Evaluation methods

receiving feedback, evaluation of your presentation skills is necessary for the

growth and development of those skills. This section summarises the various
kinds of evaluation available. Different methods can be selected according to
the circumstances and depending on the type of information you seek.

Self evaluation
The effectiveness of presentations can only be judged by asking for the
responses
of the receivers. This means that you will need to evaluate your own
performances, and seek feedback regularly from others in order to develop
your
skills and apply the lessons you learn to your next presentation. Mistakes will
be
made. They are unavoidable no matter how well prepared you are and are
a
vital part of the learning process.
Later in this learning program, you will be using the following methods of
evaluation:
self evaluation
critical friend
focus groups
surveys and questionnaires.
In this section, you will be evaluating yourself to give a picture of your
starting
point and identify skills you need to develop. This evaluation is for your own
use
only, and does not need to be shared. Some aspects refer to skills that will
be
developed through the following sections.
5
4
3
2
Always
Usually
Often
Sometimes
I am anxious about giving presentations.
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I identify my objectives before planning a presentation.
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I consider the values, needs, and background of my
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audience.
I use a mind map to explore the key ideas
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I incorporate both a preview and review of the main ideas 5 4 3 2
in my organisation.
I develop an introduction that will catch the attention of
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my audience and still provide the necessary background

1
Never

1
1
1
1
1
1

information.
My conclusion refers back to the introduction.
I use visual aids to enhance my presentation.
The visual aids I use are carefully prepared, easy to read,
and have impact.
If my presentation is persuasive, logical arguments and
evidence are used to support my statements.
I pay close attention to my physical presentation such as
dress, grooming and accessories.
I communicate ideas with enthusiasm.
I rehearse my presentations.
I develop my notes so that they contain the key
information required.
My presentations are rehearsed standing up and using
visual aids.
I prepare answers to possible questions, and practice
possible responses.
I arrange the layout of the room and check audio-visual
equipment in advance of the presentation.
I maintain good eye contact with the audience at all
times.
My gestures are calm and considered.
I use pitch, tone, emphasis and pauses to create variety.

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Self-evaluation
Self-evaluation asks you to take a clear and more objective look at your own
abilities and skills. This kind of evaluation is particularly important when you
are beginning to learn, as it will assist in measuring the development of
skills, particularly if you repeat the test at a later time.
Self-evaluation can be in a structured format or take the form of reflective
notes under various headings. Below is a sample of a self-assessment from
notes taken at a five-minute presentation where the coordinators of training
programs were asked to promote their courses to heads of department.
Learning activity: Self assessment
Read the notes below and then answer the questions. Presenter 2 made these
notes.
Presenter 1

Presenter 2

Made immediate connection with

Created boundary or line

audience through conversation

Placed self in teaching position

established rapport before presentation

Used humour to create relaxation

Formal distanced way of speaking

laughed readily
Sat close to audience

Stood moved around

Used eye contact to link audience to

Read from screen less eye contact

elements on screen
Thoughtful-personal, used expressions

More formal, concrete no personal

like I think and I feel to personalise

examples

Learning focused

Information focused

Questions
1. What might Presenter 2 be able to learn from these notes?
__________________________________________________________________
2. What are three techniques she could incorporate into her next presentation?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. What, if anything, could Presenter 1 learn from Presenter 2?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. What kind of presentation or circumstances might suit Presenter 2s approach?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5. What additional information is required to assess the effectiveness of these
presentations?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation has great value as often your peers understand very well the
context of your presentation and the conditions of the workplace that may
assist
or hinder you. This kind of feedback needs a formal structure to ensure that
personalities are not involved and Matter, Manner and Method are being
evaluated, not the personality of the presenter.
Evaluation can be requested via a survey sheet or a focus group. A more
private

method uses a peer review sheet and works best when every member of the
team
needs feedback in the same area.
Critical friend
The critical friend method is valuable when you have a specific area that you
think
needs work and you can ask someone close to you to give you some honest
and
constructive feedback. Choose your critical friend carefully.
What is a critical friend?
This name refers to the role of the person giving feedback to offer
constructive
criticism in the way a friend would. The best way to invite this kind of
evaluation is
to ask the person involved some specific questions. These could include:
What worked well for you as an audience member?
What did not work well?
What could be improved?
Even more specific comments could be invited under the headings of Matter,
Manner and Method.
Learning activity: Critical feedback
Select a short presentation that you have written or given in the past, or that you
may be about to give and practise it in front of your chosen critical friend. This
could be a friend, colleague or family member.
Ask for helpful and constructive criticism from them using the sample questions
given earlier.
Make list of the main feedback points you are given and note your reactions as you
take in the feedback.

