Tips for Presenting to School Boards

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Presenting to the school board can be a bit intimidating, but for school counselors, it is also an essential part of advocacy for your program. As a former superintendent who has seen literally hundreds of staff presentations to the board over my career, I have created a “Tips for Presenting to School Boards” document to help prepare you for your time in front of the board of trustees and your district leadership. The tips are also detailed below with a video from an example presentation in one of our partner districts.

For me, the most important takeaway is to realize your objective is not simply to present and then sit down but to get your school board engaged in a dialogue following your presentation. If there are no questions after your presentation, you basically earned a walk to first base. But, if you can get the board members talking amongst themselves, asking thoughtful questions, and wanting you to come back and present again in the future, you have hit a home run!

Team members Dr. Danielle Duarte and Dr. Julie Hartline supporting a Board Presentation in Tolleson union high school district

Visit a board meeting before your presentation

  • Observe your district’s board meeting protocols to learn how to address the board president and board members.

  • Scout out the room to determine where your presentation will be shown and where you will stand when presenting.

  • Test your technology before the meeting starts (and consider restarting your computer the night before).

Know your audience

  • Address the board members when presenting, rather than the superintendent

  • Board members are typically community members rather than educators - avoid acronyms and jargon

  • Learn about your board members - what’s important to them, and what are their main concerns?

Keep your presentation concise

  • Prepare for a 10-minute presentation (excluding questions) and aim for a max of 5-6 slides.

  • Keep your slides simple. Better to show a picture and provide context verbally than to overwhelm the slide with too much text.

Include time for questions and feedback

  • Ask intentional questions that promote dialogue, elevate the conversation, and propel board members to discuss your presentation after the meeting. Examples:

    • “How might we expand this program to other grade levels?”

    • “What thoughts did you have during the presentation that you can share as feedback?”

    • “What next steps might you recommend?”

Focus on results

  • Explain what the data means and WHY IT MATTERS. 

  • Data doesn’t tell a story by itself. Tell them what you want them to know.

  • Use visual representations of data such as graphs/charts (max 1-2 per slide).

  • Connect the results to their interests as a board.

  • Make it clear how you are centering improved student outcomes through your work.

Example School Board Presentation

Sample board presentation from the school counseling team in Novato Unified School District. The school counseling begins at 39:30.

We’re happy to share an example from the dedicated school counselors of Novato Unified School District, who gave an outstanding presentation to their school board in March 2024! The presentation provided an overview of tiered services within the academic, social/emotional, and college and career domains and sparked great interest from the board members, who asked insightful questions and expressed a desire for annual updates. The school counseling team begins at 39:30.