Do Flyers still Fly?

Back in college, the kiosks that were scattered around campus were never large enough to hold all the flyers; these flyers announced everything from the latest showing of Rocky Horror to a chorus recital. Often, there were either enough flyers pinned up that students could take one, or there were perforated cut-outs at the bottom.

But – are flyers still relevant?

I can’t remember the last time that I took home a flyer – it’s just more paper that I need to recycle. I also can’t remember the last time that I printed out a flyer. Instead, I put the address and the time of where I need to go into my smart phone’s calendar.

If you choose to create a flyer, remember that it should not be your only PR vehicle. Keep in mind:

• Don’t spend too much time on the design. Remember that it’s probably a throw-away.
• Don’t spend too little time on the design. If you will go to the trouble to produce a flyer, it should do its job: catch your audience’s attention. In a good way.
• Don’t involve too many people in the design process. Just like usability studies and website design, everyone will have an opinion – and they may even be contradictory.
• Don’t use small or unreadable type or colors.

A well-designed flyer can add a spirit of fun.

• Do include the important information –the time, the place, and a number or e-mail or website link for more information.
• Do include graphics. If you have branding, make sure it’s visible to show affiliation with your organization.
• Do be creative. Try using a business card format instead of a large paper flyer. It is easy for your audience to take it with them and place into their business card holder.

The last thing you want is for your flyer to be turned into a paper airplane!

Putting the "Public" back in "Public Relations"

I started out this blog by saying, “If we build it, they will come – but only if they know where to find it!”

Not only do you want to make your club stand out – if you hide your PR efforts, how will members and potential members find out about you and what’s new in your club, Area, Division and District?

Case in point: the other day, I saw the hard copy of a club newsletter being passed out to members and guests. While I had provided input into that newsletter, it was never published – at least, not to my knowledge! When I inquired, I was told, “It’s on our website, there’s a “newsletters” link.”

So I checked. On the club’s home page, there was a link to a 2-year-old newsletter. Unfortunately, that sends the wrong message – I know this club to be a very active one, but given the outdated newsletter, potential guests would probably not have that impression. On the side, the standard navigation provided by FreeToastHost for Toastmasters club websites, there was a link for, “Available Downloads” – and bingo, the newsletter was there. After logging on, of course.

Had I not been on the committee and on the lookout for the newsletter, how would I have known that a newsletter had been published? How do I know when to check for a newsletter, especially if it is multiple clicks away?

Do I need to develop ESP?

Public relations is about getting the word out, not hiding it.

If you have published a news item – a newsletter, article, press release, video, you name it, part of public relations is to let everyone know it’s out there.

• Let the members know when a news item comes out. Send out an e-mail – with an attachment, or with a link!
• Having archives of old newsletters that are protected is good for privacy and for club history. Having the current issue on the Home page of the Web is good for PR.
• If you have a social media presence – tell everyone the news item is available! You need to publicize that presence to be able to use it for PR.

PR should never be the best-kept secret of a club’s activities. Make your message easy to find – not the result of a lengthy scavenger hunt!

Here's My Card

Business cards are not just for business anymore.

Individuals now have a multitude of business cards. I currently have two – one is my corporate card, the other is for one of my personal passions: my role as speaker and Public Relations Officer for District 4 Toastmasters.

The idea originated when I saw many other Toastmasters hand out their company business cards – but before handing it out, they crossed out their business contact information and scribbled their Toastmasters e-mail and personal phone number onto the card. In addition to a misuse of company resources, I often have trouble reading the handwriting of the “correct” information!

Printing up a Toastmasters-specific business card is a form of “passive PR” that highlights your affiliation, and may just get that next guest to ask you about the organization.

