Don’t know the best suited questions, but need to collect feedback and suggestions from your event’s attendees? Knowing which post-event questions to ask your audience will help fine-tune your feedback process in time for your next event.
webcastingandvirtualevents.com gathered the following ideas, tips, and precise questions to help you formulate a post-event survey.
Survey Questions
Formulate questions that ask for attendee feedback immediately after the event concludes while their experiences are fresh in their minds. You can send your post-event survey by email, load it on iPad kiosks at the venue, or share a survey link manually. Select a survey distribution method that makes sense for your company and event. Some relevant questions include:
- What part of the webinar appealed to you the most?
- How did you learn about this event?
- What topics should I discuss at future webinars?
- How do you rate the performance of the speaker?
Use Likert Scale Questions
Likert scale questions are closed-ended questions with predetermined answers, ranking attendee satisfaction from one extreme to another.
Such a rating scale focuses on an odd number of equally distributed answers with a neutral selection in the middle. Likert scale questions exclusively focus on answers on a predetermined spectrum. This type of survey is common and widely used to rate one’s satisfaction with a service or experience. Consider the following format:
1. How satisfied are you with the content presented at the event?
- Very satisfied
- Somewhat satisfied
- Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
- Somewhat dissatisfied
- Very dissatisfied
2. I like the amount of information presented in today’s sessions.
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
Open-ended questions – These questions explore an attendee’s insights and opinions by providing individual answers in short-answer form. The answers won’t provide any statistical measurements, but the data is invaluable. Some open-ended questions include:
3. What was your favorite conference segment?
4. Tells us your least favorite part of the event experience?
5. Do you have any suggestions to better our next event?
Closed-ended questions – These questions include multiple-choice, drop-down selections, checkboxes, and ranking questions (personalized answers aren’t accepted). The respondent chooses from a predetermined answer list. Some closed-ended questions include:
6. Will you attend our next event?
- Yes
- No
- I don’t know
7. The event gave me valuable insight, True or False?
Surveys that yield useful information contain a mix of direct closed, and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions collect quantitative data, while open-ended questions offer opinions and comments in the audience’s words.
Tip: Include questions tailored to help improve future actions, event formulation, and product presentation. Alternate question types to keep your respondents engaged and interested in fully completing the survey.
Survey Length
Keep surveys short and to the point. The longer a survey is, the less likely a respondent will take the time to complete it. Present quality questions that answer genuine questions rather than inflating the number of questions on the survey.
Administer your survey to a small test group to collect their feedback. Ask participants to think out loud after reading your survey questions and ask:
- What does that question mean to you?
- Are the questions in a logical order?
- Will the survey collect relevant data?
- How do you feel about the length?
Tip: Compare your survey questions and format to successful ones that have already been written and administered by a reputable partner or competitive organization.
Why Use Surveys
Surveys help gauge the impact and effect on an audience member’s personal views and experiences. When well constructed, surveys provide accurate numbers on people’s general opinions and behaviors (this information can then be used to make critical business or event decisions). Some of the advantages of surveys include the following:
- A survey can be quickly developed.
- Surveys are relatively easy to administer.
- Digital surveys are highly cost-effective.
- Surveys can be administered online, on mobile devices, by mail, email, event kiosk, or by telephone.
Tip: When surveys are conducted remotely (online), it can reduce or eliminate any geographical dependencies.
Post-Event Surveys
In this article, you discovered essential information, ideas, and tips on formulating concise questions for your post-event survey.
Understanding how post-event surveys should be put together will help you collect valuable data about your event’s strengths and weaknesses and what adjustments should be made for your next event.
Ignoring the need to run a post-event survey can leave you missing out on prized feedback that leads to a reduction in future event attendance and conversions.
Sources:
uww.edu/documents/ir/Survey%20Research/Best%20Practices%20in%20Survey%20Design.pdf
media.wcwpds.wisc.edu/PDSA%20Online%20Toolkit/Plan_Measuring%20Change/Design_Survey_Questions.pdf
