International advisors can use the student population on campus to encourage intercultural relations and help integrate international students as much as possible. This can be done by inviting them to give a presentation or organizing an event that brings students together.

Here you will find information to help with outreach:

1. Agree on venues and events where international students can be included
2. Collaborate with programs on campus
3. Plan a presentation
4. Give a presentation
5. Evaluation of presentation

Step 1 Agree on venues and events where international students can be included

• Invite the Study Abroad Office to co-sponsor events with the International Student Office or ask if they will include a table for international students at their events and student organizations' events.
• Ask them to mention international students at their orientations to students and parents as an invaluable part of the college experience.
• Ask them to list international student activities as one of their student activities/ organizations in their flyers and on their website.

Step 2 Collaborate with programs on campus Go Back Top

Collaborate with ESL Classes:

• Try to contact teachers for possible ways to collaborate. International students could be asked to write essays about their country and culture.
• International students could practice public speaking by giving a presentation about their country to prospective study abroad students. These can include PowerPoint presentations.

Study Abroad Fairs:

• Find international students from a country where your school offers a study abroad program.
• Invite them to attend a study abroad fair where U.S. students can learn from them about the world. Try to enhance the gathering by serving foreign foods to make the event more fun and interesting.
• Make sure you invite international students, prospective study abroad students, as well as returning study abroad students. This gives them a chance to maybe meet someone from the country they have been to and teach others about the programs.

Step 3 Plan a presentation Go Back Top

Other Student Affairs Offices may have done presentations and be able to offer advice about organizing presentations. Even if the offices you contacted have not conducted outreach, they may be able to offer you contacts to other resources that can help.

In the event that other Student Affairs Offices are not able to offer advice or contacts, make use of personal contacts (e.g. district and school administrators/ staff, teachers, parents, or current university students who can access elementary and high school alma maters) that may help you access schools interested in International Student Outreach.

Enlist the help of a faculty member who has expertise and potential contacts relevant to similar outreach projects and/ or study abroad. Pay particular attention to faculty members in Education, International Business, or other International Studies and Area Studies Programs.

The following information is for International students who are planning to do outreach. You can direct your students to this information to help them prepare for their outreach pr

Download our Outreach Presentation Plan.This is designed to help you plan your presentation.

Consider using one of our customizable PowerPoint presentations. These PowerPoint presentations available on this website have been created as customizable templates for your own presentations about your international experiences. You may personalize these presentations with your own information or by adding and removing particular slides as you see fit. There are two sections of presentations you can use depending on if you are presenting to U.S. students about your home country or presenting to students back home about studying in the U.S. There are several different presentations including ones targeting African-American/ Black students, Latin/ Hispanic students, Asian/ Pacific Islander students, and Native American students, as well as general 4-year college/university students and students at community colleges.

Warm-up activities for PowerPoint presentations. Before beginning the official presentation, warm-up activities can be used to introduce students to the concepts of being an international student and cultural appreciation. The activities are available on this site under the Additional Resources. They target all types of students.

Think about your audience. As you plan your session, think about who your audience is, how you will accomplish your objectives and how to keep your audience engaged. For example:

• Who will I be speaking to?
• What do they know about my topic already?
• What will they want to know about my topic?
• What do I want them to know by the end of my talk?

Use objects from home. Objects from another country are indispensable for a quality presentation. At heart, this is a personal reflection and something the audience can see and hold is essential to keeping people interested. The object may include pictures, books, a map, or something your country is known for.

Planning grade specific presentations. For example: Try to balance lecturing with Q & A and group participation. Break things down into 10-15 minute segments. Incorporate VKAT (visual, kinesthetic, auditory and tactile) communication if possible.

Consult resources. A variety of resources are available on this site under the additional resources link. Here you will find additional resources for teachers which include book lists, classroom activities, websites, etc. targeting elementary, middle, and high school students. You will also notice additional resources for parents and students, which include book lists, computer games, etc. also targeting elementary, middle, and high school students.

Be aware of logistics.In your correspondence with principals and teachers, make note of logistical issues for your presentation including time allowed for your presentation, number of students expected, classroom location, directions, parking availability and access to multimedia resources.

Step 4 Give a presentation Go Back Top

The following are guidelines for presenting U.S. Campus outreach presentations. You may personally use this information if you plan to give an outreach presentation or provide this to an international student who has volunteered to give an outreach presentation in your classroom.

Involve the audience by asking occasional questions. Hypothetical questions are best as they show the gap between cultures. Try to ask genuine questions to which you do not already know the answer and show interest in any replies. Leave time for the audience to think. Try to avoid answering your questions yourself or telling members of the audience that their answers are wrong. Audience members should feel a sense of accomplishment after answering questions, knowing that they have contributed to the presentation.

Pause occasionally to ask if audience members have questions for you. You can also pause occasionally to ask if anyone has any questions for you. If a question disrupts the flow of your talk too much, you can say that you will answer it later (but don't forget to do it!). Before you ask for questions, make sure you are ready to pick up your presentation again when the Q & A session has finished.

Use visual aids to make a presentation livelier and help audience members follow your presentation. Many issues are communicated much more clearly with visual aids than through speech alone.

The two most common forms of visual aids are overhead transparencies and computer slide shows (e.g. PowerPoint). Objects that can be displayed or passed around the audience can also be very effective and often help to relax the audience. Some speakers provide printed handouts to the audience to follow as they speak. Others prefer to give their handouts at the end of the talk, because they can distract the audience from the presentation.

Step 5 Evaluation of presentation Go Back Top

As an international student advisor, you can mentor student presenters by giving them advice on preparation, content suggestions and feedback on presentations already made. You can download our presenter evaluation form here. These evaluations can be used by any international student advisor who might have the opportunity to observe a student presentation or by other faculty who will be present at the outreach presentation.

Given that school and student demographics, interests, and resources often change, it is important that presenters be encouraged to consider ways to make their presentations more innovative, attractive and relevant to a particular audience.

We hope that you found this information to be of help to you. We welcome your questions, comments, and useful resources you'd like to share! Please contact us at .