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How to Write a Seminar Report

Updated 2009-09-15

Some General Comments

Suggested Organization of the Report

INTRODUCTION

Say something about the speaker. Where is the speaker from? What is the speaker's background? Why is the speaker interested in this topic?

Introduce the topic in non-technical words. Explain the context in which the work was done. Get your reader interested in the topic.

What were the speaker's objectives for this seminar?

CONTENT

Give an overview of the seminar. Illustrate this with specific details you feel are particularly interesting or important. Quote formulas or details of derivations or proofs if you think they are of interest in their own right, or if they are essential to an understanding of the material.

DISCUSSION

Is the work original, novel, or elegant? Is it useful? Does it have applications in other fields of research? Could it be useful to you? How does it relate to what you already knew? Does it improve on earlier solutions to the same problem? Can you see applications in addition to ones the speaker described? Did the speaker suggest future directions? Do you have any other ideas for future work on this topic?

CONCLUSIONS

Summarize, very briefly, in plain language, what you learned from the seminar. How important do you think the topic is? Does this work make a significant contribution?

How to Write a Good Report


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