Depending on your event, it can feel just as busy to those attending as it is to those producing it. Conferences, for example, tend to pack a lot of activity into a little bit of time, so there isn’t much spare time for attendees to give their feedback.

That said, conference attendees do want to share their thoughts on the sessions they’re attending! Us event planners just have to make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

Making sure that your questions are quick and to the point is key for gathering feedback when the content is fresh in your attendees’ minds. Take a look at these tips and example questions:

A few tips first:

  • Use a mixture of yes/no, scale-based, and open-ended questions to achieve both being quick and gathering the feedback you need.
  • We recommend you only use about five to eight questions. (Again, to make it quick!)
  • Use the same questions consistently across all sessions. This will help you compare the sessions to each other, and attendees will begin to expect what questions they’ll be asked each time.
  • Try to avoid asking questions about the environment or venue itself — things like room temperature and chair comfort are often out of your hands!
  • Administering your surveys through your technology is one way to make them more easily accessible to attendees. (Less paper, less hassle!) For in-person events, consider using a mobile attendee app; and for virtual, you’ll want to find a way to link to the survey or embed it in your virtual event platform.

Yes/no questions:

Questions that attendees can answer with a quick “yes” or “no” are great for attendees. However, if you’re going to use them be sure that your team will be able to get the feedback they need — if you feel you’ll need more information out of a question, leave it open-ended. (More on that later).

  1. Did the session improve your understanding of the topic?
  2. Was the content easy to follow along with?
  3. Would you attend another session led by this speaker?
  4. Was there enough time for questions and discussion?
  5. Was the topic description accurate to the content of the session?

Scale-based, ranking questions:

Again, answering these questions will be quick and easy. They could lead with “On a scale of 1 to 10…” or ask attendees to rank on a five-star rating system — whatever you choose, make sure it’s consistent for every question of this type!

  1. How likely are you to recommend this session to a fellow conference attendee?
  2. How would you rate this speaker?
  3. How would you rate the topic?
  4. How prepared was the speaker?

Open-ended questions:

There are just some things you’ll want more details on. Even if attendees only have time to provide a sentence or two, that feedback is invaluable. (And great for testimonials in future event promotions!)  But, do keep open-ended questions to a minimum — one or two is usually enough. (Number 13 is a great catch-all example.)

  1. What did you learn from this session?
  2. What could have made this session better?
  3. How useful was the information presented in this session?
  4. Do you have any other comments about this session?

Post-session surveys are one way to continually engage your attendees throughout the event. But honestly, every detail matters when it comes creating an experience that attendees will rave about! Learn more by downloading our free guide, 9 Steps to Event Planning, below!