# Free Feedback Form Templates: Which Questions Should You Include?

By the debrief team · Published 2026-10-22 · Updated 2026-10-22

Short answer: pick the template that matches what you want to decide, keep one overall rating, keep only the questions about things that actually happened, and rewrite anything generic. This article helps you choose and adapt.

## A template is a draft, not a finished survey

Free feedback form templates save you the blank page. A broad template may ask about facilities, value for money or likelihood to recommend, even when those topics do not fit your session. Review it before sending so the answers relate to decisions you can make.

This article is about the choosing and editing, not the library itself. For editable question sets organised by session type, see the free feedback templates page, then come back here to decide what to keep.


## Choose by what you want to decide

Skip browsing by industry and ask what you need to learn. Most feedback forms serve one of four purposes, and each has a different core:

- Session or workshop feedback: Was the content useful, was the pace right, which part should change?
- Event feedback: Was it easy to attend, did the programme fit your needs, would you come again?
- Product or service feedback: What were you trying to do, did it work, what got in the way?
- Course or programme feedback: Did you learn what you expected, how did the structure work, what was missing?

## The questions worth keeping in almost any template

Whatever the purpose, a small core does most of the work. Keep these and adapt the wording to your situation:

- Overall: How would you rate this session overall? (1 poor, 5 excellent)
- Usefulness: How useful was this for the work you do? (1 not useful, 5 very useful)
- Pace: Was the pace too slow, about right, or too fast?
- Specific part: How useful was [named activity or section]?
- Change: What is one thing you would change?
- Keep: What should stay exactly as it is?

## Questions to cut or rewrite

Remove anything that refers to something you did not provide, such as a catering question when there was no catering. Rewrite anything that bundles two ideas: Was the trainer knowledgeable and engaging? asks about two separate qualities.

Interpret recommendation-style questions carefully in small groups. A score from ten people describes those respondents, but one answer can move it noticeably. Pair it with a specific question about an exercise to understand what worked and what to change.

Pew Research Center's guidance on survey wording is a good check here: use neutral language, avoid leading phrasing and ask about one thing at a time.


## Adapt any template in five minutes

Work through this checklist with the template open:

- Delete every question that does not match something that happened.
- Replace generic nouns with real names: the Thursday role-play, the budgeting spreadsheet, the second half of the day.
- Put the overall rating first and open text last.
- Use one scale throughout, with both ends labelled.
- Aim for around five to seven questions for a short session; remove any question that will not inform a decision.
- Make open text optional if the survey has more than six questions.

## Example: a generic template, adapted

A generic template might open with How satisfied were you with the training? followed by Was the trainer knowledgeable and engaging? and Would you recommend this training?

Adapted for a two-hour spreadsheet workshop, it becomes: How would you rate the workshop overall? How useful was the live pivot table exercise for your own files? Was the pace too slow, about right, or too fast? What is one thing you would change? Four questions, all tied to something the group actually did.


## When a template is not the right start

If your session had a distinctive structure, a broad template may need substantial editing. It can be useful to generate questions from your own slides or notes instead. In debrief, you can do this as a visitor, edit the questions freely, and only create an account when you continue after reviewing them. Your material is deleted once the questions are ready.


## Frequently asked questions

### What is the most important question in a feedback form?

An overall rating placed first. If people stop early, you still have the one number that summarises the experience.

### How long should a feedback form be?

For a short session, start with five to seven focused questions and test how long they take. The right length depends on the decision you need to make and the effort each answer requires.

### Should I include open-text questions?

Yes, one or two, placed last. They explain the ratings. On longer forms, make them optional.

### Can I edit a template before sending it?

You should. Unedited templates tend to ask about things that did not happen. In debrief, every template question can be edited, added or removed.

## Sources

- [Pew Research Center: Writing Survey Questions](https://www.pewresearch.org/writing-survey-questions/)

- [Create a free survey](https://debrief.so/new)
- [Free feedback templates](https://debrief.so/free-feedback-templates)
- [Plan details](https://debrief.so/pricing)