Comment sheets from Thursday

I got the breakdown from my contact at KHRMA on the comments that 80 people (out of 100) had submitted on my talk on Thursday. The diversity in points is interesting.

First off, I do not put a lot of strength in comment sheets. Some people mark all highest points just to fill one out. I have seen it...there is no thought just check the boxes. Some people go the other way....all middle of the road. You wonder why they do that. What I have always dived into are the verbal comments. Maybe it is because I am one of the affore mentioned folks. If I like something I give one supporting comment. If it was ok I say nothing.

So these came by email... You got to remember that 23 people bought the book which means 25% of the group thought the presentation was good enough to warrant $10 purchase to persue it. About 15 people came up to personally thank me and shake my hand. (That is a favorite of mine if I really like something.)

70% said it was excellent...68% thought I displayed great knowledge about the subject Now these were the top ratings...there were significant numbers that gave me the second highest rating...but a few, like 10% thought it was fair. How do you reconcile those extremes?

Here is another statistic...78% did not think I was there to sell something (like my services or my book) but 22% thought I did do a sell job...what is that?

The verbal comments, which is where I put my stock ranged from "superior, excellent, the best ever, good, great, " too..."too negitive, went too fast on the content, etc." So as you might guess, I am thinking about how to reduce the negitive stuff. I tell stories and I do it for a reason. People can either agree with how I handled a situation or not, but it makes them play a mental game while I am talking...what would I do in that situation? The tough stuff is negitive, i.e.: I was asked to discriminate in hiring practices at CSC...what idi I do about it?; my new boss at H&C wanted me to limit increases so we as management could look good (His words, "The less for them, the more for us.") Salaried people being downsized are treated with contempt on the day they are teminated. They are...here is a box we will watch you clean out your desk and escourt you out the door...after 15 years of dedicated service.

I say all that stuff because it is true and it tellls a story. It also makes you ask if there is a better way.

So I can say I learned from the comments...even though you think your point is clear as to why you tell a story...you better give the moral of the story because some do not get it. I also need to pair back my slides...too much, and I knew that, but an hour is a long time to talk so I had way too much stuff...Cadillac will get less.