What Actually Is A Seminar

What actually is a seminar?
A Seminar can be a tough ask to the majority and on the other hand to a few smart and diligent
people it can be a platform to showcase their talent. Seminars are conducted at all levels, a student
preparing for the Class 10 exams has to go through seminars as an architect has to in order to
showcase his designs to his clients. After the launch of Microsoft PowerPoint bundled with MS Office
Suite in 1990, presentations have risen to a new level. Earlier there used to be seminars of course,
but with the help of charts and graphs or using blackboards and even projectors. In the early 90s the
trend of using PowerPoint for seminars was mostly in the U.S, but eventually it became a trend for
all. In today's world, if you do not use Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentation, you are
considered below par and maybe a friend of yours with a lesser knowledge in the subject matter but
using PowerPoint will score better than you. So always do remember to present your seminar in
Microsoft PowerPoint, even if it means learning PowerPoint for the first time.
So in which group would you like yourself to be included, people who are scared of seminars or
people who love to showcase their talents? Probably the second group, otherwise you would not
have been spending your precious time reading this article. To mature yourself as a seminar
presenter and make yourself smart enough to face the crowd you have to follow some basic yet
essential steps so the next time you step out for public speaking, you would be more confident than
ever.
Before the presentation

1. Choose your topic well
Choose the topic well. If you are expert in "Electronics", never go and choose "Theory of Relativity"
of which you do not know much. Do not listen to anyone who advice you to choose a tough topic so
as to get more attention. Attention, and ultimately impression depends on your performance, not just
the choosing of a tough topic.
2. Prepare the project yourself
Suppose you have a week's time to prepare the project, do not sit for tomorrow, start today. Do not
give a friend or your brother or sister to write for you; if you do so you will surely repent at the time of
presentation. If you have a bigger project and you are a group of two or three, try to do most of the
things yourself. It will enhance your knowledge, refresh your mind and make you feel confident at the
time of presentation.
3. Take the help of the Internet
Do not copy-paste directly from the book, it will mar the cause for such a learning platform. Google
anything you want to know about. There are many websites where you can find information related
to your topic. Note down what you require to make the presentation more interactive. Add
illustrations, images and graphs to your project. If a video can make your project come to life, never
think twice; add one.
4. Study in details
The presentation itself may not require you to deal with the subject matter in great detail, still you
need to write every single detail of the project in a notebook (for your own reference). This will
tremendously help you when you are asked any question.
5. Practice, Practice and Practice
Practice your presentation. Practice alone, practice in front of the mirror, practice in front of your pet,
pull your siblings beside and practice in front of them. Everyone knows that practice makes a man
perfect, so if you practice hard, you will be ready to face the crowd.
During the presentation

1. Speak loud and clear
Speaking loudly is in no ways similar to shouting. Your voice should be clear. If you think people will
laugh at you, you are wrong. They won't laugh. They have come to listen to you and at that moment
you have to consider that you know the topic better than they do as you have spent a week
researching on the same. But do not whisper, it is believed to have a negative impact on the
listeners.
2. Do not Memorize
Never ruin the presentation by memorizing. All the slides will be in front of you, you just have to
present them in a conversational and interactive way. Memorizing a quote or definition is well in the
limits, but memorizing a whole extract is not good.
3. Make eye contact with your audience
No matter how shy a person you are, during a seminar presentation you are strongly advised to
make a eye contact with your audience. This shows your level of confidence. I know its hard, but if
you have prepared the presentation well, believe me you can do it with ease. So smile and look at
the crowd.
4. Smile and show your enthusiasm
Show how enthusiastic you are about the presentation. Be jolly, it will lower your nervousness.
5. Ask people to interact
Ask the audience whether they are understanding your words. Ask them a related question and
involve them in your discussion. It will make you feel free.
6. Take a break
After explaining each slide take a break for a couple of seconds. It will give your audience a chance
to visualize the last slide. Moreover this will give you some time to recall details about your next
slide.
After the presentation

Be prepared to receive compliments from your friends, colleagues, teachers or clients. Your
confidence during a seminar presentation can win you your clients or make you the most praised
student in your class. It all depends upon you; it is you to decide how seriously you take a seminar.
Robert Frost rightly said "The best way out of difficulty is through it".
Some Useful Hints

