Tips on dealing with criticism about your event

Nobody in the world likes to be criticized however from time to time it’s going to happen, as an event promoter, people will criticize the event, the venue, your business and even you personally, unfortunately there are plenty of things in all of us to criticize. Responding to criticism as a method of self-improvement is an important life-skill, few of us are ever taught how to take criticism that way and it makes the business of hosting events and life in general that bit more challenging.

Responding to criticism too rashly or without due thought can lead to all kinds of problems. Below you’ve find 7 tips on dealing with criticism about your event:

1. What can be learnt from criticism of your event? 

All criticism is based on truth, the easiest kind of criticism to receive is negative and this is usually the hardest to deal with, however it’s best to look on the criticism with objective eyes, through criticism of all kinds there is the opportunity to learn and improve.

2. Always respond to the suggestions and not the tone of the criticism

It’s very easy to read into criticism what may not in fact be there. It’s easy to do this if the critic is harsh in their tone or style, it’s important when these types of criticisms come in (and invariably after a while you’re bound to get some) that you focus on removing the negative connotations of the critique and simply respond to the core argument.

3. Learn to value criticism of your event

We all do it, we value praise over everything else in the world, as such as often view criticism as the opposing end of the spectrum  however this doesn’t have to be the case. If we heard nothing but good things, if all that came back was sycophantic nonsense and flattery how would we ever be able to develop things or as a person? As such it’s important to invite criticism of your event and really appreciate it when someone has gone out of their way to give you their opinion.

4. Don’t take it personally

This is the hardest thing about criticism, even if it’s criticism of your event or the venue, somewhere in there, there’s an implicit criticism of you personally, the thing is you personally aren’t an event, and as much as this event takes up a lot of your time, it’s not right to so strongly associate yourself with the event. Even when someone criticizes you personally they aren’t really attacking you, rather their perception of a situation that you’ll inevitably see differently and have another understanding of.

5. Learn to Ignore The Wrong Kind of Criticism

As discussed it’s easy to criticize  in fact it’s much easier to criticize than it is to be constructive. The criticism that has little foundation is the easiest kind of criticism to deal with as it can be reviewed and then put away and forgotten. The important part of that process is reviewing the criticism for truths, and questioning your understanding of events and whether you’re basing them on fact or fiction.

6. Responding to criticism too quickly

We can all be guilty of this, our first response to criticism is to be defensive and this leads to the wrong kind of response, or at the very best the kind of response that probably could do with appending. Remember criticism of yourself of your event is like an emotional wound, give it time to heal before responding – that way you’ll be calmer and more reflective.

7. Smile when you receive criticism

Smiling when you receive criticism isn’t the natural response  however there is something about smiling that helps us relax more and enables us to deal with life has to throw at us that little bit easier. Smiling is especially essential if you are receiving the criticism in person – however if you’ve got a bad review or a negative email, first smile, then deal with it you’ll get better results!

Feedback and Event Reviews on Skiddle

With all events on Skiddle there is a chance for an event goer to review their night out and give us some feedback about their experiences. This is a great opportunity for you as an event promoter to further engage with your event goers. Keep an eye out for the reviews that are a little more critical and take note – they may just be what your event needs!