WHAT’S YOUR FRE The Right Time a QUENC nd Place for Social Media P Y osts ?

Social media can be a tricky game to play, especially for school districts. It’s often difficult to pin down the what, when, and where of posting—so difficult that some districts don’t even bother. But social media can be an integral tool for communicating vital information to your stakeholders. Finding the right way to use social media will help you tell your story while building an audience who will stay connected to and advocate for your schools.

But let’s be honest: There is no perfect social media strategy. Like most things that exist on the internet, social media trends ebb, flow, and evolve—sometimes quickly and without making much sense. In fact, private sector companies have spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to find just the right times and places to share content. “If you post too infrequently, your audience will forget that you exist, and you will quickly fade into the deep dark recesses of their minds,” writes private sector marketer Neil Patel. “However, if you are posting too often, you will become a complete nuisance, and they will dread seeing your posts overcrowding their feed.”

For schools, the stakes are naturally higher. When you serve a community’s children, it’s especially crucial to pin down your content and the frequency with which you share it.

That’s because social media is a way to share not only your district’s story but also messages of timely importance. Whether you’re announcing a snow day or providing details about an upcoming bond vote, you don’t want families, students, and staff to lose your messages in an endless stream of social media content.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty of social media posting frequency, let’s break down what a successful social media presence looks like—and why posting frequency isn’t actually as simple as it may sound.

Quality beats quantity.

Ask any frequent social media user and they’ll tell you: What you post matters a lot more than how often you post. So before fine-tuning the frequency of your social media sharing, it’s important to assess your content. Audiences are looking for posts that engage them, that give them insights into how your schools work. They’re looking for stories.

We probably don’t have to tell you that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Research by cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner suggests that stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone. Stories can clarify complex ideas. They also have the power to elevate boring subject matter into something engaging and interesting. What’s more, 92% of people say they prefer marketing that comes in the form of a story.

But most importantly, stories are a catalyst for connection. “Stories are the way that we connect with each other,” says Hilary Trudell, founder of storytelling organization The Yarn. “You want to connect with your audience, whether it’s your parents, your kids, or your school board. You want to create empathy within that space. Stories are an essential part of what creates a community.”

So when it comes to social media, we recommend you prioritize building a strong foundation of connection and community first and foremost. This is not only important for marketing your schools to potential new students and staff members, but also for growing your following and earning new advocates. If you’re posting engaging content, people will keep paying attention, and they’ll keep sharing your best stories.

For a crash course on how to captivate your audience with stories, check out schoolceo.com/storytelling.

Consistency is key.

Building a foundational line of communication with your audience by sharing engaging content is just one piece of the social media puzzle. The next essential step is being consistent with your posts. If your followers aren’t hearing from you consistently, you can’t expect them to keep tuning in.

But we’re not advising you to overwhelm your stakeholders with unnecessary minute-by-minute updates. Posting too much information too often can also cause your audience to tune you out. A little can go a long way if you’re posting the right content. Sharing consistent updates about a bond campaign is great, for example, but inundating your social media channels with tons of technical information is just going to turn people away.

Being consistent also shows your community that you have a plan—that you’re in control. If you post about a bond vote or other important event only the day before it happens, what’s that saying to your stakeholders? Staying proactive and thoughtful with the way you share any information is vital, and consistency is a big part of that. By consistently sharing relevant information, you’ll keep your community in the loop and grow support among your district’s stakeholders and advocates. That, in turn, will help you shape the narrative surrounding your schools.

Ask any frequent social media user and they’ll tell you: What you post matters a lot more than how often you post.

How often should you post?

Private sector brands have had to fine-tune their advertising and messaging to reach the right consumers at the right times. And though most private sector companies aren’t serving communities the way schools do, they’re using many of the same communication channels. So why not borrow some ideas from brands who have played the game, won their audiences over, and calibrated the frequency of their posts to perfection?

According to a 2022 study from Sprout Social, 74% of consumers think brands should post one or two times per day. Sprout also notes that since each platform has its own unique algorithm, “more frequent posting might not be a bad idea.” But which platforms you should choose depends on your schools. The decision really comes down to two factors: the audience you’ve built and the audience you want. You may need to audit your district’s social media following as it stands, platform by platform, to determine where your biggest audience already exists. Then you’ll know not only where certain messages will have the most impact, but also where you need to rethink your strategy and grow a greater following.

