How to Create an Engaging Charter School Open House Deck (Template Included)

You did an incredible job spreading the word about your charter school’s open house. The seats (or ZOOM squares) are filled with parents eager to learn more about your program. As you recite your mission statement, you feel confident that you will win them over. But by the time you click to slide three in your deck, you’re already losing them. Bored stares and folks checking their phones waiting for the tour to begin. We’ve all been there.

Maybe it’s because you scrapped together your PowerPoint the night before. Maybe your deck was created in 2011 and staff have been making bare minimum edits over the years. The bottom line is that your slide deck no longer captivates parents. You need something fresh.

A Charter School Open House Deck that Engages Through a Story-Driven Framework.

I believe a great slide deck conveys information by using a story framework. Yes, a deck needs to answer practical questions about the program. But more importantly, it needs to ignite your audience’s imaginations about how great life will be for their children after they enroll. Follow along as we construct the perfect deck for your next open house. 

• Title Slide

• Problem/Challenge Slide

• School Mission Slide

• School Programs Slide

• School Results Slide

• CommunityTestimony Slide

• School Enrollment Slide

• Question and Answer Slide

• Call to Action Slide

School Title Slide

The title slide should include three elements. First, you need to have your school name and logo. Second, include your school’s one-liner or tagline (click here if you need help creating one). Third, put the name of the event, the date, and the presenter’s name. This slide can be live as parents are shuffling around waiting for the event to start. The title slide piques the interest of your audience and communicates that you are organized.

Problem/Challenge Slide

The problem/challenge slide is missing from most schools’ decks. We don’t want to come off as negative, so we skip talking about the problems our cities are facing. The truth is your charter school wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a challenge worth overcoming. Your mission statement is the solution to a problem. Likewise, parents are at your open house because they have a problem to overcome. Otherwise, they’d just enroll their child in their neighborhood school and save the effort!

Most importantly, naming the problem/challenge opens the story loop. Their children are heroes on a journey to lead meaningful and successful lives. Will their children overcome these obstacles and experience the life they desire?

School Mission Slide

The school mission slide positions your school as a guide that can help students overcome challenges and receive a great education. Share a brief and empathetic story about why your founder started the school in response to the challenges students were facing. You can also include your formal mission statement and core values. It’s a common practice to hash out the entire history and timeline of your organization. This is where we lose folks. Unless the history establishes your school as an authority in the educational space, skip it!

School Programs Slide(s)

The program slides connect the dots between your mission and the daily operations of your school. These slides cover the classes you hold, your extracurricular activities, and any other offerings that set you apart. You can also weave in details like school hours, class schedule, etc. into the program slides.

School Results Slide

The results slide is your opportunity to brag about your school. It establishes you as an authority that families can trust with their children. Include qualitative and quantitative achievements.

Community Testimony Slide

Your audience doesn’t want to be limited by the perspective of a staff member. They want to hear firsthand the success or failure that others have experienced with your organization. In your presentation, the testimony slide is a placeholder for a parent, student, or alumni to share their personal experiences. You can have the community member share live, or you can embed a video within the slide. The testimony will forecast the success that parents and their children will experience for themselves.

School Enrollment Slide

Now that your audience feels what’s at stake, acknowledges your school as a guide to help their children overcome challenges, understands your proven formula for success, and has seen themselves win through the eyes of a community member, it’s time to give them a plan on how to enroll. Many enrollment processes are complicated and involve a lottery system. Break your process down into three simple steps so that it is easily digestible.

Question and Answer Slide

Every parent has fear before taking action on behalf of their children. Unanswered questions are unresolved fears that stop people from taking action. The purpose of the Q&A slide is to remove fear.

Call to Action Slide

The last slide in your deck is the “call to action slide”. It’s time for them to make a decision that will change the direction of their children’s lives. For most schools, the call to action is to “Apply Now”. Whatever the action is, make sure it can be performed on the spot. The slide needs to have simple directions to accomplish a task that should take less than 5 minutes. You have a captive audience, so don’t miss the opportunity to elicit a response.

A Story-Driven Deck Template

Would you like to work off of a template? Click below and we’ll send you the deck!

Sawyer Schafbuch is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and Founder of Everydesk, helping quality schools recruit students. He lives in Des Moines, IA with his wife and two daughters.