By Jeremy Tiers, Vice President of Admissions Services
1 minute read
In previous articles I’ve explained that prospective students will talk and share more if you ask better questions – ones that are casual, direct, and narrow.
Sometimes though you can ask a great question and students still struggle to respond, namely because they’re worried about saying what they perceive to be the wrong thing. Or, they’re nervous to share how they really feel about something.
Here’s another communication strategy you can use if a student gives you little or no feedback.
Tell them what you think they might be thinking.
If you’ve asked other students the same question before, what are the top answers they typically give? And if you haven’t asked the question previously, what external information (i.e. surveys, studies, newsletter articles you’ve read or webinars and podcasts you’ve listened to) do you have about other students when they were in a similar stage or situation?
An example with your inquiries who haven’t visited campus would be, “Jeremy, other seniors have told me they’re waiting to visit colleges until after they finish all their applications. What about you?”
Framing your question that way will prompt the student to either agree or disagree with you, which sometimes is easier than verbalizing why they haven’t done something or how they feel.
Last week my article focused on things students are scared or worried about. Another example of this strategy that you could use with your admitted students is, “Jeremy, the top thing a lot of seniors keep telling me they’re worried about is making the wrong decision for college. Is that the same for you?”
I encourage you to test out this strategy next time you find yourself struggling to get students to talk or respond to your outreach.
If you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it. Sharing is caring 🙂