Getting the Most Out
of Guest Speakers
PUT A PLAN IN PLACE
AND A GUEST SPEAKER
CAN REENERGIZE YOUR
STUDENT NEWSROOM
By Jim Burns
K
eeping up staff
enthusiasm, especially
before spring break
or during college
acceptance period,
challenges even the best
advisers. And, there are no
doubt times when our own
enthusiasm could use a bit of
a tweak.
But there’s an easy way
to inject some staff snap
without the expense, both in
time and travel, of attending
a national conference: Bring
a professional journalist to
campus.
Guest speakers are a sure
antidote to staff fatigue and
have the added benefit of
instilling passion for the
profession in students, as
well as possibly widening
students’ internship and
industry contact networks.
So, in that spirit, here are
some tips for effective use of
in-class speakers:
Who to approach?
By far the easiest professionals to pitch
are alumni. They already possess a
special connection to campus, and
are probably enjoying their current
success based, at least in part, on the
efforts of your school or college.
The Society of Professional Journalists
just announced its #Press4Education
iniative that helps match working
journalists with classrooms.
Failing that, try a Google search of any
recent journalism conference in your
area. Chances are speakers for these
events will be open-minded about
speaking to your class or media outlet.
And, as a bonus, they will be used to
speaking to a group.
Preparation
No matter how terrific a journalist, it’s
probably been some time since he or
she has been in a classroom. Kids can
be scary (ask any parent), especially
when they’re in a group, all looking
at you. For that matter, students can
be bored, inattentive—fill in the
adjective—and it’s important to let
the speaker know what to expect