10 Lessons I've Learned from Being a Campus Tour Guide

When I came to the University of Maryland (UMD), I immediately applied to the campus tour guide organization, Maryland Images. Four years and 68 tours later, I've learned so much about persuading high schoolers to rank UMD as their #1 choice.

An effective campus tour guide has many qualities: professionalism, communication, storytelling, positivity and enthusiasm, creative thinking, adaptability, and more.

Beyond these, however, there are many small changes any guide can make to elevate the overall quality of their tour.

Here are my Top 10 Tips to Be a More Effective Communicator and Tour Guide.

1. Understand your group and tailor your content.

In any presentation, it's important to know with whom you're communicating. The best way to maximize value on a tour is by understanding your audience so it's not one-size-fits-all.

UMD tour guides don't know their groups beforehand, so I start my tours by surveying the crowd and asking the following questions to tailor my content (people often hesitate to shout in new groups, ask multiple choice questions with options so people can answer by raising hands)

• "Where's everyone from?" (If everyone lives in-state, I'm not going to share my in-depth transition as an out-of-state student)
• "What do people want to study?" (There's little value in highlighting our geology program if everyone wants to study computer science)
• "What year are you in school?" (I emphasize the November 1st application deadline, but there's no point if the tour is mid-December and filled with high school seniors)

These icebreakers may seem basic, but I pocket this information and refer back to it throughout my tour (those computer science students LOVE when I talk in-depth about STEM programming).

2. Build rapport with open-ended questions "between stops."

Dale Carnegie writes in the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, several ways to increase likeability. Carnegie's first way is to be genuinely interested in other people. Tour guides do a lot of talking at your group, so take advantage of any chance you can to let the students talk about themselves.

While tour participants learn a lot about you, guides rarely learn about them.

Small-talk can be awkward, and closed-ended questions that elicit one-word responses (i.e. "Was your drive to campus safe?") put more pressure on you to stimulate the conversation.

Instead, open-ended questions help you build rapport, demonstrate approachability, and make your group more comfortable. These changes all increase the likelihood that someone asks you a question (tours are always better with more questions!).

Here are my four talk tracks for speaking with high school students between tour stops:

1) "What year are you?" "How's [insert year] going?"

• If they say a normal, positive answer (i.e. fine, good, great, etc.): "You know you can be honest with me" (this gets a chuckle)
• If they say anything that's NOT positive: "Well I appreciate the honesty!"
• Explore further. "What's making it so __________?" Again, genuine interest will win over your attendees.

2) "Are you taking any hard classes?"

• Avoid asking, "Are you taking any honors or AP classes?" This may make a student feel badly about themselves if the answer's no. Some students interpret this as AP, IB, or honors classes, but others will not. Keeping it vague maintains high morale.
• If you took the same class, you can talk about it. If one sounds interesting, ask follow-up questions to learn more about it.

3) "How do you spend your time when you're not in class?"

• Some students will interpret this to mean clubs they're involved in, but others may have conflicting commitments that prevent them from joining organizations. Students may share activities like "babysitting my cousin" or "I work a part-time job." Any of these can spark conversation.
• Avoid prying if they seem closed off about personal life, and pivot to #4.

4) "Do you have an idea of what you want to study?"

• If they don't, validate their ambiguity and remind them to stay curious. You can ask, "If you could make up any major, what would it be?"
• If they do know, that's awesome! If it's genuine, show excitement. Not all high schoolers know what they'd like to study. You may wish to explore what led them to choose their field of interest.

Take advantage of the time between tours to get to know your group upfront. Investing in this time will make the overall quality of your "stops" that much better.

3. Everything is about differentiation.

I went on almost a dozen college tours as a high schooler. Want to guess how many spoke in detail about professors having office hours?

Every. Single. One.

Many tours focus on regurgitating facts rather than highlighting what makes the school unique. Consider these differentiating factors in your story and emphasize them. Zoom through the standard information that would be similar elsewhere.

ALL campus tour guides will likely talk about office hours, blue light systems, career centers, etc. What makes YOUR school different?

• "UMD professors are required to have office hours...but at UMD I've found professors to be flexible and willing to meet outside of the scheduled time."
• "Our blue light system keeps students safe by calling the police in <90 seconds...but here are four other unique ways UMD prioritizes safety..."
• "We have resident assistants (RAs) in all on-campus buildings...but since UMD is such a large school, it's an extremely competitive process here. Hundreds of students apply to be an RA so the Dept. of Resident Life only picks the best of the best."

Highlight what makes your school different.

4. Spin an "unfortunately" into a "fortunately."

Seize every opportunity to show your group that you have their best interest in mind.

At UMD, we don't show actual rooms on tours. Instead, we have a mock room on display in the Visitor's Center.

At first, many guides will say: "Unfortunately, we're not going to go inside of a real resident hall...BUT you can visit one on display in the Visitor's Center."

No.

Frame this as a positive (and funny) way with the magic word "fortunately:"

"Fortuntately, we're not going to take you into a REAL freshman room/hallway. We used to do that, but it would get so awkward with the cramped hallways and awkward students walking out of the shower. We will NOT succumb you to that horror, so instead we have a mock room in the Visitor's Center to view."

Here's another example

"Unfortunately...we don't have time to see the smoothie bar on this tour."

Instead...

"Fortunately, we're NOT going to add an extra 10 minutes to show you the smoothie bar to ensure we stay on time and I can show you even more of this campus."

It's a simple change, but positivity sells.

5. Scripts tell. Stories sell.

Tell stories. Tell stories. Tell stories. Tell stories. Tell sto...

