Week 14 question 1

Although, a forum, panel, colloquium, and symposium are a group presentational format, which can help a group to organize its discussion and facilitate its interaction with a larger audience, they all have key differences. The main distinguishing factors in these forms of public discussion are in the group’s interaction with its audience. In a forum, the members of the audience give reaction speeches one at a time in an orderly fashion; the panel format provides no direct interaction between the panel of experts and the audience; in a colloquium “the discussion is carried on both in front of and with participation of audience members; lastly, in a symposium the speeches are well prepared, practiced, and polished presentations that are uninterrupted by the audience and presented by skilled public speakers. I would prefer colloquium. The reason is that colloquium is more engaging between the audience and the experts. In colloquium, it is highly likely most of the audiences questions gets to be answered.