How can you avoid feedback overload in storytelling?

Be clear in the impact that you wish to make in your storytelling / communication - Whether it be to educate, inform, influence, persuade, motivate or inspire. Once you have established this, then you will be in a position to identify how much feedback you wish to incorporate and act upon.

To prevent feedback overload in storytelling, I focus on gathering feedback from trusted sources or a small group of diverse listeners. I prioritize feedback that aligns with my storytelling goals and vision, filtering out unnecessary or hate suggestions. Additionally, I maintain clarity on the key aspects I want to improve and implement changes gradually, ensuring that the essence of the story remains intact while addressing valuable feedback to enhance its impact.

Clarity of final goal is essential to understand what type of feedback doesn’t match with your vision. You can also note down the areas where you consider feedback to be irrelevant as that would not help you in reaching your goals.

Be intentional about the feedback you are requesting. If you are seeking feedback on the delivery of your story, you may want to review a recording of your talk and work with an experienced speaker coach. If you want feedback on your story structure you can ask a series of questions to find out how your story landed.

Before seeking feedback, be clear about what aspects of your storytelling you're aiming to improve or test. This could be character development, plot structure, pacing, dialogue, or overall narrative coherence. By setting specific goals, you can direct the feedback towards these areas, making it more targeted and useful.

When your story is ready for feedback, you may be tempted to share it with everyone you know. Resist this temptation! Choose reviewers who will appreciate and understand the genre, who represent your target audience, and whose opinions and experience you respect. Remember who has given you feedback in the past, or whose feedback to others you have found valuable. By all means, do not just choose reviewers who will praise you and tell you that you're wonderful! You want to learn and grow, and improve your writing, with input from trusted sources.

Choose Your Critics Wisely. Select a small, diverse group of trusted individuals who understand your vision and can provide balanced feedback. This can include mentors, peers, or members of your target audience.

Use your trusted sources, those that give you a range of feedback which is both constructive and of perceived value. Balance quantitate and qualitative too - it helps to provide different perspective.

Not all feedback is created equal. Select sources that are relevant to your storytelling medium and audience. This could mean fellow writers, specific target audience members, or professionals like editors or storytelling coaches. Choosing people who understand your goals and the context of your work ensures the feedback is relevant and constructive.

Choose your sources wisely. Feedback from someone who has never 'been in the arena' may not be of much use. Too much feedback can be overwhelming.

Being specific can guide your audience in giving you feedback for the areas where you want to improve. For example, if you revisit your past stories and you feel that the structure of the story could have been better, then you can ask the audience what they would like to see in the next story or what part of the story didn’t connect with them.

Narrowing down the feedback you wish to gain will help you to focus on specific areas. This can be very useful if you are working on specific elements of your storytelling and communication. It will give you more actionable information which you can incorporate into your next storytelling scenario.

To manage this, set clear expectations when soliciting feedback. Specify whether you're seeking a general opinion or a detailed analysis. Begin by asking for early impressions to gauge alignment with your narrative vision. Make necessary revisions, and then, seek more specific feedback. This structured approach ensures quality input without overwhelming responses.

Vague requests for general feedback can lead to an overwhelming deluge of opinions that may not be relevant or actionable. Before sharing your story, take time to craft targeted questions or prompts for your feedback providers. Instead of asking "What did you think?" you might ask: - Did the opening hook you and make you want to keep reading? - Were the characters believable and relatable? - Was the dialogue natural and engaging? - Did the pacing feel smooth and purposeful? - Were there any points where you lost interest or got confused? - What emotions did you feel at the climax of the story? - Did the ending feel satisfying and earned? The more specific your questions, the more useful and focused the feedback is likely to be.

Create a Feedback Framework. Provide a structured framework for feedback, with specific questions or focus areas. This directs your critics to provide targeted, useful insights rather than broad, unfocused opinions. Prioritize Feedback. Not all feedback is created equal. Prioritize suggestions that align with your objectives and come from trusted sources. Disregard comments that are vague or unrelated to your goals.

Take time to pull out the insights from the feedback and turn them into actionable items. You may well get an abundance of feedback which will need to be prioritised. Focus on that first .. it will give you the most immediate impact.

Amidst the subjective landscape of storytelling, adopting an analytical lens is essential. Take the time to analyze these larger pain points and see if there's any commonalities or recurring issues. Explore the interconnections and maintain openness to alternative solutions, considering the collective insights offered. By distilling feedback to its core elements, storytellers can strike a harmonious balance between creative expression and audience engagement, refining their narrative for broader resonance.

To avoid getting overwhelmed with feedback in storytelling, first, set clear goals for your story. Next, select trustworthy sources for feedback and request specific input related to your objectives. After receiving feedback, analyze and prioritize it based on its relevance to your goals. Implement the most valuable feedback and test its effectiveness in improving your storytelling. This approach helps you focus on the feedback that matters most and prevents feeling inundated by too much information.

Every audience is different, which means you may try revised versions of your story and it lands with some audiences, but not with others. That is why constant testing and learning is key when developing your story and implementing feedback. Even if a new addition to your story is well-received, there may still be even better feedback to make your story stronger in the future. Think of your story as an evolving piece, which can always be updated as new feedback is received.

Start with high-priority items, including the changes you believe will have the most significant impact on improving your story and achieving your goals. Be mindful of how each revision affects the overall story. Strengthening one aspect of your narrative (like character development) may require adjustments in other areas (like plot pacing). Continuously refer back to your story as a whole to ensure the changes you're making are cohesive and purposeful. It can be helpful to implement feedback in stages, rather than trying to tackle everything at once. Focus on one element of your story at a time (like dialogue or description), make the changes, then move on to the next element. Steady improvements will have dramatic impact over time.

These are the things that you could consider, because I often forget them. So it is a reminder to me as well as to you. Set boundaries: Don't overwhelm yourself with feedback from a large group. Choose a select few trusted readers who understand your goals and target audience. Prioritize feedback based on expertise: Weight feedback from readers with relevant experience or knowledge in your story's genre or subject matter more heavily. Take breaks: Step away from the feedback for a while to gain perspective and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Trust your gut: Ultimately, the story is yours. It's okay to respectfully disagree with some feedback if it doesn't align with your vision.

Don't ask for too much feedback. Having a huge group of people reading and offering feedback is going to overwhelm and confuse you and you may lose sight of the storyline in the process. Make sure you're strategic in who is providing feedback, keep the feedback circle small, and keep people you trust in that circle so your feedback source is trusted and valid.