Tips for Public Engagement!

As we immerse ourselves in the warmer weather and blooming flowers, many of us are gearing up for the various recruitment events, involvement fairs, and conventions that take place throughout the spring and summer. Public events can be successful, engaging arenas to promote your program, or - at the very least - get it into the public's eye. If you've ever attended an event for the purpose of recruiting or showcasing your agricultural, 4-H, or FFA program, you should make sure that you're getting the most out of your time and effort! Here's a little bit of wisdom that I've collected throughout the years and used in my own life:

1. Be Energetic.

We've all seen the table at the county fair with the representatives sitting down in the chairs behind the table... not talking... waiting for the public to come to them. Heck, I know I've been guilty of doing this at one point or another. A big mistake on my part. What I've figured out over the years is that chairs are not for sitting. You want to be out in front of your table, interacting with people, being energetic! Make a reason for people to come up and talk to you - unless if someone is specifically seeking out your program, very few people will be willing to walk up and talk to you if you're hidden away behind your table and disengaged from the event you're at. That chair is for your backpack or your box of recruiting materials, not for you to sit in!


2. Be Relevant to Your Audience.

Part of getting someone invested in what you have to say is being relevant to them. Think of the first time you talk to someone approaching your booth as an interview. That person is essentially interviewing you to figure out if you will be a good fit for them. Here's where that 30-second elevator pitch, that we've all been told to have prepared, comes in handy. Introduce yourself, then have that short pitch for your audience that showcases what your organization is about and why they should care! At the same time ask people questions, learn about them, figure out where their interest lie, and be energetic.  From there, you'll probably be able to identify something that you or the organization that you're representing does that aligns with those interests. If you're willing to engage with the people that are there, they're going to be more willing to engage with you.


3. Be Creative.

Nobody is captivated by a boring table with pamphlets and posters laying on it. If you have the ability to be interactive, plan some sort of activity, idea, or engagement piece that will bring people to your table. Interactive activities are fantastic, especially if you can develop one that showcases something about your organization. For example, if you're representing the local 4-H, plan an activity that involves environmental science, plant and animal science, or STEM. Maybe you can showcase an electrical engineering project a 4-H student created, or have people engage in a gardening activity with something they can take home with them. If you're exhibiting your agricultural program, show off some of the great work your students have done in the greenhouse or in the wood shop. People are much more likely to remember an activity they engaged in or a cool project they saw than a pamphlet.


4. Be Prepared With Contact Information

Make sure to have business cards, flyers, or some sort of way for people to reach you or your program. If someone is interested in the event you're planning or the program you're representing, they need to have a way to find out more information! I've been to a lot of job fairs and recruitment events where very few booths were giving out business cards, let alone any way to reach out to them. What if that student walks away and forgets your meeting time? What if they go home and forget how they can find you or your program? Granted, people know how to Google, but there's nothing quite like handing someone a business card and making that one-on-one connection in-person (and let's be honest, does your program come up on the first page of Google when you search it?).


5. Be Ready for Questions.

Odds are, there's at least a few questions that you frequently get about your organization. Be prepared to answer these questions beforehand. A good strategy I like to use is to sit down and think about all the questions that someone might ask me at an open house or recruiting event, and write out my answers to them. This is a good exercise in being prepared for the inevitable, "isn't FFA all about farming", or "4-H is the arts and crafts club, right?" that might come about from people who don't know much about your organization. Going back to #2, you can even tie in what your organization is about in your elevator pitch so people get the right impression from the start. Basically, you want to have a concise, professional response to any question that might be thrown at you.



That's it - just five short tips that have helped me immensely throughout the past few years of representing and recruiting. This advice can be extended way beyond just representing and recruiting; think about these tips any time and anywhere you represent your program!

 

Hunter Kauffman

Team Leader, @TeachAgPSU Communications

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

College of Agricultural Sciences