Emmie Faust posted about asking for feedback, over on Linked In…
I agree completely. And I thought I’d share some details on exactly how I ask for feedback.
Generally, I keep a number of open questions in mind. For example…
- Could I have asked better questions in that conversation?
- Is my use of social networks inspiring anyone?
- Can I do a better job of being welcoming and helpful in the guest invite/approach process?
- Are the topics I’m exploring interesting in the bigger picture of the show?
…you may find my questions useful, but we’ll each have our own.
When I ask for feedback, I try to drill down to be as specific as possible. I try to figure out—which means I guess and let my intuition lead me—which of my question-areas this guest would be most interested in. That’s a key point; not which area would they most likely be able to provide me good feedback, but rather: Which area would they be interested in.
What I’m trying to do, is kick off a tiny little conversation on a disconnected topic. We’ve just had a conversation (the best time I’ve found for asking for feedback) and now I want to have a selfish conversation where this person talks about something I very much want to know about.
If I ask someone, “do you have any feedback?” or “what can I do better?” they always pause, and I can see that’s a difficult question. Certainly, sometimes my very-specific questions miss, “what do you think about that question I asked you about cookies?” —but quite often people have very helpful things to add.
For me, it was simply a challenge to learn to relax and let this person add just one small “dot” to my Pointilist painting. Over time though, I believe the feedback is better than if I ask more broad questions.
@melissa , any thoughts?
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