Episode #129: Dealing With Feedback When Presenting

Why Do So Many Business Professionals Struggle to Get Useful Presentation Feedback?

Executives and managers often rehearse important presentations, but the feedback they receive is vague, overly positive, or poorly informed. In 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (foreign multinationals), the challenge is amplified: people hesitate to speak honestly, hierarchy influences responses, and English-language nuance gets lost.

Mini-Summary:
Most feedback fails because it’s unfocused, overly polite, or uninformed. Executives need a structured, evidence-based method for evaluating presentations.

Asking “What do you think?” is a trap. It invites random, unhelpful comments. Instead, executives should create a clear evaluation checklist before rehearsal. Break feedback into categories:

• Content structure:
  Evidence strength in each section, clarity of point-to-point transitions, opening strength, first close (before Q&A), second close (after Q&A).

• Delivery elements:
  Posture, pacing, clarity, pauses, eye contact, gestures, vocal variety.

To avoid subjective reactions, ask your practice partner to score each element on a simple scale. Remember: this is an audience of one. Their perspective may not reflect the broader market.

Mini-Summary:
A structured checklist turns vague opinions into actionable insights and removes the risk of irrelevant or confusing feedback.

In 日本企業 (Japanese companies), people prefer harmony and rarely offer critical feedback. This becomes even harder when the presenter is the boss. In 外資系企業 (multinational companies) the challenge shifts: colleagues may not fully grasp the nuance of English delivery.

The result?
You receive polite flattery instead of specific guidance.

Mini-Summary:
Cultural tendencies and language barriers limit honest critique, especially for leaders presenting in English.

Traditional feedback focuses on what was “wrong,” which destroys confidence and reduces future performance. Instead, use the Good/Better Method:

• Good: What worked and why.

• Better: Specific improvements that elevate impact.

If someone begins offering harsh critique, stop them and redirect to Good/Better.

Mini-Summary:
Good/Better preserves confidence while still driving measurable improvement.

During delivery, watch the audience closely. In Tokyo, presenters should never allow the room lights to be dimmed—once the lights go down, many listeners fall asleep. Keep the lights bright so you can read expressions, nods, and energy levels.

Audience questions are equally revealing:

• Aggressive questions: May indicate your talk successfully provoked thought.

• Clarifying questions: Show opportunities to persuade and guide thinking.

• No questions: Possible sign of low engagement.

Mini-Summary:
Real-time audience behavior provides critical data—if you can see and interpret it.

Comments like “Great job!” after a presentation are generally useless unless they come from a subject-matter expert or a presentation-skills specialist. Most people will not tell you directly that your talk was weak.

Instead of relying on compliments, distribute a pre-created feedback sheet to carefully selected evaluators.

Mini-Summary:
Post-presentation flattery rarely correlates with actual performance improvement.

Video is the most objective tool for performance evaluation. With your checklist in hand, you can identify patterns, habits, and blind spots that no human observer will catch.

For executives in 東京 (Tokyo) seeking プレゼンテーション研修 (presentation training), video feedback combined with professional coaching provides the fastest performance improvement.

Mini-Summary:
Video plus expert coaching is the most reliable way to accelerate speaking improvement.

• Unstructured feedback (“What do you think?”) produces noise, not improvement.

• Cultural norms in Japan limit honest critique—leaders must design structured feedback systems.

• Good/Better feedback preserves confidence while driving measurable improvement.

• Video analysis and professional coaching deliver the most accurate and actionable insights.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.