If you want to print a card for you as a Toastmaster, consider the following:

• Keep it up-to-date. If you change your e-mail address or phone number or start a new blog – print a new card! If you receive a new Toastmasters educational level, such as an Advanced Communicator or become a Distinguished Toastmaster, update your card just as you would if you received a new title in your corporation.
• Add a portrait. If you have ever been to a conference, you will likely have stared at more than one card afterwards, wondering to whom that card belongs. If you include a portrait of yourself, that jogs the recipient’s memory! I recently changed my hairstyle – drastically – and immediately updated my card to reflect the new look!
• Respect the branding. Just as you should not change your corporate logo, do not change the Toastmasters branding. If you choose to use Toastmasters International branding, do not modify the logo. I chose to use the District 4 branding that represents our geographic location by highlighting San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Monterey – and when we rolled out the updated branding, I printed up new cards!
• Do not stretch photos. If you use photos for the back of your business card – such as the 3-photo series of the District 4 branding – the format of the photo does not match the size of a business card, do not stretch just the height or just the width. Instead, add a white border to match the dimensions of the card, but still keep the photo dimensions, or aspect ratio, intact.
• Keep it targeted. Just like a resume, a business card should be targeted. I’ve seen cards that tout the person as a speaker, author, photographer producer, host, coach and trainer. Well, which is it? As a photographer, I would print portfolio photos on the reverse side. As an author, I would highlight my publications. As a host or producer, mention the show(s). The “all things to all people” approach is out of style, for resumes as well as business cards, even in Toastmasters.
• Use business cards to promote your club or event. To promote your club as a whole, consider printing business cards just for your club, not for you individually. The “club card” should include your club name, meeting location, website, and meeting day/time. Distribute them to members, leave a stack of cards at local businesses for promotion, or hand them out to prospective members or guests.

I have made three updates to my Toastmasters business card this past year, using moo.com, to update my portrait and – admittedly, since I took the photos – the District 4 branding. I even keep my corporate and Toastmasters business cards in two separate business card holders to help keep me organized.

Above all, when it comes to using business cards as a PR tool – don’t pass up any opportunities to pass them out!

Do You “Like” Me?

“Being social” used to mean going out to socialize, to meet with friends for activities ranging from coffee to dinner to parties to trips.

Social media takes the conversation online.

Social PR means using social media beyond e-mails, to seek a two-way dialog and to encourage collaboration between individuals. Social media does not replace existing PR, or even existing websites. It complements the more traditional one-way web and e-mail mechanisms, and provides an outlet for continuous dialog.

Where to Meet?

There are many different places, or platforms, where you can meet with other like-minded individuals. Wikipedia’s list of social networking sites contains information about many of these platforms, but new ones are emerging every day. Some have a specific stated focus – LinkedIn positions itself as a business networking site, although it has begun to allow the posting of a personal status. For other sites, you need to be “in the know” – for example, where Facebook and MySpace were once rivals, Facebook has emerged as the “winner” by the numbers when it comes to “friendship” networks, while MySpace now focuses primarily on entertainment content, which is good news if you are in a band.

Especially if you are just starting out, choose 1-2 platforms, no more than three. To choose the appropriate channels, consider:

• Where is your audience already playing online? It is unlikely that a member will join yet another social media platform just for you. Make it easy for them to find you.
• What is the purpose of your social media effort? Is it to connect members and engage in conversation (consider Facebook), is it to post videos and photographs (consider YouTube, Vimeo, Blip, Picasa, Flickr), is it to ask each other questions and generate discussions (consider LinkedIn and blogs with comment posts).

What to Say?

Social media is a quick way to get information to people in your network – and you can include links to your website, photos, quick reminders and member accomplishments.

If you are starting out on more than one channel, if you are simply duplicating content on all of them, then there is little point to encouraging members to join all channels. In District 4 Toastmasters, we have chosen the following:

• Facebook for announcements of events and accomplishments and sharing of personal photos
• LinkedIn to show membership to the organization in the profile, and within the group to provide advice to members, from how to best run speech contests to an informal “speaker exchange,” for example as test speakers for contests
• Video and photos from “official” District 4 channels are provided for download are shared on YouTube, Blip (for longer videos), and Picasa

Becoming Popular

As an organization, you will need to kick-start the conversation when you are just starting out in social media. It is unrealistic to think that you can create a social media channel four weeks prior to a large event, and then use that channel to promote that event. You first need to build a critical mass of followers and fans.

