Here you will find information to help international students become involved with TRIO outreach.
- Pick a TRIO Program
- Contact a program in your area
- Plan your presentation
- Giving your presentation
- Evaluation your presentation
Step 1 Pick a TRIO Program
As an international student who studied in the U.S. or an international student, you have unique experiences, information, and resources that a majority of TRIO students have yet to experience. You have a wealth of knowledge to share with students who would love to hear your stories. Two-thirds of TRIO students have parents who have not attended college, let alone studied abroad and may not have a lot of knowledge to offer them on the subject. By providing them with your first-hand experience you can help them realize their study abroad potential.
TRIO offers seven main programs to help low-income Americans enter college, graduate, and move on to participate more fully in America's economic and social life. Just as you have different interests and passions, you may feel more connected to one program rather than another. Read the descriptions below and pick a program that best suits you. We suggest you start by looking for a TRIO program on your home campus.
What kind of TRIO programs are there?
Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement
This program helps low-income students to stay in college until they earn their Bachelor's degrees. Participants, including disabled college students, receive tutoring, counseling and remedial instruction at 930 colleges and universities nationwide.
Talent Search programs serve students in grades 6-12. In addition to counseling, participants receive information about college admission requirements, scholarships, and various student financial aid programs. The early intervention program helps people from families with incomes under $24,000, where neither parent graduated from college, to better understand their educational opportunities and options. Over 386,000 students are enrolled in 471 Talent Search TRIO programs.
This program helps young students to prepare for higher education. Participants receive instruction in literature, composition, mathematics, and science on college campuses after school, on Saturdays, and during the summer. There are currently 774 programs in operation nationwide.
This branch of Upward Bound helps students from low-income families strengthen their math and science skills. In addition, students learn computer technology as well as English, foreign language and study skills. There are more than 130 programs serving students throughout the country.
Veterans Upward Bound programs provide intensive basic skills development and short-term remedial courses for military veterans to help them successfully transition to postsecondary education. Veterans learn how to secure support from available resources like the Veterans Administration, veterans associations, and various state and local agencies that serve veterans.
Step 2 Contact a program in your areaGo Back Top
With over 2,800 TRIO programs nationwide, there is a good chance there is one in or near your area. Consult the Council for Opportunity in Education's website to browse the directory. Pick a high school, community college, state college, or university and email or call the contact person listed. Be prepared to explain how your presentation would be beneficial to TRIO students, and have a short outline prepared of the type of presentation you will showcase.
Be aware of the principals or teacher's requirements and preferences. Some contacts may be interested in certain global regions, religions, heritage or language programs, short term or long term programs, volunteer or aid work, and programs connected to certain social issues or fields of study. Work with your contacts to understand what type of presentation will be best aligned with the school's interests and what will appeal most to the students you are attempting to reach, empowering them to find a way to study abroad as well.
Step 3 Plan your presentation Go Back Top
Consider working in a team
Enlist the help of another international friend or classmate to present with you! Having more than one person can increase the value of the presentation and make preparations less daunting. Working with partners also ensures that you are not traveling and presenting alone; we suggest always performing outreach in groups in order to ensure your safety at all times.
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 study abroad and cultural appreciation. The activities are available on this site under Additional Resources. They target elementary, middle, and high school students. This may be especially important for TRIO students as they may not be familiar with your country or may feel that they do not have access to it.
Think about your audience. As you plan your session, think about who your audience is, how you will reach 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 your native country are indispensable for a quality presentation. At heart, this is a personal reflection of your home 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.
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.
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.
Give your presentation Go Back Top
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 own questions 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 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 the 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.
Within these visual aids it can be helpful to include photos taken while you were abroad. Be sure to include a variety of pictures other than monuments of the country. As a TRIO student, it may be hard to imagine living abroad rather than just a visit, so explain and illustrate some of the day-to-day experiences.
Step 5 Evaluation of presentation Go Back Top
Seek out opportunities to improve in all areas of your International Student Outreach. Review the overall success of the presentation as well as planning issues, collaboration with contacts/ advisors, and planning.
Reflect on whether you feel the TRIO program you presented to was the best outreach outlet for you and your study abroad experience. Consider re-reading about the various programs or presenting at a different grade level.
After your presentation, returning study abroad students should maintain strong communication with advisors, fellow presenters, teachers and school administrators or staff, in working together to create more innovative and increasingly relevant presentations for future students.
We hope you found this information helpful. We welcome your questions, comments, and useful resources you'd like to share! Please contact us at 
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