Podcast

This episode we talk to multi-award-winning speaker, change strategist and bestselling author of ten books, Michael McQueen. Michael discusses how to master the art of changing people’s minds and persuading stubborn people, and how to apply this in the context of a school Head. We investigate a number of education industry examples, including how faith-based schools can effectively target a wider audience, strategies Michael finds particularly effective for schools, and the common mistakes people make when trying to persuade others.

This episode we talk to Anthony McCausland from Feesable, who has been analysing nearly 31,000 fee estimates from July 2022 to June 2023. Anthony shares his insights on all things school fees, from how schools are fine-tuning levies and early payment discounts to meet their financial objectives, to what strategies schools can use to ensure they are meeting market demand, and importantly, how school Heads can communicate fee changes effectively to maintain trust and retention.

As Heads start to think strategically about their 2024 marketing and communication plans, we take this opportunity to share what we see as some of the key pitfalls and challenges likely to affect school Heads in the next 12 months. We have an in depth discussion on how a lack of differentiation, ineffective communication, neglect of storytelling and oversight across the digital landscape are some of the major challenges facing your School in 2024.

Today we chat with Bart Caylor, President of Caylor Solutions, about the incredibly rapid rise of AI, what it means and some of the incredible things it allows us to do. Fresh off recently hosting the HigherEd Marketing AI Summit, Bart shares his knowledge with us on how to leverage AI in school marketing, emerging AI trends and everything Heads need to know to navigate this fast-evolving landscape.

This episode we are joined by Stuart Meade. Reflecting on his career – which included 21 years as a school Head at Hale School, Perth and Mathew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast – we discuss how marketing and communications in schools has evolved over the years. He shares priceless advice for school Heads, as well as what he wishes he had known when he started his career.

At the very essence of every decision you make as a school Head is your school community. As a Head, your ability to listen to the community’s voice goes a long way to contributing to the success of a project. This episode, we discuss why it is important to listen, relate to and understand your community so that you can speak on their behalf and make decisions in their best interests.

To understand what your school brand is, you need to first understand what a ‘brand’ is. In this episode we discuss some of the misconceptions on what a brand is, and how these misunderstandings can affect the way school Heads manage their brand. We also discuss how your school’s success is influenced by the level of trust customers have in your brand, and how to create trust with your brand design.

Having recently returned from the AHISA Biannual Convention, we recap some of the conversations we had with school Heads while there. We go through the some of the recurring themes we encountered, from the difficulty of hiring and professional development of staff, to mental health, community engagement, how to differentiate in the competitive landscape of education, and how schools can effectively communicate fee increases.