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Boris Hristov is a speaker, trainer and author from Bulgaria. He is Co-Founder and the Operations Head of 356labs. Boris was rated numerous times as the top speaker at events across 20+ countries and has delivered an insane number of trainings, workshops, seminars, webinars, you name it. His only mission is to help you achieve more with your presentations and make you part of that 1% of presenters who make a difference.
The type of feedback that really helps
Boris has been conducting “Train the Trainer” courses for years. From this experience, he knows that feedback is the most crucial thing, especially when you are beginning. You have to always be asking for feedback. It’s the only way you are going to improve. He believes that the type of feedback that really helps is real, honest feedback. In these “Train the Trainer” sessions, the participants give feedback to each other, and they are encouraged to accept feedback.
Some type of feedback is pointless too
After one event, Boris asked a colleague to give him honest feedback. Some of the feedback he received was right. However, this colleague told Boris that in the session (which was in Bulgarian) he used too many English words that he should have translated into Bulgarian. When you become a presenter you will have your own style and you don’t want to change them. In these cases, think about: is this something I really have to change? Is this something crucial? or is this just part of your style?
The use of feedback forms
Feedback forms are always a reference. The best feedback forms have a text box in which the participant can write down honest feedback, in sentences. Instead, feedback forms that just allow participants to mark “3 out of 5” are less useful. What can I do to improve if I know I am a “3 out of 5”?
The best way to give effective feedback
To Boris, the best way to give effective feedback is:
- Be honest with the speaker
- If possible, talk in person
Newest trends to give feedback
Boris is a tech-savvy person, and he recommends to use new platforms such as Zeetings.Com to give feedback as well. Zeetings allows users to comment and discuss any of your slides from their mobile phones.
Related: PlusPlus feedback and other rhetorical adventures
Favorite quotation
“Don’t talk. Execute.”
Recommended book
Presentation Zen Design by Garr Reynolds
Routine to Shine
Learn new things every day. Try if they work. Then, what has worked for you, go share with the people around you. Make them better, shorten their path to success.
Links
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Always inspiring to hear people talking from their own experience. This talk was very inspiring for me and gave me a lot of food for thought!
Thank you, Boris for sharing this with us and Oscar for making this possible!
Thank you Slav for your kind comments. Indeed it was great to hear Boris sharing his fascinating story!
@Slav Petkov, as always – my pleasure! 🙂