An audit of your social media can also provide valuable insights into which times of day are best for posting specific content. Does a video clip shared on a weekday at 5 p.m. get more likes and comments than any other post? Try posting at that same time consistently to see if that is, in fact, when your followers are most likely to interact with your content. If you have no idea what times work best, try staggering your post times and comparing your engagement metrics. This will help reveal when your audience is most actively engaged with your feeds.

Many private sector marketers claim to have pinpointed the right times of day or night to post certain content, but in reality, the “best time” to post is constantly evolving. Focusing too much on when to post pulls attention away from what’s most important: sharing high-quality content consistently. You’ll have to find the best schedule for you, but we strongly encourage experimenting with various types of posts to see how your audience responds.

In terms of where to post, many marketers suggest companies focus on just one or two social media channels for their messaging—but schools may not have that luxury. When you want to reach your community, market your schools, or provide important information, being everywhere you can is vital. But take note: While being on multiple platforms is a good idea, you need a solid strategy for keeping your messaging consistent across these platforms—whether that means using social media management software or creating a handbook for who posts what on each channel and when.

Facebook

Ah, Facebook. The social network that changed everything… for better or worse. It’s hard to imagine a time when we didn’t have likes and comments and friend requests, isn’t it? Maybe because of its age and cultural impact, Facebook is still the most popular social platform on the planet—and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. According to Statista, Facebook had a combined 266 million monthly active users in the United States and Canada at the end of 2022.

So how often should you be posting on your district or school Facebook page? Studies on posting frequency across private sector brands can give us some insight— though they’re not all in complete agreement. According to Sprout Social, “Across all industries, brands publish an average of five Facebook posts per day.” But research by Hubspot found that when brands with fewer than 10,000 followers averaged more than two posts per day, their click rates actually started decreasing. It seems that posting more than 60 times per month tends to overwhelm audiences.

Looking at these numbers and taking into consideration the average size and reach of school district s, we recommend posting on Facebook at least once per day consistently with a focus on sharing engaging, visual content. And remember: The types of content you post can vary in many ways—and have varying degrees of impact. For instance, Sprout Social says that in 2022, 66% of consumers found short-form video to be the most engaging type of in-feed social media content, with images close behind at 61%. Only 32% of consumers found text-based posts to be the most engaging.

If we look at popular brands on Facebook, it’s easy to see that they’re catering their content to match their followers’ preferences. Outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, for example, averages one post per day and keeps them mostly visual. The company often shares videos and high-quality images to tell the kinds of stories that appeal to its niche following of nature lovers and adventurers.

Twitter

Even though Twitter isn’t as popular as it used to be, Pew Research says a quarter of all U.S. adults are active on the site. That means it’s very likely that many of your staff members and students’ families are engaging with tweets— and they may be looking for yours.

In terms of posting frequency on Twitter, Sprout Social found that brands in all industries are sharing an average of three posts a day. However, in our conversations with school communications professionals, it seems that this may be a bit too ambitious for most districts—and it may not be worth the trouble. For school districts specifically, we recommend posting on Twitter at least twice a day.

Again, consistency is what matters most. If your followers are accustomed to three posts a day from your district, then it’s probably best to hold yourself to that standard. If you’re just now building your audience on the site, however, focus on the quality of your content first.

There’s also Twitter’s unique interface to keep in mind. Unlike Facebook, Twitter limits posts to 280 characters unless you subscribe to their paid service, Twitter Blue (which increases the limit to a whopping 4,000 characters). Assuming most districts will still opt for a free account, it’s important to use this limited space to your advantage. Just like on Facebook, videos get more engagement on Twitter than other forms of content. But keep them short. According to Sprout Social, users find short-form videos 2.5 times more engaging than long-form ones.

Twitter is also uniquely equipped to help you share in-themoment updates. With threads, you can post a series of tweets that all relate to the same topic—whether you’re announcing a snow day or live tweeting a school board meeting. People use Twitter differently than other social media sites, and you should keep that in mind when deciding what to share and when.