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Focus Groups
Focus groups offer an informal method for gathering feedback and
evaluation.

They are often used in the marketing field to gather data on peoples
impressions
and responses. A small group of people who have experience w a product or
who
may wish to purchase it in the future come together to discuss their needs
and
judgments. In a similar way, a group that has experienced a presentation
may
come together to share their experiences and give a qualitative review of its
value.
Focus groups can benefit from using a discussion structure, or being
facilitated by
a more experienced leader to ensure that feedback is as objective as
possible
and is useful to the presenter. Remember to have recording devices on hand
where possible and, where permission has been given, to record the session.
If you as the presenter are running the focus group, you will need to have a
range
of questions prepared. Unlike a survey, more open questions can be
included, as
participants in the focus groups will have the opportunity to link their ideas
with
others, or be reminded of items by the ongoing discussion. This can tap a
rich vein
of responses, but it can also make it difficult to record. An actual recording of
the
process that can be transcribed later is a useful way of capturing the data,
but
unravelling the responses and categorising it can still be difficult, as people
do not
always stick to the topic.
For example, if the team at Carduelis need to present their latest advertising
campaign to a client group, they may make the presentation as individuals or
as
part of a team. Whichever way they choose they will need to evaluate their
success or otherwise as part of their continuous improvement process and to
ensure they do not repeat any errors the next time they make a
presentation. A
focus group consisting of Carduelis team members may be an ideal way to
pool
ideas about what worked and what didnt.
You may be asking the questions but you will still be a member of the group
and
this means you cannot remain distant from it as you can when you are using
a

survey. That said, a focus group is a valuable way of gathering impressions

and
emotional responses to a presentation and is especially useful when the
same
presentation is going to be repeated for another similar group, such as
during a
national roll-out.
Survey
The most thorough and objective feedback comes from a survey or questionnaire
given to the participants at the end of the presentation. This will not always be
relevant; if you are part of a conference for example, the organisers will conduct
their own evaluation. But it is part of your skill as a presenter to know how to design
a survey and be able to interpret the results.
Sometimes surveys can be created and distributed electronically and people are
happy to do this as they can be completed quickly. These surveys enable you to
check back with participants to make sure that your presentation goals were met.
The clearest way to lay out a survey of this kind is to make a list of clear factual
statements and ask respondents to circle a number or word that relate to the
sentence.
For instance:

An alternative is to use numbers:

The respondent can give a qualitative response to show how strong they thought
the structure was.
A third alternative is to measure how strongly the respondent agrees with the
statements:

Generally people who are filling in survey sheets want to complete them quickly so
it is best to make them simple to fill in while still containing the details you need.
About 1015 is a good number of questions. Space for written responses can
provide very useful comments.

Learning activity: How are you doing?

Design a feedback questionnaire that you will use to evaluate your own
presentations. A sample feedback questionnaire is provided in Appendix 5. You may
wish to use this as a basis or develop your own from scratch. You could divide your
headings into Matter, Manner and Method or use other headings such as content,
structure and engagement.
Decide what aspects of the presentation you are interested in receiving feedback on
and construct objective statements about them
Decide what layout you will use.
You will be using this survey later as part of a group activity in which you will
rehearse your five-minute presentations, so be sure to take the completed version
with you to your learning group.
After completing it, you may wish to compare it with the self-evaluation
questionnaire used at the end of Section 1. There may be some statements used
that could apply.
Another useful learning activity would be to re-evaluate yourself at this point in the
program by completing the self-evaluation questions again and comparing the
results with your first answers. What progress or changes can you identify?

Reflection
Gathering the information is one thing, but processing it is another. The data
and
comments received through all these methodologies will only sit on a shelf
unless
you gather it together and make some sense of it. Reflection is the process
that

enables you to think about the responses, place them in context and make
plans
to implement some of the suggestions in future presentations. This is the key
part
of the ongoing learning and development, which is integral to success in this
field
or any other.
Perhaps its importance looms so large because when you get up to make a
presentation, it is your reputation and credibility that is being tested. As
stated in
the first part of this guide, the skills can be learnt. But how will you know you
have
learnt them if you do not measure them? And how will you improve and build
on
these skills if you do not take into consideration the responses of your
audience?
Learning activity: Reflect
Gather the data and read through it all
carefully. Revisit any self-evaluation you have completed during this program
and compile a report in two parts.
Part One will be a summary of the information on the effectiveness of your
presentations gathered from these evaluations. In Part Two list the lessons
learned and how you might apply them in future presentations.
The reports can be developed using dot points for this exercise.
What did you notice from doing this exercise?