How to create online event attendee survey about expectations

This article will guide you on how to create an online event attendee survey about expectations. With Specific, you can build a comprehensive and insightful survey in seconds—just generate and go.

Steps to create a survey for online event attendees about expectations

If you want to save time, just click this link to generate a survey with Specific. The process really is this easy:

1. Tell what survey you want.

2. Done.

You don’t need to read any further if you just want a ready-made semantic survey. The AI handles everything—from tailoring the questions to your purpose, to asking smart follow-ups that deliver the kind of insights only experts used to uncover manually.

Curious to dive deeper? Let’s see why expectations surveys for online event attendees matter.

Why expectations surveys matter for online events

Skipping out on attendee expectations surveys means missing direct access to what people really think. The importance of online event attendee recognition surveys goes far beyond just sending a post-event thank you. When you ask about expectations, you unlock:

• Ways to personalize content, pacing, and sessions to current attendee needs

• Opportunities to anticipate technical or accessibility issues

• Data to improve communication and event marketing next time around

• Power to prevent the biggest “disconnect” moments in virtual gatherings

A recent 2023 study shows a huge knowledge gap: 70% of attendees preferred feedback forms that addressed their immediate experiences rather than generic questions[1]. That’s a massive loss if you’re not tapping into tailored pre-event feedback. Additionally, using attendee feedback doubled repeat event attendance, with those incorporating qualitative surveys seeing a 30% increase in repeat attendance[1]. The numbers don’t lie—listening to your audience’s expectations turns first-time attendees into regular participants.

If your forms are too lengthy, beware: surveys longer than 10 questions see a 23% drop in responses. Conciseness isn’t just nice—it’s critical to getting feedback you can use[1].

What makes a good expectations survey

Anyone can cobble together a few questions, but a truly effective online event attendee recognition survey is built with intention. Here’s how:

• Clear, unbiased questions help avoid confusion and respondent fatigue. Vague or leading inquiries result in misleading data.

• Conversational tone puts people at ease. Friendly, natural phrasing encourages honest sharing, not one-word answers.

Quality and quantity of responses are your best performance indicators. You want high engagement (lots of attendees replying) and depth (meaningful, actionable insights in those responses).

Keep both clarity and warmth at the center of your survey structure. If you’re getting short, incomplete answers or high abandonment, revisit your question style and flow.

Question types and examples for online event attendee survey about expectations

A mix of question types delivers the best blend of structured and deep insights. Here’s how to use each—and when.

Open-ended questions help you understand the underlying motivations of your event attendees. Use these at the start to discover needs or at the end for wrap-up thoughts they wouldn’t share unprompted. For example:

• What’s the main thing you hope to gain from this online event?

• Are there topics or speakers you’re especially excited about? Why?

Open-ended questions open the door for rich, qualitative insights. If you want more inspiration, check our article on the best open-ended questions for online event attendee surveys about expectations.

Single-select multiple-choice questions are excellent for quickly gauging priorities or preferences. They’re great mid-survey or for scaling insights to larger groups. For example:

Which format do you prefer for keynote sessions?

• Short talks with live Q&A

• Panel discussion

• Interactive workshop

• No preference

NPS (Net Promoter Score) question gives you a quantitative measure of the likelihood that your attendees would recommend the event based on their expectations so far. It’s quick, familiar, and actionable. If you want a ready-to-go template, generate an NPS survey for online event attendees about expectations in seconds. For example:

On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend this upcoming online event to a friend or colleague based on what you expect?

Followup questions to uncover "the why": These are crucial when you want to dig deeper into motivations or objections. Use follow-ups when an answer is ambiguous (“It depends...”), surprising, or to prompt for personal stories. For example:

• What makes you choose that session format?

• You mentioned technical barriers—can you share more about what concerns you?

If you want a full collection of ideas and how to craft stronger questions, check out our guide: Best Questions for Online Event Attendee Surveys about Expectations.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys reinvent the traditional feedback form as a chat-like experience, engaging the respondent in a flowing, interactive dialogue instead of dry checkboxes and static grids. The result? Higher engagement, richer insights, and lower drop-off—even on mobile, where over 80% of attendees prefer completing forms after the gathering[1].

Here’s how an AI survey generator like Specific’s platform is fundamentally different from typical manual survey creation:

Why use AI for online event attendee surveys? AI-powered survey creation lets you scale expert-level qualitative research without the manual grind. With an AI survey example for online events, you get smart, context-driven questions, adaptive follow-ups, and customizable conversational flow—no specialized training needed. Specific’s user experience makes it frictionless for your audience, maximizing both completion and candor.

Curious how to streamline the process? Here’s our article on how to create a survey with Specific—it’s easier than you expect.

The power of follow-up questions

Let’s call it out directly: follow-up questions are what separate surface-level answers from actionable insights. If you’re only capturing initial replies, you’re missing out on why people feel the way they do. Automated followup questions change everything for conversational surveys.

Specific asks AI-driven follow-ups in real time, adapting to each attendee's reply and digging into their expectations—just as a skilled interviewer would. No more sending endless clarification emails. And because it’s a natural flow, respondents are comfortable elaborating. Here’s what happens without follow-ups:

• Attendee: “I’m hoping it’s interactive.”

• AI follow-up: “What does ‘interactive’ look like for you—workshops, live Q&A, networking?”

How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 targeted follow-ups per question yield deep context without fatiguing the respondent. Some will need just one, others may open up after a second nudge. You can always set Specific to skip further follow-ups when you’ve got what you need.

This makes it a conversational survey—a true dialogue where each participant feels heard and engaged, leading to clearer, more complete answers.

Easy AI survey response analysis is the finishing touch. Even with lots of qualitative replies, Specific’s AI lets you quickly synthesize trends and dig into responses conversationally. Check out our resource on how to analyze survey responses with AI for a step-by-step approach.

Automated follow-up questions are a new frontier in feedback collection—don’t take our word for it, try generating your survey and see the difference firsthand.

See this expectations survey example now

Start now and uncover what your attendees truly think—conversational surveys with AI-powered follow-ups deliver insights you can actually use. Don’t settle for generic feedback. Create your own survey and experience the Specific difference.