Airline company JetBlue has amassed an impressive 1.8 million followers on Twitter by sharing unique content that shows up consistently in users’ feeds. Whether it’s a video clip, a funny gif, or even a meme, JetBlue has solidified its place as a reliably entertaining and informative account to follow—and they only post an average of once per day.

Instagram

Out of the three social media platforms we’re discussing, your students—especially high schoolers—are most engaged on Instagram. In fact, Pew Research says that a majority of teenagers between 15 and 17 use the app (73%). This may be because social media users seem to prefer visual content, and Instagram is, by design, the most visual of the three channels.

In terms of crossover reach between your staff, students, and their families, the numbers suggest that Instagram may just be the sweet spot. And it’s not just teens; in 2021, Statista reported that 48% of adults between the ages of 30 to 49 were also on Instagram—along with 71% of adults ages 18 to 29. Considering these age ranges, Instagram is a place where teachers, parents, and students likely converge.

So how often should you be posting on the photo and video-specific app? Sprout Social found that most brands only average one post a day on Instagram—and we recommend the same. School districts should post on their Instagram grids at least once per day. But according to blogger and visual content creator Louise Myers, you shouldn’t post on the platform more than three times in one day—especially if your content is shared in quick succession.

Instagram Stories, which expire after one day, are the exception to this rule. According to data from social media management company Buffer, posting anywhere from one to seven Stories is optimal; after seven, your completion rate—the number of people who actually watch your posts all the way through—is likely to drop off. Like Twitter threads, Stories make it easy to share content in real time. Since they’re typically raw and authentic, we recommend using them for more casual content, like a candid photo of your school mascot or an unedited video clip of students playing kickball.

It isn’t just big corporations that have found success with Instagram. For a great example of the power of frequent, thoughtful posting, we look to Blackberry Market. This fast-casual cafe and coffee shop chain has two locations in the Chicago area and recently opened its third store in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Even before opening its doors last fall, their newest location was using Instagram to build support and fans in the area. Since opening, the shop has consistently posted high-quality photos showing off its array of menu items, coffees, take-home meals, and merchandise. With an average of one grid post per day— along with daily Story posts—they have quickly amassed thousands of followers in the area and invaluable word-ofmouth marketing.

On top of that, Blackberry Market thoughtfully utilizes Instagram to showcase its stylish and comfortable interior and its prime location in one of the city’s historic arts districts. For a local cafe with a limited audience, Blackberry Market has proven that consistently connecting to your community is key to the success of your brand.

And since Little Rock is also the home base of SchoolCEO, we’ve gotten to witness firsthand how the shop’s popularity has skyrocketed since its grand opening. There is seldom a weekend without a line out the door. (And if you’re ever in the area, you’ve got to try their signature cinnamon roll or blackberry lemon scone.)

When it comes to pinpointing the frequency with which you should be sharing content about your schools, a lot is up to your individual needs and the needs of your community— your students, your families, your advocates, and your prospective hires. There is no magic formula or sure-towin strategy. But if you put quality content in front of your audience consistently, you’re bound to create spaces on social media where your school community feels welcome, informed, and engaged.

The Language Of Leadership

BUILDING INFLUENCE THROUGH THE CRAFT OF ORATION

Like many superintendents, Dr. Robert Hunt’s introduction to the vast majority of his district’s staff members was a convocation speech. While he’s no stranger to giving presentations and speeches, that doesn’t mean Hunt doesn’t dread them. “It was nerve-wracking because public speaking has never been something I really love, and I needed to both introduce myself and set the tone for the school year,” he explains.

Hunt’s experience is likely familiar to many school leaders. Public speaking, from speeches to presentations, is part and parcel of being an educator. But just because something is part of the job doesn’t mean every school leader is automatically good at it. While some people may have a natural knack for oration, public speaking is a craft that must be honed like any other.

Most of us have gone through an oral communications or public speaking class at some point. Maybe we learned how to make note cards for long speeches or pulled a topic out of a hat for the dreaded timed extemporaneous speech. And if you’re a superintendent or other school leader, you probably use these skills a lot, no matter how long ago you first learned them.

