How to Design an Invitation for a Seminar

Learn how to invite attendees to a seminar.

The invitation is the first impression that invited attendees have of what your seminar offers to them or how it benefits them to attend. Because the first impression is so important, you should spend time designing an invitation for a seminar to ensure that it contains all of the pertinent information. Essentially, a seminar invitation contains the answers to who, what, when, why and where, but it also has to contain compelling enough information that it gets invited guests to RSVP to attend the seminar.

Instructions

1. Identify the format for the invitation. When designing seminar invitations, you can choose from a postcard format, a fold-over card that is either a self-mailer or slides into an envelope or a brochure-style invitation that is a self-mailer or can be mailed in an envelope. The format you choose depends on how much information you want or need to include in the invitation, the expectations of the audience members you are sending the invitation to and your budget for creating and sending out the invitations.

2. Write the headline. The first element of invitation design is to create a compelling headline that grabs the attention of the recipient and makes them want to keep reading and ultimately attend the seminar. For example, if you are inviting them to a tax seminar, you may use a headline such as "Is Your Tax Bill Eating Up Your Business Profits?" If you are hosting a seminar that teaches brides how to plan a wedding on a budget, you may use a headline such as "Plan Your Fairytale Wedding on a Budget Without Sacrificing Your Dreams."

3. Answer the questions who, what, when, where and why. Include a brief description of who can benefit the most from attending the seminar or the types of people who should attend. Include three to five bullet points on the invitation that describe what attendees can expect to learn or take away from the seminar. The invitation should also contain the date, time and location of the seminar.

4. Include a way for invited guests to RSVP or ask you questions about the seminar. Include a phone number, email address and website address for the seminar. If the seminar part of your business, you should direct attendees to the specific page on your business website that describes the seminar. You may also opt to include a separate response card that attendees can mail back to you with their information.

5. Place the information into the invitation layout or work with a graphic designer to lay out the invitation design for you. Word processing programs and desktop publishing programs both offer invitation templates you can use to place your text, logo, pictures and other design information into the layout.

6. Review and revise the layout and information of the invitation. Check for spelling or grammatical errors.

7. Make a test print of the invitation. Print the invitation out on a plain sheet of paper to make sure that it looks the way you want it to look when you finalize the printing. Make any final adjustments before printing onto invitation card stock, brochure paper or postcards.

References

• Financial Seminar: Seminar Invitation Printing
• Microsoft Office: Seminar Invitation

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish