Evaluate Your Presentation

INSTRUCTIONS

After delivering a presentation, use these prompts to self-reflect or guide a debrief session if you
presented as a group, with the goal of extracting lessons for improvement.

1. What was the OBJECTIVE of the presentation? How well did we meet that objective?
What is happening now, or what will we need to see later, to determine that the
objective has been met?

2. What was the CORE MESSAGE of the presentation? How well did we communicate
that message? What happened during the presentation to indicate that we did or did
not communicate the message effectively? What could we have done better?

3. How effective was the OPENING of the presentation? What did we see happening that
indicated the opening was strong or weak? What lessons can we learn about crafting
s powerful opening?

4. How effective was the BODY of the presentation? Did we communicate the core
content clearly or not? How do we know? How can we do better on this front in the
future?

5. How effective was the CONCLUSION? Did we end with a strong call to action, a
compelling command, an engaging story, or a striking statistic or visual? How do we
know that the audience was inspired by the conclusion? How can we do better with
this in the future?

6. Did all members of the audience seem to remain ENGAGED AND ATTENTIVE
throughout the presentation? How do we know? What could we do in the future to
improve?

© 2021 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business School Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School Page 1 of 2
 7. How well did we respond to QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS from the audience? Is
there anything we can do to be better prepared for questions and comments during
future presentations?

8. Did any UNEXPECTED PROBLEMS arise during the presentation? If so, what were
they? Did we handle them effectively? Could these have been prevented? If so, how
can we be better prepared next time?

9. For group presentations: How well did we coordinate as a group in delivering the
presentation? What, if anything, could we do better next time around?

© 2021 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business School Publishing Page 2 of 2