But what they teach in high school or even college is just the basics. It’s like dipping a toe in the water—while professional orators swim leagues through choppy seas. While being an educator comes with its fair share of public speaking, there’s a big difference between a classroom of middle schoolers and an auditorium full of frustrated parents. The good news is that there’s a surprisingly robust body of research about how to turn a dull presentation into a speech worth remembering.

No one expects you to master everything the role of a superintendent entails on your first—or even thousandth— day on the job. But strengthening your oratory skills is a must when it comes to moving the needle on the things that matter. By becoming a stronger speaker, you’ll be better able to communicate your agenda and influence your audience. Here are a few advanced tips to incorporate into your own craft.

Establishing Common Ground

As the superintendent, you are often the voice of your district. After all, you’re the one who most often gives statements to the press and speaks during district events. That means you don’t have to spend unnecessary time establishing your credibility, right? Surprisingly, this isn’t always the case.

Despite the important work that happens at the upper levels of leadership, some of your employees likely feel pretty distant from you and your work. If you’re in a smaller district, you may interact with most of your teachers on a regular basis, but if you’re in a larger district, you may not have even met some of them. The same goes for your students, families, and community members. So when you need to get a message across, what do you do? Establish your credibility by building common ground.

You might be thinking: I’ve been working for my district for five years—why do I have to establish my credibility? And partially, you’re right. Every speaker takes the stage with their reputation in tow, and in a school leader’s case, that’s hopefully a good thing. But a speech is also like a standalone production. If you’re speaking to a large crowd of disparate stakeholders, your audience will probably come to your speech with varying levels of understanding—both of the topic at hand and of who you are as a leader. This means they’ll also have varying levels of trust in you.

You don’t need to start every speech with a rundown of your CV’s high points, but you should be able to explain why you are uniquely qualified to speak about this particular topic. Are you able to offer an authoritative view on the subject that no one else can? Do you want to help your audience understand that you empathize with their points of view? All of these are ways to establish your credibility from the outset.

In practice, you might open a speech about a new school safety policy with something like this: “ As a superintendent, an educator, and most essentially, as a parent, I know there is nothing more important than keeping our children safe .” While your primary role in this situation is that of an administrator, and the details of your speech are about policies for school visitors, you have quickly established yourself as a parent as well. You’re proving that you have a shared, vested interest with your audience and, most importantly, that you care. By pointing this out, you are establishing your why.

Building common ground within the limited microcosm of a speech shows your audience you’re worth listening to— even if they already have an opinion about your topic. It’s also about trust.

According to a 2022 study by the Trust Edge Leadership Institute, 80% of Americans would not follow a leader they did not trust. A similar number of people would not buy goods and services from someone they didn’t trust. Writing for Harvard Business Review, communications expert Allison Shapira discusses the value of trust in communication. “As speakers, our first goal is to build trust: in our credibility, our belief in what we do, or our ability to deliver value,” Shapira explains. “Only then can we mobilize our audience to take action around a shared vision.”

Look again at how the example above establishes trust. You will notice broader statements of credibility. It references your perspective as a parent and refers to the students of your district as “our children,” which humanizes them and you. From the get-go, your audience knows that you have the same goals they do: to keep children safe at school. And that makes you worth their trust.

As you write your own speeches, think of the following questions and consider how you’re answering them throughout your presentation:

• Why should you trust me to do a good job with this?

• How do you know that I really care about this?

• How can I show you that regardless of the challenges, I will work hard on this?

If you answer these questions and demonstrate your ability to be trusted with whatever issue is at hand, your connection with your audience will blossom.

Honing Your Core Message

A common mistake that many novice public speakers make is trying to cover too much content at once and having none of it stick. In fact, this is a struggle you’re likely already familiar with from your time in the classroom. Any lesson that tries to pack too much into a single class period is bound to fail. But why?

Part of it has to do with attention span, but another part of it is just how people expect to communicate. Regardless of what your topic is, your audience will be parsing your speech in search of your single core message—that small, important nugget of information to take away.

One way to make sure your core message shines through in your speech is to establish one in the first place. By the end of your speech, your audience should be able to explain your point in one to two sentences—and if you can’t do this yourself, your audience won’t be able to, either. This is especially important if your speech includes a call to action. After all, if your audience doesn’t walk away knowing what you want them to do, they probably won’t do it.

