Do you want to know exactly what attendees think about your event, instead of just guessing based on your own impressions?
When you invest a lot of time, effort, and money into organizing a memorable event, wouldn’t you rather know what attendees think than just guess based on assumptions?
Sure, the number of attendees can indicate success, but nothing is more valuable than direct feedback from attendees after the event... if you can get it.
That’s why asking the right questions is so important—questions that help attendees tell you what they really think about your event.
Let them share their thoughts through a post-event feedback survey.
But to get useful answers, it’s crucial to ask the right questions.
Here are 7 suggested questions to help you collect valuable feedback and improve the quality of your future events.
Question 1: How would you rate your overall experience at this event?
This is a foundational question and is often asked first. It helps you understand the general sentiment of attendees, setting the stage for deeper questions to follow.
You can ask them to rate on a scale (e.g., 1–10) or use a Likert scale, applying it to factors such as:
- Date and time of the event
- Quality of speakers
- Venue
- Content of the sessions
Using a multi-level scale gives you a clearer view of satisfaction levels instead of just getting “good” or “not good” answers.
Question 2: Which part of the event brought you the most value?
Knowing the general opinion of attendees about your event is helpful. But dig deeper and ask what they found most valuable.
By asking for something specific, you can narrow down what you did well, identify which parts of the event resonated most with attendees, and learn what they want to see again at future events.
Simplify things by using a multiple-choice question that allows survey participants to select an option without having to type an answer (unlike open-ended questions).
Pro tip: Include an open “Other” option so attendees can describe what they liked most in their own words.
Optimization
Personalize your post-event feedback survey by using conditional logic to direct attendees to different questions based on their answers.
Suppose a survey participant selects “Speaker discussion session” as the most important part of the event. The logic will lead them to the next question asking which speaker they liked best. However, others who choose a different option will be directed to a more relevant question.
Pro tip: Who says multiple-choice questions can’t include images? Use picture-choice to visualize each option and create an aesthetically pleasing user experience (UX).
Question 3: Did you feel anything was missing?
Not every event will impress all attendees—and that’s okay, that’s the purpose of post-event feedback. Criticism can be hard to hear, but treat the feedback you collect as a tool to create better, more impactful events for your audience.
Ask attendees if they think anything was lacking in the event to identify any gaps or pain points you can address in future events.
Question 4: Did the event meet your expectations? Why?
Did attendees get what they expected from your event? If not, maybe you overpromised but underdelivered.
But if post-event feedback shows your event met or exceeded their expectations, you did it right. This could be an effective marketing strategy.
The event experience needs to match your event marketing. Asking attendees whether the event met their expectations helps you understand whether your marketing was effective, or if it set realistic expectations.
This question helps measure the alignment between the event content and what you promoted beforehand.
Optimization
Instead of trying to ask two questions at once, ask attendees if your event met their expectations. Then, use logic to guide them to the next question, giving them a chance to explain why or why not.
Question 5: How likely are you to attend our next event?
This question measures loyalty and intent to return.
Attendees may be satisfied with the event they just attended—but will they come back? Asking attendees about their likelihood of attending other events helps assess loyalty and can measure their interest in future events.
Their answer to “How likely are you to attend another one of our events?” will help you determine if you’ve done a good job building your brand as an authority in the industry and as a company that organizes events worth their time.
Optimization
Give survey participants multiple options instead of just asking whether they will attend future events. Use a scale question to better understand their likelihood of returning.
Let them choose on a scale (e.g., 1 = will not attend, 10 = definitely will attend) to gauge their level of commitment. You can also ask: “What would encourage you to attend next time?” to gather improvement ideas.
Question 6: Would you recommend this event to friends or colleagues?
Leverage word-of-mouth marketing—88% of people trust recommendations from those they know.
Attendees at this event can be catalysts for future word-of-mouth marketing if they share that they would recommend your event (a clear indicator of overall success).
Optimize it
Use a Net Promoter Score (NPS) question to measure how likely attendees are to recommend your event. Using a scale will show you if there are areas for improvement, instead of a binary “Yes/No” answer.
Question 7: Do you have any other feedback you’d like to share?
Post-event feedback surveys help build trust and show attendees that you value what they say and truly want to create better events in the future.
However, no matter how good your questions are or how many times you ask, the best feedback you get will come from directly asking attendees for their opinions.
These open-ended, broad questions encourage survey participants to be completely honest and often collect very specific feedback after the event that other questions can’t capture.
Pro tip: Use video to ask questions and allow survey participants to respond with video—if permitted, you can use these video responses to promote upcoming events and share social proof. Be sure to still provide a text response option for survey participants who may be shy.
Increase response rates with NineQuiz
Sending a survey isn’t enough, you need to make them engaging and personalized so attendees want to respond. NineQuiz helps you do this with:
- Interactive, visually appealing interface
- Branching logic and personalized questions
- Support for images, videos, and various question types
- One-question-at-a-time presentation, creating a conversational feel
When you optimize your survey, you’ll not only collect more feedback, but also higher quality feedback, helping improve your events both now and in the future.