by Paul Nemetz-Carlson, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
Over the past week, I’ve had a lot of conversations about recruiting and I’m surprised to have stumbled upon a problem I didn’t know existed. College coaches – not known to be a shy group – are struggling to talk about themselves.
Believe it or not, coaches are wondering how to fit themselves into the program story they tell recruits. One asked, “how do I talk about myself without sounding egotistical?” Another said, “when I meet with parents and recruits, I find it really hard to talk about myself.”
Is this you? Can’t find the right tone or way to insert yourself in the story? You’re not alone. Our research consistently confirms that recruits are selecting schools based on their relationships with coaches, yet express great frustration with coaches’ inability to explain WHY they should choose them and their program. It is SO important for coaches to be able to include themselves in the story.
Why? Because all prospective student-athletes start their college search process trying to answer two essential questions: Why should they choose you? How are you better than their other choices? Are you forgetting to answer those questions? GREAT NEWS – there are some simple ways to fix it. To help you out – even the shy coaches – here are five ways to immediately put yourself back in the story.
- Rewrite Your Bio: In the information age, parents and recruits are more informed than ever when they walk into your office. You’d be amazed at how many parents have read your bio on the website – Almost All!! – and used it to form their early opinion about whether or not you’re the right fit. I’d encourage you to work with your athletic communications office to rewrite your bio. Make it representative of your coaching philosophy and what it’s like to play for you. Work to be more than a timeline of your career by adding your program values into the narrative and connecting your selected accomplishments to those values.
- Engage Your Assistants and Your Players as Your Storytellers: Throughout the recruiting process and especially on campus visits, create opportunities for your assistants and players to be your personal storytellers. Help them by identifying a few stories or key points to share that highlight your strengths and support your program’s recruiting story. Let them spend time with prospects and their parents when you are not around. With this process driven by prospects’ search for people they can trust, the stories feel more real and authentic when told in someone else’s words.
- Make Your Stories About Your Values, Not Your Actions and Accomplishments: Once you have advocates, go ahead and stop talking about yourself. Change the lead actor in stories you tell. Use stories about your athletes and alumni to speak about your values and what it’s like to be a part of your program. Instead of talking about how you’ve coached an All-American, tell the story about the All-American’s journey and development at your school – where you happen to be the coach. Let the prospects and parents make their own association – and connect what you’ve done for others to what you can do for them. Truthfully, they’re not listening to the list of your accomplishments anyway. They’re searching for an emotional connection. A new lead character in your stories provides a better way for them to imagine themselves as part of it.
- Support Your Story with Visual Displays: On a visit, prospects and parents will surely be looking around for visual confirmation of your program’s story. They may not remember everything you tell them, but visual association has a tremendous impact on memory. Have some eye-catching visuals along your tour’s walk-path and in meeting spaces that reinforce your messages. It could be a series of pictures that reflect your relationships with players, a quote that defines your culture, or a graphic that clearly puts your program values on display. Have things that speak for you without speaking. Keep telling your story, even when you think your audience isn’t listening.
- Use Social Media Differently: Whether you know if or not, the main things recruits take from social media are what you are like as a coach and what it will feel like to be a part of your team. Stop using social media to only provide game updates, awards, and fact based information. Give the audience – your recruits – what they want. Your social media accounts need less information and more smiles, more interaction, and more personality. Have a plan to consistently show your connection to student-athletes, your values, and how you can help them reach their athletic and personal goals. For the time-strapped coach – a few digital pictures – posted right after practice twice a week is manageable. And, for the self-conscious coach, recruits don’t know YOU run the account – it’s not weird to have pictures of yourself.
Remember, Coaches Matter! You Matter! And, if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will.
Be Distinct. Be Different.