Your Career Academy network plays an important role in the education and business community. It has a significant impact on schools, business and local communities. Your Career Academy network should make every effort to identify opportunities to present to these audiences, share its success, and offer opportunities for involvement.
To accomplish this, create a local speakers' bureau. This is a group of individuals trained and available to speak on behalf of an organization. To form a speakers' bureau, you will need to recruit and train the participants, as well as identify speaking opportunities. Recruit.
The ideal candidates for the speakers' bureau are those who have experienced great success with the Career Academy concept, or who have been extremely supportive of your initiatives. It is very important that participants are capable of speaking before an audience. You should have a diverse group of people who are prepared to represent you before the public, including: students, graduates, parents, educators, administrators and representatives from business.
For students, the speakers' bureau represents an opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity and improve public speaking skills. Professionals can use it as a chance to network and contribute to the success of your initiatives. Create a speaker information form, and ask participants to provide biographical information such as background, credentials and professional interests. Also ask them to summarize their experience and success with Career Academies.
Prepare.
Once a speakers' bureau has been established, assist members in preparing to speak to outside groups. Provide resources and background materials on the Career Academy network's approach to education and its success in preparing students for the high-skill, high-wage careers of the 21st Century.
Create a PowerPoint presentation template with general and specific information about your group, its philosophy, its partners, and the number of participating schools, students and businesses. It is important to stress in the presentation the successes of your local network and how it effectively is a win-win for all involved parties.
Encourage participants to customize this presentation by adding their personal experiences and perspectives. Once they have completed their presentations, each member should practice his/her speech in front of the group and adjust it accordingly based on the group's feedback.
Present.
To identify speaking opportunities, start by asking for suggestions within your network and your school districts. Leverage parents, board members, administrators, businesspeople and others connected with your Career Academy network to identify possible contacts. Also contact local chambers of commerce and Rotary clubs to ask about speaking opportunities associated with their membership meetings and conferences.
Use your imagination to discover new audiences for your message. Look into the regional and national conferences of high-tech industries and topics related to engineering, science, and technology. Watch especially for conferences that release a call for speaking proposals prior to the event, and work with the speakers' bureau to assemble and submit a proposal. Following any speaking opportunity, distribute feedback forms to collect comments from attendees and allow requests for additional information about your initiatives.