It takes a while for word to get out about your social media presence. Publicize it by embedding links to your social media channels on your website, include links in your e-mail signatures, and highlight quick links in each and every newsletter and communication.

Make sure that you are also soliciting responses. Compare the social media conversation with a normal, one-on-one conversation. If you post a one-liner, you may get a smile (or even a “like” on Facebook), but it’s not a conversation. Ask open-ended questions – and, to stack the bar, solicit a few friends to comment on that question online.

Above all, don’t give up. Even Facebook did not build a following overnight – it still took 6 years to reach 500 million users!

Get a Hook - Then Real Them In!

Read me!

If those two words were your entire subject line, many recipients would probably delete it, thinking it is spam. But how else do you motivate someone to read your entire e-mail?

Think about the newspaper style – the first short paragraph should answer all the relevant questions about an event: who, what, when, where, why and how. If the reader is interested in more detail, he or she will read on. Alternatively, when you consider books and articles, it is likely that the first line, or paragraph, will rouse interest, but will raise questions instead of answering them, leaving you wanting more.

For a PR message, the answer is right in between – provide some context, but leave them wanting more.

What you need is a “hook,” a memorable, attention-grabbing phrase or sentence, one that is relevant to the reader. The purpose of a hook is to entice the reader to read your entire message. With all the social media messages that bombard us daily, readers have a shorter attention span, so they need to be immediately enticed by your subject or first line – they need to be hooked!

There are a few examples of hooks that have worked for me in the past.

• Help Wanted for the Fall Conference - Get Paid in Leadership Experience!
  This e-mail, sent in August for a November conference, was followed by this first paragraph: “While this request may sound a bit like "Christmas in July," the planning for the District 4 conference - to be held November 20-21 - is starting now. And we need you!” This e-mail resulted in over 70 volunteers to help organize the conference.
• New Year's Resolution #1: Register for the TLI in Santa Clara
  The e-mail resulted in an attendance of over 130 members at the TLI, or Toastmasters Leadership Institute - more than double the attendance of the TLI before it.
• You’ve always wanted to be on TV, right?
  This catchy subject line helped bring in the talent (the speakers) for our monthly District’s cable access show, Bay to Bay.
• Wasn’t under the tree? Get it now from the Apple Store.
  Ok, I can’t take credit for the last one, other than that I found it in my Inbox, and thought it was a great way to get the post-Christmas shoppers out. Of course, the cult status of the latest Apple products certainly helps!

In terms of a formula to create a hook – there is no formula. If one existed, everyone would already be using it. The trick is to find that combination of creativity, relevance to your audience, and just enough information that leaves them wanting more.

Event Promotion - Beyond the (Email) Inbox

So you’ve sent a few e-mails, and you’re done with the marketing of your event.

Think again!

If my own Inbox is any indication, everyone is using e-mails – so you need to do something more to stand out!

• Go personal! Nothing is better than having a personal conversation and inviting someone to your event. You can immediately be encouraging and answer questions. Then, you can still forward the e-mail invite – just make sure you personalize it to reference your conversation.
• Go traditional! Depending on your target audience, you may issue a press release or post flyers to attract attention to your event. But like those kiosks in college, it is unlikely that the majority of your audience will be attracted by these means.
• Go media! Many local television and radio stations are looking for stories! The trick is that local shows that promote events need lots of lead time. An alternative is to obtain coverage of your current event, then reference it to promote the next one.
• Go social (media)! If you already have an established group or presence on a site (be it Facebook, Twitter, even a Meetup group), you can let members know about your event. But if you don’t already have this presence, it is unlikely that you can build enough followers or memberships quickly enough for a soon-to-occur event.
• Go viral! If you have a video – of a media appearance, an announcement, or better yet, a skit – and you have the rights to do so – upload it, for example to YouTube or iTunes and link to it from absolutely everywhere! The same is true for cool photos or quirky e-mail stories. The key to going viral is to make it fun to watch for its own sake. A good example is the T-Mobile dance – the product is only highlighted at the end when witnesses share the event through their mobile phones!

