How Would You Rate the Event?

What the question is really asking

On its face, "how would you rate the event?" asks for an overall score. In practice it collects three things at once: how the person felt about the event, how they compare it with others they have been to, and how generous they are with scores. The last one is noise, which is why a single number is never enough.

Treat the overall rating as a headline and the follow-up questions as the story. The rating tells you whether to look closer. The follow-ups tell you where.

It also helps to decide, before you send the survey, what you will do with the answer. If a low rating would change nothing, you do not need the question. If you would act on a low rating for registration, sessions or the venue, ask about those parts directly.

• A summary, not a diagnosis

  A score of 4 out of 5 tells you the event was well received. It does not tell you the registration queue was too long or that one session carried the day.

• Best used for trends

  A rating is most useful compared with your own previous events, asked the same way, rather than against anyone else's numbers.

• Different people, different meanings

  An attendee, a speaker, a sponsor and an exhibitor will each rate a different event. Ask each group, and keep their answers apart.

• Needs a reason

  Pair the rating with at least one open question. A number with no reason gives you nothing to change.

Rating scales compared

The scale you pick shapes the answers. Choose one and keep it for every event, so the results line up from year to year. These are the common options and what each is good for.

Wording variants for different events

The exact words change the answer. Keep the question short, ask about one thing, and make the scale labels explicit. Here are variants that suit different situations.

• Overall

  "Overall, how would you rate [event name]?" Label the ends, for example 1 is Poor and 5 is Excellent.

• Value

  "How would you rate the event as a use of your time?" Useful for paid events and for attendees who took time off work.

• Recommendation

  "How likely are you to recommend [event name] to a colleague or friend?" Use the 0 to 10 form.

• Comparison

  "Compared with what you expected, how was the event?" Answers run from Much worse to Much better, which captures expectations.

• By part of the event

  "How would you rate the registration process? The venue? The food? The sessions?" Ask the same scale for each so the parts can be compared.

• Open

  "In a few words, how would you describe the event?" Gives you language to use in your own reports.

Follow-up questions that explain the score

A rating becomes useful when the next question asks why. Show the follow-up after the rating, and consider changing it based on the score.

1. 1

   Ask what worked

   "What was the best part of the event?" People remember the highlight, and it tells you what to keep.

2. 2

   Ask what to change

   "What is one thing we should improve?" Asking for one thing gets a sharper answer than "any other comments?"

3. 3

   Branch on the score

   For a low score, ask what fell short. For a high score, ask what made it good. Keep each version to one question.

4. 4

   Ask about specifics

   Rate the sessions, speakers, venue, food and networking separately, on the same scale, so a weak part does not hide inside a good overall score.

5. 5

   Ask about intent

   "Would you attend again?" gives you a plain answer to the question that matters most when you plan the next one.

When to ask

Timing changes what you learn. The closer to the experience, the more specific the memory. A day later, you get the overall impression.

For a conference, ask about each session right after it, and about the event as a whole at the end of the last day or in the days after. For a short event, one survey at the end is enough. Keep each survey short, because a short survey gets finished and a long one gets abandoned.

• After each session

  One or two questions about the session or speaker, while the content is fresh.

  Eventdex event survey software

• Before people leave

  An end-of-event survey, asked at the closing session or as people check out, gets answers while attention is still on the event.

• A day or two later

  The overall rating and the longer open questions, sent when people have had time to reflect.

  Post-event survey guide

• From each group

  Send a different, shorter survey to speakers, sponsors and exhibitors, with questions about their own experience.

How to read the results

Resist the average. A mean of 4.2 can come from everyone giving a 4, or from a split between 5s and 1s, and those two events need very different responses. Look at the spread.

• Look at the distribution

  Count how many people gave each score. A cluster of low scores is a signal even when the average looks healthy.

• Read every open answer

  Group the written comments by theme: registration, sessions, venue, food, networking, technology. The themes with the most comments are your list of fixes.

• Compare like with like

  Compare this event with your own last one, asked the same way. Comparing with someone else's numbers mixes different audiences and different questions.

• Separate groups

  Break results out by attendee type, session or speaker. Eventdex shows survey results by session, speaker or theme in its dashboard.

  See survey results by session

• Close the loop

  Tell attendees what you changed because of their answers. It makes the next survey more likely to be answered.

A copy-ready question set

This set is short enough to finish in about two minutes. Change the bracketed text and drop any question that does not apply to your event.

Thank you for coming to [event name]. These questions take about two minutes, and your answers help us plan the next one.

1. Overall, how would you rate [event name]?
   1 = Poor, 2 = Fair, 3 = Good, 4 = Very good, 5 = Excellent

2. How likely are you to recommend [event name] to a colleague or friend?
   0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely

3. How would you rate each of these? (1 = Poor, 5 = Excellent)
   - Registration and check-in
   - The sessions and speakers
   - The venue
   - Food and drink
   - Opportunities to meet people

4. What was the best part of the event? (open text)

5. What is one thing we should improve? (open text)

6. How likely are you to attend again?
   Definitely not / Probably not / Not sure / Probably / Definitely

7. Is there anything you would like us to know? (open text, optional)

Thank you. We read every response.

Mistakes that spoil the answers

Most weak survey results come from the question, not the audience. These are the ones to avoid.

• Leading words

  "How great was the event?" pushes the answer upward. Use neutral wording and balanced scale labels.

• Two questions in one

  "Rate the speakers and the venue" cannot be answered with a single score. Ask them separately.

• A different scale each time

  If one question runs 1 to 5 and the next runs 1 to 10, people make mistakes and you cannot compare. Pick one scale.

• Too long

  Every added question costs you completed surveys. If you will not act on an answer, do not ask the question.

• No way to be honest

  If people need to be candid, offer anonymous responses. Eventdex says you can choose to collect either anonymous or identified feedback.

  Anonymous or identified responses