To make sure your core message isn’t lost in your overall presentation, keep your speech as thematically unified as possible. While you don’t want to be too repetitive, repetition can help your audience understand—and remember—your core message.

Former President Barack Obama will likely be remembered as one of our century’s best orators. His speeches are so powerful and memorable in part because he encapsulates his message into short, succinct statements. Even after a decade, some of these soundbites (for lack of a better term) may spark your memory; for example, “We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America.” This example also uses the rule of three: the idea that people remember things better when they’re strung together in groups of three.

Think about the best speech you’ve ever heard. Maybe it was one given by a colleague, one you studied in school, or one given by a public figure, such as a State of the Union Address. Whoever delivered this speech likely did one thing very, very well: They honed their core message.

Great public speakers spend a lot of time listening to other speeches, both historical and contemporary, heavy and lighthearted. Next time you sit down to watch the Oscars, listen closely to the acceptance speeches. Some celebrities have speechwriters, and when you realize how carefully they build to a singular core message, you’ll start seeing it everywhere you look.

Pacing and Leading

In Everything’s An Argument , a seminal rhetoric textbook, authors Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz make the case that all forms of communication—from speeches to advertisements to long-form articles—set out with the intention to persuade. They argue that as we navigate the world, we are enmired in arguments attempting to sway us this way or that. And it’s true; while you may not view every small speech you deliver through the lens of persuasion, you are, in fact, trying to lead your audience toward a certain belief or perspective.

As a district leader, most of your speeches are, at least in part, an attempt to move your stakeholders to action. This is where “pacing and leading” comes in. While this technique has different iterations across disciplines, the core principle is to convince your audience to take a future action by logically connecting it to actions they’re already taking.

You can do this by using a “pace, pace, lead” structure. Let’s say that you want your building leaders to begin taking the next step with your district’s PBIS program. You know that some of them may be resistant to this next step, as it requires midyear buy-in that can be hard to garner. To use pace, pace, lead, you would start by stating two steps—the “paces”— that you’re currently taking or have already taken. Then, you would state the desired next step—the action you hope to “lead” them toward. This draws a logical connection between all three steps or ideas even if there isn’t one.

It might look something like this: “ We have increased positive phone calls home. We have made targeted changes to our transitions. Now we must work with our student ambassadors to build culture norms that all our students will buy into. ” The first two steps aren’t new and have likely already proven their value. The third step could be easy to resist if presented alone, but as part of a series, it feels like the next logical action to take, rather than just more work.

There’s also a different version of pacing and leading called “future pacing.” With this technique, you’re focusing on an imagined future that is mutually desirable by everyone in the audience, even if it’s as yet out of reach. This technique was most famously used in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech:

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

You can see here how King is building a vision that is very different from the realities of the day, and yet so plausible that it’s worth whatever is necessary to reach it. You’ll also notice, even in this short excerpt, King’s use of repetition. In fact, he used the phrase “I have a dream” 11 times in the final four minutes of his speech.

While your own future pacing will likely not be as memorable as Dr. King’s, it can help your audience lean into whatever future you’re envisioning. You may be explaining your vision for what new team-taught classes will look like two years from now or how a major bond campaign will impact your district in a decade.

Future pacing is all about building a shared vision. If you’re speaking about a long-term school improvement plan, you want to make your vision clear to your audience—so clear that it feels like a future everyone can be proud to work toward.

Talking Smart

It’s amazing how much speeches are expected to do. Often, speeches need to accomplish multiple tightly braided goals: building trust, communicating an initiative, and giving a call to action. So it makes sense to try to get as much right as possible. Using the rhetorical techniques we’ve discussed here is a way of working smarter—getting more people on board with your vision so that everyone can work together.

While this all may seem daunting, don’t lose heart. If giving speeches is like swimming, you’ve been doing laps around the pool for years; now you’re ready to go from a simple breaststroke to a powerful butterfly.

Being a good orator doesn’t necessarily make you a better leader in the day-to-day of your job, but it will make it easier for you to rally your team (or your entire district) together around a major idea or initiative. Building your speech-giving