To promote any event most effectively, it should be part of a larger plan. Unless you are marketing a one-time event, you are marketing an organization or a product – start by building that community early, so that you can leverage it when your next event comes around.

And in turn, use that event as a public relations opportunity to build your community!

Event (E-Mail) Publicity – Plan, don’t Spam!

By the fourth reminder in the same week to register for an event, I was ready to cancel my registration.

Why? I was annoyed.

If I’m already registered, why am I being reminded to register? And if I am registered, and have placed the event in my calendar, one reminder with the dial-in is convenient. Three reminders – just more stuff I need to delete out of my Inbox.

So when should you send that e-mail?

If you are planning an event, such as a conference, there should be a publicity plan in place that strikes a balance between regular reminders and an overwhelming amount of e-mail (read: spam) for attendees and prospects.

An example of required e-mails includes:

• Save the date – includes high-level information, but does not require details. Takes away the “if I had only known” factor for individuals’ schedules.
• Invitations – have the agenda and the registration details available.
• Reminders to register – encourages anyone not yet registered to do so. Is especially effective just prior to the expiration of an “early bird” discount.
• Reminders to attend – sent out to registered attendees. If there will be drop-offs, they will typically let you know.
• Thank you’s – after the event, includes a note of appreciation, and any follow-ups such as soft copies of the presentations and attendee lists.

Depending on your system (manual Excel sheets, vs. online marketing campaigns, vs. full-fledged customer relationship management), it may or may not be feasible to separate registered and non-registered people on your target list. This makes it more important to include the, “if you have already registered, thank you” clause!

Keep in mind other e-mails that may be going out to the same target audience! If the conference reminder is stuck between a dues renewal notification and reminders about other events, it may not be read. The publicity for a particular event should be coordinated with all other e-mails going out from the same organization.

As Julia Ormond said in the 1995 film, Sabrina, “More is not always better…sometimes it’s just more.”

Brainstorming 101: The Idea vs. The Execution

An e-mail message recently landed in my Inbox, which read, “We had decided this during our brainstorming.”

That’s the thing about brainstorming. Some ideas work – and some don’t. This particular idea, without going into the details, didn’t work when it came time to execute on it.

Brainstorming ideas should not be confused with decisions. Especially for outbound communications.

Merriam-Webster defines brainstorming as, “a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group.” There are countless publications – books, card decks, articles, and yes, blogs – which advocate various techniques of generating innovative ideas in a group. Techniques include white boarding, software tools, even asking probing questions to push participants into thinking out of the box.

The concept is that person A has a free-flowing idea; person B then builds on it. The group, together, is thought to come up with more (in quantity) and more (in higher creative quality) ideas than one isolated person.

The most important aspect is that during a brainstorming session, no one edits or evaluates or analyzes. In other words, no idea is a bad idea. If a brainstorming session is successful, there are too many ideas than can possibly be implemented. Some ideas may even be complete opposites of each other.

The next task is to evaluate each idea, based on the ultimate goal, task or problem to be solved. This normally happens in a subsequent session. Make sure it is a smaller group, and to add objectivity, involves participation from at least one person who was not in the initial brainstorming session.

What does this mean for public relations?

Public relations involves teamwork: input from product teams of the feature that is most unique, input from marketing teams about the competitive positioning, input from the organization about its values. All will push their own perspective. Plus, PR relies on creative ideas so that the organization or product being publicized stands out.

It’s really no different from brainstorming in any other situation. You need a team in which individuals feed off each other’s creative energies. You will need to eliminate until you have selected the best ideas. And you will always need to deal with that one person who pushes only their own ideas, regardless of their feasibility.

Let’s say you just had a fantastic brainstorming session on the theme of a conference. Now what?

