The Difference Between a Seminar and a Workshop.

Many people, including some who hold events, confuse the different types of events. Participants to these events are also often completely ignorant of the different types of events and what to expect from them. The result is that many attend such events for the general, often ill-defined purpose of “networking.” The overwhelming majority of these people are also bad at networking so they end up merely socialising and wining and dining. The sad thing is the majority of people will remain ignorant because they are resistant to learning or getting an awareness of what they do not know. 

What is a Seminar

A seminar and a workshop are different events. A seminar is an event where a presenter, or presenters presents something of seminal nature or something ground-breaking, new, original, transformative, life-change or breakthrough. When you attend a marketing seminar, you must not expect to get basic common-place marketing knowledge and information such as the 4 Ps of marketing. You must expect something new, original, inspiring or discovery or revelation or life-changes or transformational, or of a breakthrough nature. If you go to a seminar and you get nothing inspiring or revolutionary or new or of a breakthrough nature or game-changing or paradigm-shifting or cutting edge, or leading edge or hot off the brain, then you have not attended a seminar but a lecture or a lesson.

For those who organise a seminar, you must not call an event a seminar of you are going to talk about something commonplace or that is already widely known. Make sure that you have something ground-breaking or breakthrough or paradigm shift or new before you call the event a seminar.

A seminar is usually a short-duration event with the maximum being a full day. The main outcome of a seminar is new awareness or knew knowledge or new solutions for the participants and acquiring through learning.

What is a Workshop?

A workshop, as opposed to a seminar, is what it is, a workshop. Whereas in a seminar participants typically sit and listen to the seminar leader, in a workshop participants actually work as individuals or in groups. A workshop facilitator’s role is to provide the work and instructions and to help out in making sure that the participants are on course.

In a workshop, participants produce some work output. For example, in business planning workshop, participants will plan a business plan or business plans whereas in a business planning seminar participants may get some information on a ground-breaking approach to producing a business plan but they will not produce a business plan in the seminar.

In general, people who attend seminars and workshop are more successful than those who don’t because most seminars and workshops provide very practical and effective solutions, ideas and strategies rather than general academic knowledge.

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