It is healthy and helpful to get feedback on your preaching. Sometimes you might pursue this by asking several people to fill out an evaluation of a sermon preached. Perhaps you ask for specific feedback on handling of the text, or aspects of delivery that you are working on, etc. Another approach is to form a group for feedback and have someone lead the group as they discuss the message and the preaching together. Other times it is very effective to watch yourself on video (and see the things people don’t want to mention to you). But here’s another approach to add to the feedback quiver.
It may be helpful to ask a handful of people for their reflections on your preaching in general. Perhaps do this after not preaching for a week or two (if you never get a Sunday off, pray about whether that is healthy for you or the church). Ask people to give their general impression of your preaching. You could ask specific questions in respect to handling the text, communicating clearly, relevance of the messages, etc. Or you could simply ask for a one or two sentence description of your preaching ministry, along with your top two or three strengths and two or three areas to focus on for improvement. It might be interesting to see what people say – especially if there is overlap between the comments made.
Sometimes we get feedback on a specific sermon and “preach out of our skin” on that Sunday. Now and then it might prove helpful to get a more general impression from some listeners.
Biblical Preaching 
I get a feed back each week from Charity, that is my wife of 40 years. If you really want honesty? Don’t ask your wife.
Of course if you want someone to give you feed back on the text itself, you need someone who knows the text.
Audience Analysis, now there is a great tag. I will use this in a post.
Great post.
Hi there,
That whole feedback process isn’t that simple.
We’ve implemented something like this with limited success. It’s not easy to find people who will give out criticism (constructive obviously). Most people want to say, “Well done”, “Good job” and other platitudes rather than “This is what must change!”.
Also you really need consistent feedback not a pat on the back once every three months. In order to get that trick right you really need to have some kind of a system in place.
All in all it’s a useful exercise but not a easy one.
In Christ,
Mark
Something that sometimes surprises preachers – especially inexperienced preachers – is the comments they’ll get after a worship service. I remember, in my own preaching days, people coming up to me afterwards and giving me positive comments (and disagreeing, too) regarding points I never made, points I never implied, points that were never in my mind – much less in the text!
I always tried to be as clear as I could be, both in organizing the the sermon and preaching it, but it’s amazing the things people come up with! Peoples’ minds must do a lot of wandering during the service!
I never stopped being amazed at how some folk’s minds worked. And it always made me more determined to be as clear and organized as possible.
I’ve been reading these posts with some interest. I agree with Mark, its’ not a good idea to rely on the feedback of others from the congregation. It’s even hard to get good, accurate feedback from others preachers. Given that many preachers struggle in this area, I have very recently begun a ministry which offers preaching/sermon analysis to preachers who want to grow and develop their craft. Its’ not just feedback on mechanical or structural points (undeveloped points, weak openings, etc), or even delivery. I want to help preachers understand their current preaching method and philosophy. With this discovery, the goal is to then help the preacher adapt to a model which will fit and serve him, his congregation, and the Lord better. My BA is in Speech Communication from Univ. South Florida and my MDIV is from Southwestern Seminary, with an emphasis in communication. If you are interested let me know.