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Return to Education Newsletter main page!

Guest Speaker Success Story


By Rachel Stern, ISJL Director of Education

One of the best ways to involve and invest members of your congregation in the Religious School is to invite guest speakers to come and meet with your students. Utilizing a guest speaker well takes proper preparation and planning. The goal is to create a meaningful experience for both your students and the speaker.

Here are some steps to make your guest speaking sessions great:

1)    Choosing the right speaker.
  • If you are having more than one speaker come into the class, make sure to show diversity in age and experience.
  • Make sure the speaker is comfortable with and can relate to students.

2)    Communicate with ahead of time. 
  • Make sure the speaker knows what you want from them, and give them parameters (including time limit, content, learning modalities or anything else you think would help them be successful).
  • Ask a few sample questions to get a feel for what the speaker will say and how they will say it. If you need to provide some guidance and feedback, you will be able to do that before the class session.
  • Follow up with a written summary/outline confirming everything you discussed. 
  • Give the guest speaker a description of your class so they can know what to expect.

3)    Get your class involved.
  • Have the class write a list of questions ahead of time for the speaker and assign each student a question to ask.
  • Prepare a worksheet for the class to fill out as the speaker presents, so the students have a task to do while listening.
  • Come up with a way for your students to introduce themselves so that there is a two-way connection and interaction with the speaker and your students.
  • Have your students send a thank you note after the session to show their appreciation.

4)    Invite parents.
  • These sessions are great opportunities for parents to attend also. It introduces them to people in the congregation and is a learning opportunity too. 
  • If parents do attend, send them home with some questions to debrief later as a family.

5)    Debriefing and applying what you learned.
  • Make sure to plan for the following class to unpack and discuss what you learned. You don’t want the activity to be disconnected from what you have learned.
  • Offer the guest speaker a chance to debrief too so you can share feedback with each other.
  • Make sure you personally reach out and thank the speaker(s)!


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  • Home
  • WHO WE ARE
    • Our Mission & History
    • Goldring and Woldenberg
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Our Founder
    • Jobs and Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Education >
      • Education Overview
      • ISJL Program Associates
      • Collective Enrichment
      • Curriculum Highlights >
        • Lesson Plan Evaluation
      • Community Support >
        • Communities
      • Literacy >
        • LAB
        • Our Reading Family
        • TAP >
          • TAP Basic Resources
          • TAP Newsletter
          • Zadeck TAP Mentors
    • CULTURE >
      • Culture Overview
      • Cultural Programming >
        • Presenters Roster
      • Heritage & Interpretation >
        • Southern Jewish Heritage Tours
        • Southern & Jewish Podcast
        • Temple B'nai Israel - Natchez
      • History >
        • Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities >
          • Alabama Encyclopedia
          • Arkansas Encyclopedia
          • Georgia Encyclopedia
          • Florida Encyclopedia
          • Kentucky Encyclopedia
          • Louisiana Encyclopedia
          • Mississippi Encyclopedia
          • North Carolina Encyclopedia
          • Oklahoma Encyclopedia
          • South Carolina Encyclopedia
          • Tennessee Encyclopedia
          • Texas Encyclopedia
          • Virginia Encyclopedia
          • Encyclopedia Credits
        • Meet the Historian
        • Oral History
    • SPIRITUALITY >
      • Spirituality Overview
      • High Holidays Helper
      • Meet Our Rabbi
      • Taste of Torah
  • DONATE
    • DONATE NOW - THANK YOU!
    • Join the Chai Club
  • Conference
    • Conference Registration
    • Conference Info
    • Conference Presenters
  • Shalom Y'all
  • Strategic Plan
  • Southern & Jewish Blog
  • ISJL Calendar
  • Virtual Press Kit