How do you end your workshop summary with a clear call to action or a follow-up plan?

1 Plan your summary before the workshop

Prior to writing a workshop summary, it is important to plan ahead. This will save time and effort, as well as ensure that all relevant information is captured. To do so, review the workshop objectives and agenda to identify key topics, questions, and goals. Additionally, create a template or outline for your summary that includes sections such as workshop title, date, attendees, objectives, main points, outcomes, action items, and follow-up plan. Depending on the purpose and scope of the workshop, you can also add sections for feedback, evaluation, or recommendations. Lastly, decide how you will collect and organize the data; you can use tools such as notes, flipcharts, sticky notes, photos, recordings or surveys to gather information. Assign roles to different participants such as note-takers, facilitators or reporters to help with data collection and analysis.

2 Write your summary as soon as possible after the workshop

Writing a workshop summary as soon as possible after the event is key to ensure that no details are missed. To do this, review and analyze the data collected from the workshop, such as notes, flipcharts, sticky notes, photos, recordings, or surveys. Look for patterns, themes, highlights, challenges, and gaps in the data and summarize the main points and outcomes of each topic or activity. The summary should include the workshop title, date, attendees, and objectives. Additionally, use bullet points and headings to make it easy to read and avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse your audience. The most important part of the summary is the action items and follow-up plan. These should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) tasks with specific deadlines and resources that the participants agreed to do after the workshop. Lastly, include a follow-up plan detailing how and when you will communicate with participants and evaluate the results.

3 Edit and format your summary

The third step to writing a workshop summary is editing and formatting it to ensure accuracy, consistency, and professionalism. To do so, you should proofread your summary for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and clarity. Utilizing tools like Grammarly, Hemingway, or ProWritingAid can help with this step. Additionally, you can ask someone else to review your summary and give feedback. Formatting your summary should adhere to brand guidelines or preferences with fonts, colors, logos, images, or charts that match the brand identity or style. Templates or tools like Canva, Google Docs, or Microsoft Word can be used for this step as well. Lastly, adding a cover page and a table of contents will make your summary look more professional and organized. The cover page should include the workshop title, date, facilitator, and organization while the table of contents should list the sections and subheadings of your summary along with the page numbers.