I have to be honest here, I used to be terrible at giving feedback.
Not because I was vague or had nothing to say (trust me, I always have plenty to say) but because I had no tact. Absolutely none.
When someone would ask me for feedback, as soon as I read, watched, listened to, etc. the piece, I would immediately rattle off all my critiques, confusion, what I would do differently… The most obnoxious part about it was that I actually thought I was being helpful too.
*Facepalm*
Since then I’ve grown up, matured, and learned some hard but invaluable lessons about gracefully offering feedback – and useful feedback at that. Plus, I now get far fewer defensive and even aggressive responses from the receiver leading to less tension in my collaborative and supportive relationships.
I know I’m not unique here. I’ve even heard of cases where a simple feedback session has led to the end of a relationship between artists.
Yikes.
How to give feedback is something rarely taught in school. Yet, giving feedback is frequently required of us and not only allows us to participate in other artists’ growth, but helps us home our understanding of what works and what doesn’t for us.
In this blog, I’m going to share effective ways to give feedback that minimizes the defensive or aggressive blow back. All this learned from a combination of compassionate mentors and hard-earned personal experience.
I hope to impart on you the wisdom I’ve gained without the heartache it took to acquire it.
How to Give Constructive Feedback
1. “Tell Me What You Want”
When someone asks you for feedback, before you even lay eyes on the work in question, ask the artist what kind of feedback they’re looking for.
Sometimes, fellow artists are just making sure their structure or story makes sense. Other times, artists are looking for very specific feedback to take them out of the “rough-draft phase” and into the “final edit”.
If the artist asking you for feedback isn’t being as specific as you’d like about the kind of feedback they’re requesting, ask them some questions and give them some options.
Here are some questions you can ask to get a sense of what they may be looking for:
“How far along the process are you?”
Is this a new project or have they been working on it for a while?
If it’s brand new, they’re probably needing encouragement and some general ideas on what’s working and what’s not. Whereas, if they’ve been working on the WIP (work-in-progress) for a while, they’re likely looking for more specific, detailed feedback.
“Am I the first person seeing your WIP?”
If you’re the first one to see the work-in-progress, you’ll want to be a little more careful about your response.
Sharing our work with another for the first time is a vulnerable moment for any artist. Whereas, if you’re the third, fourth, fifth…tenth person to see the WIP, this artist has probably weathered some tough feedback already and is just sifting through what feedback they should implement versus what can be tossed aside.
Or, they may have already incorporated previous feedback and are testing how the changes resonate with a new audience/reader/listener.
Now, if you ask them what kind of feedback they want and they can’t answer you, here are some options you can offer:
- “I can give you feedback on the theme, characters, story, or tone.”
- “I can give you feedback on my overall impression of the work.”
- “I can tell you where I started getting bored or confused.”
- “I can tell you what is really standing out for me and what I’d like to see more of.”
They may not take you up on any of these offers, but hopefully it will get the wheels turning for them and help them get more specific about what it is they’re asking for.
2. “This is what I see…”
The second part of giving feedback, no matter what kind of feedback they asked for, is to simply explain what you see.
Now, I need to credit my technique and choreography teacher in college, Wade Madsen, for this one. Whenever we were giving feedback on a new work or a work-in-progress, he encouraged us to say what we saw first.
Not what we liked. Now what we didn’t like. What we saw.
You could also describe what you heard or what you read, etc. Simply regurgitating what we just witnessed helps the artist know what we’re gathering from the text/music/music/etc. so they can gauge whether their intention is coming across.
It also warms them up for the feedback to come as this method showcases your subjective experience of their work without yet judging the work.
This way, whether they agree or disagree with your critical feedback to come, they at least know what you saw in the work and can trouble-shoot for themselves how to better align their intention with the finished work.
Thanks Wade!
3. Consider Your Relationship
Now, before we get to the critical piece, make sure you consider your relationship with this artist.
If it’s someone you know well, that gives you an advantage as you can recall that time you said they’re work felt a little unfinished and they didn’t talk to you for a month. Or, if you’ve mentioned how they’re work could use a little more of x, y, or z and they took it in stride – whether they took your feedback or not.
If this person is the former example, you’re going to want to be real careful about how you give critical feedback and consider that they may actually be wanting encouragement – not feedback. If they’re the former, you know you can be straight forward with them about what is working and what’s not for you.
If you don’t know this artist very well, I suggest considering what you do know about them then towing the line somewhere between encouragement and criticism.
They’ll probably reveal their true desires and disposition as the feedback comes pouring out.
4. Deliver on Your Promise
Finally, when giving feedback, you need to deliver on your promise.
Those questions you asked earlier about what kind of feedback the artist is looking for? I hope you took notes.
If they asked for feedback on the overall tone and you end up splitting hairs on grammar or specific movement/musical phrases, they’re not going to ask you for feedback again.
After you’ve given them the feedback they specifically asked for, ask if you can comment on a few other aspects. They may say no and that’s okay. But this way, trust is built between you two and the feedback exchange will be much more productive for the artist and your relationship.
Your Artful Effort
Look at existing pieces of art in your medium and describe what you “see” to yourself without judging the work or making value claims as to whether it’s good or bad, or whether you like it or not.
This will help you practice your ability to summarize and interpret your experience of a piece without necessarily judging it so you’re ready to do the same next time a colleague asks you for feedback.
