What should be included in an effective summary during a discussion?

A summary should include a speaker’s main points and reflect them accurately.

A summary should be comprised of a person’s justifications for his/her opinion.

A summary should feature details about why the topic is considered controversial.

A summary should contain the speaker’s attitude and swear words or sarcasm, if used.

1 answer

In an effective summary during a discussion, the following should be included:

  1. Main Points: It should accurately capture the speaker’s main arguments or ideas to provide a clear understanding of their perspective.

  2. Clarity and Objectivity: The summary should be presented in a neutral tone, avoiding personal biases. This means it should not include the speaker's justifications for their opinion or expressive attitudes such as sarcasm or swear words.

  3. Context: While it’s helpful to provide context, it should focus on summarizing the content rather than delving deeply into why the topic is considered controversial unless that directly pertains to the main points being summarized.

In essence, the most effective summaries focus on distilling the core messages of the discussion while maintaining objectivity and clarity.