By Jeremy Tiers, Vice President of Admissions Services
2 minute read
Starting conversations at high school visits and college fairs have been popular topics during my recent training workshops.
Keep in mind that most of the interactions and conversations you’re about to have will be your first impression. You don’t get a do over.
I know it can be tempting to hand them materials, dive right into the “spiel,” and feel like you have to share a ton of details about your school. You don’t! In fact if you do that you’re going to end up word vomiting.
Considering how hard it is to get and keep the attention of a young person, that would be a big mistake.
The best strategy to get them to engage doesn’t involve talking about your school… or asking them what they want to major in or what questions they have for you.
It requires you to personalize the conversation by demonstrating you want to learn something about them through asking a direct question that is easy to answer.
When you first meet the student, make eye contact, smile, and be sure your body language says you’re approachable. After you discover their first or preferred name, as well as what grade they’re in, ask a question like…
“<First or Preferred Name>, what one or two words best describe how you’re feeling about your college search?”
If the student responds with a word like overwhelmed, you might say, “I hear that a lot, and I know each student goes through this process differently, so help me understand why you’re feeling so overwhelmed.”
Never be afraid to ask for context. It demonstrates you care and you’re curious.
The strategy I just outlined is simple and extremely effective – Get engagement first, give information second. That’s a big key to making any conversation you have feel more personal. Always let the student’s response dictate where you steer the conversation next. When there’s an opportunity for you to take their feedback and connect it to something about your school or the student experience, absolutely do that.
The goal at any college fair or high school visit isn’t to share as much information as possible about your school. It’s to be memorable enough that you create an opportunity for a future conversation with each prospective student.
I encourage you to test out this approach and let me know how it works for you.
And if you find yourself needing a good question to ask, send me an email – happy to pass along some options.
P.S. If you utilize this strategy, don’t be surprised if reps at neighboring tables see the success you’re having and start to copy you. I hear stories like that pretty frequently including last week when I was catching up with a counselor from a university in the Pacific Northwest.
If you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it.