lee733•15d ago

Pulled a speaker invite at our small college after student feedback made me rethink my approach

I help organize the speaker series at a community college in Ohio. Last semester we booked a guy who does a lot of conservative campus talks. A couple students from our philosophy club sat me down and pointed out his debating style just steamrolls people, doesn't actually engage. They weren't mad about the viewpoint, they just wanted a real discussion. I ended up canceling him and bringing in someone who does a Q&A format instead. Felt like a small victory for how we handle these things. Anybody else tweak your speaker selection based on feedback from students?

2 comments

2 Comments

henrygrant15d ago

Hey, that's a REALLY solid move on your part. I've seen way too many speaker events turn into a shouting match because the person on stage just wants to score points instead of actually talking to people. You dodged a mess by listing to those students. The Q&A format is smart too, it forces the speaker to actually think on their feet and engage with the room instead of just running through a canned speech. Sounds like that philosophy club did you a favor, honestly.

loganburns15d ago

Threw out my whole presentation midway through once, @henrygrant, and just let the room steer the conversation, best decision I ever made.