Asked: "What are the distinctive features and differences between: Keynote presentation, conference presentations, workshops, training sessions?"

Answered: This is a doozy! While we can have definitions of each, the implementation can be dramatically different. I will start with definitions for each and then add some thoughts to tie things in.

Keynote Presentation: delivered to set the underlying tone and summarize the core message or most important revelation of an event

Conference Presentations: often delivered concurrently with other sessions on a variety of topics that support a central theme of the conference

Workshops: An educational seminar or series of meetings emphasizing interaction and exchange of information among a usually small number of participants. Tend to be action/skill based (sounds a lot like a conference session though doesn't it)

Training Session: An educational session designed around changing knowledge/skills/attitudes of the target population

As we can see, Keynote and Training Session are the two main categories where Presentation and Workshop might fall under types of Training Sessions. I say might because I think that there are times where presentations do not achieve a knowledge/skill/attitude change and are simply events where one person does all of the talking. Training is a process that requires not only effort from a trainer, but also from a learner who takes an active role.

In my view, there might be more value in contrasting the definitions for Presenter vs Trainer vs Facilitator. Each requires a set of unique skills and each style is used in different situations, including those definitions in your original query. It is not just that we hold a "Training Session," but rather it is of vital importance that we think of how that session is conducted. Within that I would even dig deeper and say that we should really be talking about the "Participant-Centered Trainer" that fuses content with process in a way that increases retention and better secures learning to be transferred out of the classroom.

Scott Enebo is a training consultant with The Bob Pike Group.