• Select a theme. You will need to select only one theme, not multiple; otherwise the audience will be confused, or assume you are talking about two events. (One notable exception is Miller Brewing, now MillerCoors; the "Miller Lite" ads, voted as one of the must successful campaigns by Advertising Age magazine, contain the dual messages of “Tastes great, less filling”!)
• Ensure PR materials fit the theme. If the theme involves the “great outdoors,” and you plan a visual using photos, the image of a vintage Model T car – although it may be an excellent photo – is not the best fit for the theme. Using this logic, some ideas are weeded out, or filed away for future use (or campaigns!).
• Reality check – execution. Plan how the ideas can be put into practice. The strongest writer should write the copy, not the weakest. If no one on the team has video skills, hire someone who does. Finally, some ideas may not be feasible; a radio promo may be in your budget, while a Super Bowl commercial spot is not.

Ultimately, everyone has an opinion, but every idea in a brainstorming session cannot be implemented. The trick is to make sure that you are choosing the best solution (message and channels) for the problem (increasing brand awareness, promoting a new product). Don’t execute on the “cool” idea if it does not serve a purpose; in other words, do not implement the solution that is still in search of a problem.

Newsletter Content – Does Anyone Read the Whole Thing?

We skim headlines, scan television channels with the remote, even skip to the next song on our music players.

So what makes us think that the audience reads every word of our newsletters? They won’t. You have to make the content compelling.

The best stories are personal stories. Don’t just regurgitate the information that is already available, for example on the Toastmasters International site; put your own spin on it. When I won the “Golden Quill Award” for the best club newsletter in Toastmasters District 4 (in Fall 2008 and again in Spring 2009), the award presenter commented that a primary reason for the award was that the newsletter was personalized for the club – it was written about the members, by the members.

Some story ideas to consider:

• Testimonials. Encourage members to share their experiences. One woman who was asked to “say a few words” at her engagement party credited her Table Topics impromptu speaking practice for her lack of nerves!
• Member accomplishments. Has a member gained an educational award? Were they honored at work or in their community? Have they recently used their speaking skills gained in Toastmasters to give a presentation or be interviewed for the local news?
• Club events. Are there upcoming contests or joint meetings with other clubs? Is there a meeting with a particular theme coming up, such as Halloween? Will a company executive be a guest speaker? And after the events, don’t forget to provide a recap!
• Educational tips and tricks. Some nuggets of information, for example tricks to overcome nervousness before speaking, help members improve, while also being entertaining.
• Reminders. Are dues – due? Do you want members to bring guests to a specific meeting or open house? Remind them in your newsletter!
• Photos! Everyone likes seeing themselves, their friends, co-workers, and club members in action – receiving an award, or chatting at a Club event.

While brief, there are additional basic elements that should be included in every issue:

• The Name. Every newsletter should have a name, even if it the same as the name of the organization. Brand the newsletter, and make sure that the header stays consistent, so that readers can recognize it – and anticipate it!
• The Organization. Which company or organization does the newsletter represent? Include a short statement about its product or purpose. Is this an international organization (such as Toastmasters International), or is the newsletter related to a single club?
• The Editor. Always include a way to contact the newsletter editor, including a subscribe/unsubscribe feature.
• The Contacts. The editor may or may not be the point of contact for the organization as a whole. If it is a Toastmasters club, is there a primary contact person for a potential guest or member? Who are the officers? Is there a Web site?
• The Location. What is the address of the organization or club? Are directions available? For a club, where does it meet? When? Are there exceptions (such as no meetings on Christmas Day or President’s Day)?

Most importantly, find your own voice – have fun and be creative, this is not a dissertation or technical paper!

To Publish or not to Publish . . . your Newsletter

Half of my e-mail Inbox is filled with newsletters. I have no idea where some of them came from. Do you want to enter the fray – and if so, how do you stand out?

Imagine getting one announcement about a Toastmasters member joining your home club, then another message about another member receiving an educational, then two in a row, reminding you about an Open House and about the club celebration. Now image getting one newsletter, containing all that information in one place. Yes, newsletters are an ideal way to consolidate information.

They are also a lot of work.

The biggest debate regarding PR that rages in most clubs is whether to start a newsletter. And immediately on the heels of a “yes” comes another decision:

How long and how often?

The more pages in a newsletter, the longer it takes to put together. Meaning that you need to collect more articles and other tidbits, find more photos, lay everything out, edit it, run your edits by the authors, all of which takes time. And may result in something that is so long that it takes too much time for members to read.

Here are two extreme examples:

• One club targeted 12 pages for its newsletter, with the ultimate goal of having it printed professionally. The initiative actually stalled before the first issue was ever published, due to re-editing and re-fine-tuning.
• Another club sends out a weekly newsletter, which documents the members who took on roles in the prior week’s meeting, and the topic of each speech, similar to meeting minutes.

The answer lies somewhere in between.

Ask yourself first: what is the purpose of the newsletter? If a part of your mission is to provide regular updates and a calendar, you will need to publish more often. If it is a recap of events, it is not as critical to have the newsletter come out often with up-to-the-minute information, and can take a little longer to publish.

The rule of thumb is to publish short newsletters, often.

For my home club, we publish a 2-page newsletter once a month. It’s long enough to advertise club events, such as joint meetings with other clubs, and short enough to be read. It adds a nice touch to guest packets. And since it is published the first week of each month, the “February” issue will look current for the entire month! Unlike a newsletter that is published the last week of the month – it immediately seems out-dated!

All that work can be worth it. One of the best compliments that I received after publishing a club newsletter was from someone out on maternity leave: even though she was not able to attend club meetings at the moment, the newsletter made her feel connected to the current happenings. Mission accomplished!

You Need to Know It to Promote It

Your press release just went out about a product launch, or a novel event that is sponsored by your organization. Then you start getting questions. Are you stuck?

As the spokesperson for your organization or product, you need to understand what your product does, what your organization stands for, the purpose of the event – and the benefits each has to your audience, or your customers. How else can you promote any of it in a compelling, clear way?

There is a proverb that “a jack of all trades is a master of none.” Well, in public relations, you need to be a master of communications, and a master at finding any information you do not know.

How detailed should your expertise be? Here are a few examples:

• You do not need to know whether the “agile” method was used to develop a software product – but you do need to know the functionality of that product. And how it is different from your competition. Remember that everyone’s solution is touted as “efficient and effective” these days. How is your offering unique?
• You don’t need to know each detail of how an event is being planned – but you do need to know the target audience, the pricing, the number of minimum and maximum attendees, the presenters and their message. For example, is the event aimed at new customers (or members) or existing customers (prospective members)? Is the message of the conference targeted at a management level, or will there be detailed, hands-on workshops for a more technical audience?
• In Toastmasters terms, is a particular event targeted at officers, or members who wish to be professional speakers?
• If your Toastmasters District Website touts the benefits of a Speechcraft program – do you know what that is? How it works? How to start one?

Good PR reaches the right audience, with the right message. If you promote a product or event incorrectly, both your organization and your audience will be frustrated, because of misaligned expectations.

And in these days of two-way dialogs with your customers, you need to be able to answer questions. If you do not, it is not just you that loses credibility – it is your product or organization.

So if there’s something you don’t know, learn it – or at least know whom to ask!

Branding – A Symbol of your Identity

One day, your header is yellow; the next day, it’s green. One day, you use the Toastmasters International logo; the next, no logo; the next, the District 4 logo.

And then you wonder when your audience isn’t sure which messages are yours – and which originated elsewhere. You do not have a clear brand, or identity, which represents a consistent message and core values, a brand that is symbolized by a consistent visual image, color or tagline.

What goes into creating a recognizable brand?

