FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

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• Speakers Available
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• Schools & Colleges
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• Posters & Fliers
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• Book Groups
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• Handout

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Scheduling, preparing and publicizing Dave Marcus’ speeches to parents

Here are guidelines based on what’s worked for my presentations at schools, community groups, churches and synagogues:

BOOKING AN EVENT: If your group is still deciding whether to bring me in, please tell parental advisory groups and others that the CONTACT page of my site, www.DaveMarcus.com, includes a three-minute video of excerpts of my speeches. The home page lists blackout dates when I am unavailable.

TEAMING WITH A GUIDANCE OFFICE: Remind guidance directors that my presentations encourage parents to work with the counselors and not against them, as sometimes happens. Many parents and faculty members have told me they feel relieved after a presentation. Administrators at Beverly Hills H.S., Manhasset H.S. and other schools will recommend me -- I can send their contact info.

ADVANCE NOTICE: Can your email or letter to parents urge them to look at excerpts from the book at www.DaveMarcus.com ? We’ll have a better discussion if some in the audience have read at least a few pages. You can find the PDF of the ACCEPTANCE book cover and a wonderfully goofy picture of me on the "contact" part of my site. (I'll soon include sample flyers for events on the “speeches” part). Speech titles include “Seven Secrets of Getting In,” “A is for Acceptance,” and “It’s About the Fit, Not the Brand.”

ANOTHER SUBJECT: I often talk about the topic of my first book, struggling teens. Email me for info about those speeches.

PUBLICITY: Do parents at your school have contacts at local radio or TV stations? Can you arrange media interviews with me in order to spread the word about this event?

ROOM & AV NEEDS: When possible, I like to speak in informal settings, such as school libraries. They are more relaxing than auditoriums, and I can be closer to the audience. I rove while I speak, so a wireless microphone is great. No lectern, please! I bring three-minute DVD to show on the screen as the audience settles in. I also like to show a PowerPoint slides, so it's best if you have a computer and a screen.

INTRODUCTION: Do you have an outgoing, limelight-loving student who can read a couple of chapters of the book before I arrive, then give an energetic, 45-second introduction? (See below)*

BOOK GIVEAWAY: I usually ask the host to stick a piece of colored tape under one seat in the auditorium before I arrive. Halfway into the presentation, I ask the audience to look on the bottom of the seats. Whoever finds the tape gets a signed book for free.

HANDOUT: I will send you a one-page handout. Example: For audiences that are mainly 11th and 12th graders and their parents, the handout is a self-questionnaire. It asks students to figure out who they are so that they can start thinking about the kind of college they’d fit into; parents also answer the questions about their children. If you like it, please make copies and distribute it as people enter.

TIME OF PRESENTATION: I pride myself on keeping evening presentations and Q & A to 55 minutes or shorter. I recognize that families are busy. Besides, we live in an ADHD era, so audiences quickly get distracted. Of course, I’m happy to stay around after for the questions of those who linger.

BOOK SALES: You can sell books as a fundraiser, or I can bring them and sell them. If you sell them, please contact Caroline Garner at Penguin Press: Caroline.Garner //at// us.penguingroup.com

If I sell books, I could use a student volunteer to take the $26 cash, and the checks made out to David L. Marcus. I prefer a table at the entrance to the auditorium for book signing.

Thanks for considering me! Please email or call if questions…

Dave Marcus

bookdave //at// gmail.com

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Addendum 1: Sample introduction

“We’re pleased to host Dave Marcus, who has been a journalist, high school teacher and visiting professor at several colleges. Some of you have seen Dave on the Today Show or heard him on National Public Radio. Dave has been a staff reporter at US News & World Report magazine and his writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, Newsweek and the New York Times. As a foreign correspondent for the Dallas Morning News, he shared the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.

“Dave wrote a book about struggling teenagers titled WHAT IT TAKES TO PULL ME THROUGH. Now he’s on the road discussing his new book, ACCEPTANCE, about college admissions. He’s a graduate of Brown University and spent a year as a fellow at Harvard, but he’s also proud of his time studying at night at a community college.

“Dave lived in Central America and South America for almost a decade. During those years, his window in Colombia was shot out, and he was pistol-whipped during a mugging in Mexico City. He tells us that these days he’s very relieved to spend his time writing about teens applying to college. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming him to ______________ High School.”

(If it’s a speech on Long Island, the introduction should mention this: “Dave writes for Newsday, and recently moved from Northport to Manhasset.”)

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Addendum 2: Key Dates for High School Juniors and Seniors

For libraries and community groups considering Dave Marcus as a speaker

October 1
- Deadline at most high schools for seniors to notify the guidance office if they will be applying for early or rolling applications

October
- Seniors write admissions essays and complete applications.
- Seniors conduct on-campus interviews; juniors begin selecting colleges to visit

Mid-October
- Juniors take the PSAT, kicking off standardized testing and providing a preliminary indication of how they will do on the SAT

November 1 and November 15
- Deadlines for early applications (seniors)

Mid-November
- First quarter grades arrive for seniors, giving many their first sense of how they’re doing in Advanced Placement courses

December 1
- Deadlines for Early Decision II round at some colleges, offering seniors another chance at an early acceptance

Early December
- SAT for juniors, kicking off their standardized testing

Mid-December
- Last chance for seniors to take the SAT and ACT to improve scores

Mid-December
- ACT for juniors, also kicking off their standardized testing

December 15
- Colleges reveal decisions for early applicants. That means many seniors who didn’t get into first-choice schools or who want other options start applying to backups 　

December 1-15
- Most high schools request regular decision applications so they can start processing paperwork before the holidays (seniors)

January 1 and January 15
- Regular applications due to most colleges (seniors)

Early January
- Parents of seniors focus on money and fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Late January
- Alternate date for juniors to take the PSAT

Mid-February
- Juniors often tour colleges over February break

March-April
- High schools help juniors select next year’s courses, and hold conferences for parents

June-July-August
- Many juniors and seniors visit college campuses

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Based on information in ACCEPTANCE: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids find the Right Colleges – and Find Themselves, by David L. Marcus (Penguin Press)

More information at www.DaveMarcus.com