ‘tendencies’ and measure the effectiveness of the presentation.
Two examples of presentation evaluation ‘tools’ are shown on the following pages.
Example 1 encourages each participant to rate different elements of the presentation. Note that there is also an opportunity for audience members to elaborate or comment on certain aspects of the presentation.
Example 2 on the other hand is an extract of a self assessment checklist.
The two evaluation examples are not necessarily good or bad but they do provide ‘food for thought’. Upon analysis, tools such as these enable the presenter to identify both strong and weak parts of the presentation and enable the presenter to implement appropriate improvement strategies.
The simultaneous use of both these two evaluation tools also enables the presenter to identify if how they perceive themself is different to how their audience perceive them. This is a very common perception bias issue. Some presenters will always underrate their performance whist others will always overrate it. Identifying the issues where differences of perception exist between the presenter and audience can provide valuable and often surprising feedback to the presenter. It is therefore recommended that a presenter use both types of evaluation tools.
An issue to always keep in mind when seeking and evaluating audience feedback is that different members of the audience may have different personal experiences with

presentations. Someone who has been to many presentations or who frequently makes presentations may provide different feedback to someone who has never seen a presentation or made one themself. Individuals can also vary in what appeals to them e.g. some may love lots of visual aids and others want the minimum possible amount. These factors can sometimes help explain why individual feedback may differ quite significantly for the same presentation. You will have your own preferences and style but you can try to cater to as wide a range of audience needs as possible. Remember however, you can’t be all things to all people; use relevant feedback and keep trying to do your best.
Example 1: Audience Evaluation
Your name (optional):
Date:
Presentation Title:
SECTION 1: Content
1. Explanation of aims and expected outcomes was…
2. The pace of the session was…
3. The overall duration was…
4. The sequence and flow of topics was…
5. The workplace relevance in this program was…
6. The amount of interesting information I received was…
SECTION 2: Materials
1. The visual aids were…
2. The written material and hand-outs were…
3. Preparation and organisation seemed…
4. Practical exercises were…
5. The resources which I can take-away are…
SECTION 3: Environment
1. In general, this location was…
2. Health and safety in this location was…
3. Temperature in the program was…
4. Seating and furniture was…
5. Catering was…
SECTION 4: Presenter
1. The presenter’s knowledge of the subject seems…
2. Time dedicated to my questions / problems was…
3. The way that session outcomes were explained was…
4. Responsiveness to participant needs was…
5. Delivery style of the presenter was…
6. The presenter’s preparation / organisation seemed…
What was the most valuable part of the presentation?
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Excellent
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Average
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing
Poor Disappointing

What was the least valuable part of the presentation?
How could this presentation be improved?
Would you recommend this presentation to others?
Why/Why not?
Thank you for your feedback
Yes
Please hand your completed form to your presenter
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No

I identified the purpose of the presentation
I established and clearly communicated the objectives
I researched my audience
I brainstormed the main ideas and built my presentation around them
I warmly welcomed the audience and completed ‘housekeeping’ tasks
I had a good introduction (a preview) and a good conclusion (review)
I ‘grabbed’ the attention of the audience
My visual aids were neat, accurate, simple and had impact
I practised a few times as if I was at the venue
My notes were brief but adequate with key words
I set up the seating and venue so that it was comfortable
I did not read from my notes, I used them to guide me
My body language was good
I maintained eye contact throughout the presentation
My voice was strong, clear and easy to hear
I had good questions prepared as well as anticipated answers
I was able to persuade my audience
YES NO

I remembered to pause at times
I was able to relax but stay enthusiastic
I felt I connected to the audience
I farewelled and thanked the audience
Recommended Actions for any item with a ‘No’ response