• Representative – the brand name or visual should represent the purpose of the product, service and/or organization and establish its positioning relative to competitors. Over time, a brand should come to be synonymous with the value of the organization and its offerings.
• Memorable – your audience, or customers, must be able to easily identify the unique logo (think of Apple Inc.’s logo, either with or without color), tagline (such as Nike’s "Just Do It" slogan, which premiered in 1988), or even tune (such as the Intel signature sound).
• Consistent – the brand should be used in all communications, across all geographies. For example, every beverage company ensures that their brand name and logo translates well internationally, and will never release public information – press releases, advertisement, e-mail, even a social media presence – without their brand clearly identified.

In many industries, such as high tech, companies hold their partners to stringent rules when co-branding messages. Just skimming the surface, consider any computer hardware manufacturer (HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc.), which often include the branding of internal components such as processors (Intel, AMD, etc.) and graphic cards (nVidia, ATI, etc.) their advertisements – and even attach the component logos directly on their desktops and laptops. These component logos are used with the agreement of the component manufacturers, and are governed by detailed contracts that govern the size and placement of these logos.

A brand is different from a theme; a theme is temporary, often associated with a period of time or an event. For example, a conference may have a theme around which presentations and decorations are organized. Within the Toastmasters organization, each International President and each District Governor defines a theme, which changes every year when a new leader is elected. These themes are used for a specific event or term, but the brand of the organization as a whole – as a public speaking entity – does not change.

Who has done it right? Check out the top 100 commercial brands according to Business Week, as well as the top 100 non-profit brands by Cone.

Taking a lesson from the top 100, once you have established your brand, use it consistently, across all media, in all messages, to all audiences – in e-mail, press releases, flyers, business cards, programs, and so on, and so on, and so on…………

Survey Design – KISS (Keep It Short and Sweet)

We all hate homework. And filling out a survey is a little like homework. To get good feedback from a survey, it needs to be as painless as possible.

Most important is to keep the number of questions short. If the evaluation is too long, participants will simply not fill it out. While some conferences bribe participants with a T-shirt or similar prize for returning a survey, that does not mean that the quality is better. Keep it simple – the questions should fit on one side of one page, with plenty of white space for comments. An ideal number is 5 questions.

Survey Design

Whether rating a conference, a newsletter or a training session, it is tempting to make all questions about numbers. While numbers help in reporting statistics, they are often not very specific, or helpful when applying specific feedback to the next event or newsletter.

• Allow the responders to provide a context – are they evaluating one day of a conference, or the full multi-day conference? Is the trainee in a session experienced or completely new to the topic?
• Include one rating question about the value of the entire event. Opposing theories advocate an even number scale versus an odd number scale. For example, ratings from 1-6 force someone to lean on the high or low side, since there is no mid-point. A rating of 1-5 allows someone to be neutral, and give a 3 – right in the middle. Having a larger range – such as 1-10 – may not be much help, since the difference between a 7 and 8 is inconsequential.
• Do not include multiple rating questions for the same session. Over 50% of participants will circle the same rating for each question, so you are not getting differentiated feedback about different aspects (speaker knowledge/presentation skills/content/hand-outs). It’s often even a stretch when asking about content vs. facilities of a conference!
• Use open-ended questions that require a text response for more detailed and creative suggestions. You will be surprised how many thorough responses you receive when the majority of the questions are in this essay question style – some respondents even use the back page!

Survey Responses

Now it’s time to consolidate, analyze and act on the survey responses.

• Consolidating feedback electronically is the most helpful for calculating average scores. This may mean entering paper surveys into a spreadsheet, word processing document, or online survey tool – many of which provide out-of-the-box reports.
• Once consolidated, distribute the results to those being evaluated by the survey – be it conference organizers, trainers, speakers, newsletter authors.
• Keep in mind that some participants are "hard graders." Aim for above the mid-point of your scale; don’t expect a perfect score. It may also be helpful to break down the survey feedback by the level of experience of the responder.

Finally, act on the responses! If someone signed a survey and voiced a specific concern or question, make sure you provide an individual response. Announce anonymous summary results, when feasible, for example in a newsletter. Incorporate the feedback in future sessions, events and messages.

The more your audience sees that you are listening, the more likely it is that you will receive honest feedback in the future – including, of course, the compliments!