This was drilled into our heads during training. But...an anecdote shouldn't JUST be thrown on top of your information - it should reinforce the content you're already talking about.

Here are two scripts side-by-side that communicate the same information.

Which one is more effective?

Example 1: Information Regurgitated

"Recruiters are eager to talk to UMD students at career fairs because they’re highly prepared. Our Office of Career Coaches prep our resumes and networking skills to be top-notch."

Example 2: Story-ified Information

"In February, at the spring career fair, I spoke with a company that complimented UMD students. One recruiter said, “This is our fourth career fair this month. Your students have definitely been the most prepared and impressive ones yet. They did their research.” It’s attitudes like these that create a waiting list of 20+ companies beyond the ones that attend."

Which one do you prefer?

It's the same information told in two different ways.

You look more credible when you use evidence to back up your statement. Saying, "Recruiters are really impressed by our students" is an opinion. Instead, do these:

• Highlight the consistent waiting list with 20+ employers every semester
• Use a direct quote from an employer

And besides...if YOU don't have a story to tell, say "I have a friend who..."

6. Name names. Specificity works.

Specificity increases memorability. Use numbers, metrics, and proper names to reinforce your credibility whenever possible.

Instead of saying:

"I was able to get super involved in my first two weeks on campus"

Consider how much more memorable it would be to say this

"By Day 10 of college, I was already an active member of the Juggling Club."

Specificity works because you never know what you'll have in common with your listeners (but you can draw inferences from asking questions...tip 2!).

7. Use tease to segment and organize your information.

Effective presentations or meetings establish agendas upfront. If you're lucky, you may have breadcrumbs scattered on the bottom of a slide deck.

Tour guides don't have a PowerPoint, so it's important to mentally organize your thoughts and verbally communicate it to your listeners.

As often as possible, I use numbers to organize my thoughts so my listeners can know what I'm talking about.

• "Aside from the blue light system, here are three big ways UMD prioritizes student safety that I'd like to discuss."
• "Now you can either watch these sports or play them yourselves. If you want to watch our teams play, here's the process..." *after some explaining* "If you're interested in PLAYING sports, there are three different tiers: D1, Club, and Intramural."

Organize and communicate your content upfront so people know what to expect.

8. Three ways to spice up your presentation: use vocal inflection, gestures, or pop quizzes (aka engagement checks).

Vocal Inflection

I once heard a tour guide casually gloss over the fact that UMD has over 900 clubs and organizations.

Pause. That's a BIG number. Tour guides may be desensitized to these statistics, but you can "wow" your listeners by using emphasis and acting as surprised as they should be.

Gestures

Seize any chance you can to incorporate props or movement to engage your audience. When speaking about security, physically show your university ID. When talking about living on campus, take out your room key, and simulate opening the door. These animate your stops.

Interactive

Before sharing how many books are in my school's library or the cost of student tickets, I always let people guess.

Different groups have different energies, and some may respond better to interactive questions, so use this when appropriate.

9. Create motifs throughout your tour.

This creates a sense of polish and professionalism that elevates your tour's quality exponentially.

For example, I share these sentences in my first tour stop:

"UMD is a BIG school, so it does everything possible to make the big school feel smaller and more manageable. You'll see that as a common thread throughout the tour.

This works if you tie it back throughout the tour. For example, I mention:

• Complementary buildings are clustered together to minimize walking across campus (i.e. parking lots and stadiums).
• Classes become increasingly concentrated into one building as you get older.
• At the big club fair, engaging with organizations makes the school less overwhelming.
• I've been able to find my niche and soar at UMD. This is where I share my "Why I Came to Maryland" story (aka, any tour's grand finale).

Figure out what your motif or big idea is and identify as many ways as possible to integrate it into your storytelling.

10. Give free advice...even if they're not picking UMD.

In sales, it's okay to turn down clients. Sometimes, it's necessary. Not everyone is a good fit for your product, and your time may be better exerted elsewhere. Similarly, I always recognize on tours that the University of Maryland is a fabulous institution and might not be the perfect school for every student.

Still, you can maintain strong perceptions by finding ways to add value to your group.

If someone leaves my tour saying, "I love your excitement about UMD, but I'm just not feeling similar levels of enthusiasm," that's okay. I still love sharing no-commitment advice to high schoolers and parents that they'll take home even if they decide not to rank UMD as their top choice:

"My goal was to help you understand how much I love UMD. Wherever you end up, whether it's Maryland or another school, pick somewhere you love as much as I love this university. My hope is that you all find a school that can feel so passionate that you too want to be a campus tour guide."

Here are some other ways I've added value as a tour guide: offered restaurant recommendations, facilitated introductions to students studying their field of interest, shared career advice which landed me internships, etc.

Even if UMD is not for them, parents and students consistently smile at the end of my tours. That's a win in my book.

Final Thoughts

Have Fun.

At one point in my college career, giving tours lost the magic. Taking a break to let my batteries recharge was the single most valuable thing to give me enough steam to carry me into my final semester.

Giving tours has built and refined my sales, communication, and presenting skills.

Your Turn.

If you could add one more tip to this list, what would it be? Which tip speaks to you the most?

You can take the Terp out of Maryland, but you can't take Maryland out of the Terp.

Thank you, Maryland Images.

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Hi! I'm David Rosenstein, a marketing student and soon-to-be-graduate from the University of Maryland. All opinions are my own and do not represent the University of Maryland, the Office of Enrollment Management, the Admissions Team, or Maryland Images.

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Thank you to Greg Mazur, Abby Adams, and Megan Descalzi for training me to be a tour guide.