Think about the last time you gave a presentation. How did it go? Did you say “um” or “like” too often? Stand stiffly? Speak too quietly or too high-pitched? Did you rely on PowerPoint to carry your message, with slides that bored the audience? Seeing or hearing ourselves afterward can be a shock, but it’s often the only way to realize how we come across.
Studies show that our behaviors in presentations reflect our everyday communication patterns—they’re habitual, even if we don’t notice them. Without outside perspective, it’s difficult to see—and change—these habits. That’s why feedback is so valuable: it helps us understand how our actions impact others and why we are sometimes misunderstood.
Yet most of us resist feedback, even when delivered carefully. Feedback is often hard to receive because it’s based on what’s already happened and we can’t change the past. That’s where feedforward comes in. Coined by Marshall Goldsmith, feedforward is future-focused guidance. For example, instead of saying, “You didn’t delegate enough,” feedforward would frame it as, “Going forward, you could distribute more tasks to your team to lighten your load.” It emphasizes improvement, not past mistakes, and invites collaboration on solutions.
Asking for feedforward allows us to:
- Discover how our behavior affects others
- Receive actionable suggestions for improvement
- Build trust and investment in one another’s success
It’s a beneficial exercise to ask a teammate for feedforward. Ask them to observe your behavior in a meeting or offer ideas on how you could be more effective—whether it’s your tone, messaging, or collaboration. Similarly, offer your own constructive observations to help others grow.
I remember a former boss who routinely asked, “What can I do to help you be more successful?” At first, it felt uncomfortable, but it created a culture of mutual feedback and improvement that benefited everyone.
Experiment with feedforward and see how it changes the way you work—and relate—with others.
Kathleen