Rehearsing your speech is not a solitary activity. Getting feedback from others about your speech and delivery provides vital information you can use to complete the last part of your speech preparation—Step 5: Revise. You’ll use feedback to make any necessary changes to the presentation, as well as to improve your public-speaking skills over the long term.

On an episode of The Office, Dwight Schrute is named Dunder Mifflin Paper Salesman of the Year, and learns he must give an acceptance speech at the company sales convention. Terrified of public speaking, Dwight turns to his bumbling boss, Michael Scott, for suggestions about how to approach the speech. Dwight’s initial plan is to simply thank as many people as possible during his speech. But Michael advises, “These are salesmen, Dwight; salesmen expect to be entertained,” and proceeds to coach Dwight on the finer points of public speaking. Michael orders other Dunder Mifflin employees into the conference room so Dwight can practice in front of an audience and get their feedback. But Dwight claims the setup isn’t helpful because he’s not nervous in front of his coworkers, since they are his subordinates—not actual salespeople. Jim Halpert, a coworker and salesman, counters that argument by pointing out that Dwight has no authority over anyone in the room. Michael agrees. Completely frustrated with the “practice session,” Dwight throws his note cards on the floor and stomps out of the room. In a last-ditch effort to provide advice, Michael calls out, “Confidence, Dwight.”

Although Dwight’s practice session failed, at least Michael tried to get him feedback from other people. Most of you will not have a conference room full of coworkers to use for practice, but you can enlist family, friends, or fellow classmates to help you rehearse and to provide feedback on your speech. Students who practice in front of a small audience are more likely to receive higher evaluations on their actual speech performance than those who practice alone or in front of a mirror (Smith & Frymier, 2006). By practicing in front of others, you can get feedback about your speech structure, content, and delivery. Using this information to make necessary changes to your speech outline and delivery is an important part of Step Five: Revise. But not all feedback is helpful. Feedback that is overly general (“That was great!”) or broadly critical (“Confidence, Dwight”) lacks details about what’s working and what communication behaviors need to change. Knowing how to give others useful feedback and how to base your own revisions on the feedback others give you completes your speech preparation.