What are CPD Seminars?

Seminars are used by professionals to enhance their knowledge and skills in order to stay up to date with the latest developments within their industry. This article provides a simple overview of what CPD seminars are, how a seminar differs from a lecture and an outline of the benefits of completing a CPD seminar.

What is the main purpose of a seminar?

Seminars are a key part of many academic and educational programmes. The purpose of a seminar is to provide a learning facility for professionals to obtain new information on a specific subject matter. Seminars are a great way to help individuals gain better insight and understanding of a particular subject, often relevant to their role or career. Seminars are an important training method as they can provide an in-depth opportunity to keep updated with the latest industry information, as well as enhancing professional skills.

How long is a seminar?

In general, a seminar is a type of short course. Whereas a training course may take place over a number of days or weeks, a seminar would typically be only a few hours long up to one day. The length of a seminar will vary depending on the subject matter, depth of content and delivery method. A seminar is similar to a workshop in this regard, in that they both provide an opportunity to focus on one particular subject matter, and cover it in a good level of detail.

How do seminars differ from lectures?

Seminars differ from lectures in a number of ways. For instance, seminars are usually conducted in a group setting with no more than 20 participants. Lectures will differ from seminars because typically a lecture will have many more delegates attending, and a lecture will usually take place in a large lecture hall, or perhaps more recently online. Lectures are more likely to be one-directional learning with limited audience participation, and as a general rule do not enable participants to discuss the content they are learning. Seminars will usually include group work, activities and interactive discussions around the topic being introduced.

Benefits of completing a CPD seminar

Improve knowledge

The opportunity to learn a high level of detail on a particular subject is a key factor why people attend CPD seminars, as well as contribute in discussions that are led by different experts. This allows individuals to actively process the learning materials, leading to better retention of knowledge and also to ensure that everyone can voice their views and opinions.

Networking

CPD seminars will often be attended by individuals from different companies and different industry sectors. This creates new business networking opportunities by helping people to meet like-minded professionals that can offer solutions and advice on various business aspects.

Refreshing vital skills

There are some industries in which information can become obsolete very quickly. If an individual has been out of education and learning for some time they may not be performing up to the most recent recognised standards, which could eventually become a concern. CPD seminars help to ensure that professionals stay to date with industry requirements, which helps to benefit both the individual, the organisation they work for and the industry as a whole.

Career Opportunities

Choosing the right CPD seminars to match your development requirements can help to progress your career and to perhaps branch out into a new field entirely. Continuing to enhance your work-related skillsets helps to become a better professional, improve overall employability and to feel like a more valuable and capable individual within your industry.

Examples of CPD Seminars

Seminars can vary depending on the subject matter and the level of detail. A CPD seminar can also vary depending on the structure of the training and level of interaction between the delegates and the trainer. Seminars are considered structured CPD as they consist of two-way interaction between the trainer and the delegates, and will follow a methodical approach to learning that can be delivered consistently time and time again.

CPD seminars are available on pretty much every topic imaginable, and some common examples include:

• Management training
• Sales training
• Real estate and property
• Website and digital marketing
• Finance, investment and tax

How to find CPD Seminars?

If you are looking for a CPD seminar relevant to your professional development requirements, please have a look through our CPD Courses Catalogue. There are thousands of training courses, seminars, conferences, workshops and events. To find out more about a particular learning activity that is listed on the CPD website, there is an enquiry form on each course that will be sent directly to the relevant CPD provider.

CPD accreditation for seminars

We hope this article was helpful. If you are looking for relevant CPD seminars, courses and events to attend as part of your ongoing Continuing Professional Development, please visit the CPD Industry Hubs section of the website.  

Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.