How To Write Post

Running an event wouldn't be complete without sending participants a post event survey. As mentioned in our last post What to Include in a Post Event Report, post event surveys are important, they inform decisions for future events and assist you to write the post event report. Post event surveys are vital to help keep your events fresh, give you an opportunity to learn from attendees and refine your events. Planning your post event survey questions - Cautiously thought out questions will serve you best and give the most helpful answers. When designing questions, think about why you are asking the question and what the feedback means for future events. 

This isn't to say do not ask the tough questions you do not want to be familiar with the answers to these are the questions you SHOULD ask! - There's one key rule to follow when writing a survey design your questions based on your event objectives. This is how you'll measure the event success from an attendees viewpoint, after all they are the ones you are running the event for! - 2. Apply SMART criteria to your survey questions - whenever we write our event and marketing objectives, we apply SMART criteria. This is also a great method to use when creating your survey questions. 

Here's why: Lets start with specific, make questions specific. The answer to Did you enjoy the event, Yes\/No, isn't going to help you narrow in on what they actually enjoyed or didn't like about the event. You won't know from this question what you need to keep doing and what you need to improve on. Expand on questions and get specific. Long winded questions confuse respondents and won't produce accurate data keep questions short and specific. Not all questions are measurable and that's ok. Questions where you are asking for written responses might not be measure BUT they're helpful to identify common themes. 

Its important to write questions with actionable responses. Asking respondents if they prefer Coldplay to sing during breaks isn't something you can realistically deliver. This could be an extreme example however it proves the point that being realistic when designing your questions is very important. Well talk about timely later in this post. What questions to focus on - At the core of your survey, you want to know if attendees enjoyed the event, if the program was the right mix, how the speakers rated, if the venue\/location was suitable, if attendees would attend again, and if they'd recommend your event to a friend of colleague. Many of those questions require you to ask more questions to get specific answers. Use question logic to avoid asking questions that are not relevant to the respondent there's no point asking what they thought of a session if they didn't attend that session.