Conference Keynote/Presentation Topics

Peter Van Buskirk's engaging style and provocative messaging are well-suited to assemblies, meetings and conference venues where participants are oriented to self-actualization and achievement. Topics range from those that challenge assumptions and provide practical instruction to others that inspire and motivate.

Finding the Best Fit
As students immerse themselves in the college search process, finding the college that fits their needs and interests best goes a long way to determining their successes as both applicants and, subsequently, enrolled students. This session focuses on how to help students identify their priorities as they begin their college searches.
75 minutes. Audience size: No limit.

Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
An engaging keynote program for high school students and parents that delivers a five-point plan for achieving educational goals. Special emphasis is placed on self-awareness, finding a good college fit and the consequences of decision-making throughout high school. Motivational, informative, interactive.
45-55 minutes. Audience size: no limit

Hotspots, Hooks and Hidden Agendas
"Hotspots" is an extensive, interactive, orientation to the institutional dynamics that affect the manner in which students are engaged in the college search and selection process by colleges and universities. The program includes a demographic overview, charts the transformation of institutions into businesses and provides a contextual understanding for the behavior of colleges/universities as they recruit and enroll their classes. Popular pre-conference workshop. Informative, interactive.
Three hours. Audience size: 50-250

Promoting Self-Advocacy
When things happen in life that affect a young person's ability to perform and achieve, s/he has a story to tell. In addition to reducing the stigmas that are typically associated with such circumstances and creating avenues for self-actualization, this session focuses on exercises that can be used to equip students with the tools to tell their stories to curious admission committees--and the confidence to tell them. Informative, interactive.
75 minutes. Audience size: 30-50

Separating Fact From Fiction
The college-going landscape is changing dramatically and the rhetoric surrounding the process has reached the point where it is hard to know what to believe. This presentation analyzes the college-going process and examines factors that contribute to shifts in recruitment practices and policy changes and, subsequently, the growing angst among families of the college-bound. Informative, interactive.
75 minutes. Audience size: No limit

"Something is Wrong..."
The college-going climate has changed dramatically over the last 25 years, but is it for the better? Have we reached the level playing field or are we just kidding ourselves? This speech assesses the cultural and demographic changes that have taken place, as well as their impact on the college-going process, and challenges the audience to consider a commitment to student-centered college planning.
45 minutes. Audience size: No limit.

Who Is Being Served?
Despite advances in technology and outreach, the college-going process seems less student-friendly than it was 25 years ago. Have we indeed taken "two steps forward and three steps back?" This session focuses on the factors behind the changes and identifies the "winners" and the "losers." Interactive, reflective.
75 minutes. Audience size: No limit

To learn more about these opportunities or find out how you can collaborate with Peter to create programming to meet your constituent needs, contact him at Peter@TheAdmissionGame.com.