Consider your audience. Before you do anything, think about what kind of people you'll be
presenting to. If you're giving an important business seminar, you may want to go as far as
doing a full evaluation of demographics. Knowing your audience will guide you in your
preparation.
Make an outline of speaking points. When it comes to making any kind of speech or
giving a presentation, it's best to have an outline to work from to make sure you
highlight all your key points. Reading from a script often sounds too formal and doesn't
allow for much eye contact.
Start with your introduction. This should inform your audience of the topic on which
you're speaking and its value to them, plus give a very brief overview of the points you
plan to discuss.
Move on to the body of your seminar and make a list of points you want to touch on.
You need at least two points to get your message across; three is better. Under each
heading in your list, write out a couple of details to help guide you when it's time to
present.
Finish with your conclusion. This should be brief but tie in each point you made during
the seminar. It should leave your audience on a positive note and give them some kind
of action to take, if applicable.
Create your visual aids. These can be posters that you set on an easel, brochures you pass
out, an interactive model, an overhead slide or slideshow presentation, pictures or anything that
will help your audience visualize what you're saying. The goal is to get your message across
clearly. The aids also help break up your seminar into chunks so you avoid monotony.
Practice giving your seminar using your outline. You want to appear relaxed yet
professional; you should feel comfortable with what you're saying. Get feedback from others
and make revisions as needed. Also practice your gestures and mannerisms. A mirror can help
with this so you see if you're being too dramatic or too stiff.
Arrive to the seminar location early so you can get set up. Pass out any materials you want
to use and set up your visual aids. This includes preparing the technology you will use in your
seminar, like a computer or overhead projector. Greet your guests as they come in.
Present your seminar, using your outline. Speak up and speak clearly. Speak slower than
you normally would in a conversation so people can retain the information. Periodically ask if
anyone has any questions and clarify things as you go. Thank your audience for their attention
when you're wrapping it up.
So to conclude - How to Conduct an Effective Seminar

Hosting a seminar is ideal for introducing new services, products, ideas, or concepts. However, the
success of a seminar will mainly depend on the venue and the way it is conducted. Selecting an easily
accessible location such as event venues in Gaston County NC would be ideal. As for conducting an
effective seminar, here are some pointers that will be helpful.
Preparations
The success of the seminar will mainly depend on the effectiveness of the speech and presentation of
the main speaker. When you are the speaker, you need to thoroughly research the topic or product
from all angles, and come up with a convincing speech. Researching and having a good grasp of the
topic is very important, as you are likely to face some tough questions from the participants, and you
need to give accurate and effective answers. While researching you might have to study some
reference material, look up current news about the topic, and consider the prevailing opinions of the
public about the topic.
Designing Presentations
Presentations are very helpful in getting your point across and for making the topic easy to understand.
Presentations should have an introduction, which may include a brief summary or overview of the
topic. After the introduction, the topic can be broken into sub topics, and everything can be explained
with proper visual aids.
Finally, the presentation should end with a conclusion where everything is brought together by
providing a concise summary. The duration of the presentation should be carefully considered, as time
factor plays an important part in a seminar. Plan how much time you are going to spend in the
introduction and the time you will require for explaining each slide or screen.
The speech or presentation should flow naturally and follow a logical line of thought. Avoid using flashy
slides, and at the same time do not make the presentation very plain. Do not simply put up points on
the screen that you read aloud. Pictures and graphs will form the main elements on the screen, and
you will have to accompany them with relevant comments and explanations.
Practice Run
You will need to go through your full speech and presentation before the event and record it. Listen to
the playback and see how you sound. You will immediately detect things that need to be corrected and
places where you might want to alter your approach to the topic. Make the necessary changes and go
through multiple practice runs until you are fully convinced about your speech and presentation.
Introduce the topic at the start of presentation

Interact with audience
Be aloud and confident
Make eye contact with audience
Stand confidently and use hand movements to help deliver the presentation
Indicate what will follow later in presentation
Have interactive session participants need to pushed to speak
Refers to specific slides in his presentation
Indicates that the presentation is coming to an end
Ends presentation and invites questions

What Actually Is A Seminar

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What actually is a seminar?

Before the presentation

During the presentation

After the presentation

Some Useful Hints

So to conclude - How to Conduct an Effective Seminar

Introduce the topic at the start of presentation

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