How to manage and motivate student ambassadors – January 2027
A full-day interactive workshop for university staff responsible for managing and motivating student ambassadors, so they keep bringing their best selves to your events and activities.
A full-day interactive workshop for university staff responsible for managing and motivating student ambassadors, so they keep bringing their best selves to your events and activities.
Tuesday 26 January 2027
9.30am to 4pm
STEAMhouse,
Birmingham
£275 + VAT
Early bird price until 11 December
20 spaces
Do you lead the student ambassador scheme at your university?
This training workshop has been designed for you.
You will learn how to manage and motivate your ambassadors…
Detailed descriptions of all three sessions can be found below.
Honestly, it's probably the best training I've attended on student ambassador programmes, and I've been to quite a few over the years. Simon Fairbanks made the session incredibly engaging, with plenty of discussion, activities, and practical takeaways.
This was one of the most valuable conferences I've attended. It's rare to find an event designed specifically for student ambassador coordinators, making the content both relevant and applicable. The conference was well organised, fast-paced and interactive, with a great balance of practical ideas and opportunities for discussion. I came away with several new approaches that I can incorporate into our assessment and training days, as well as fresh perspectives on ambassador engagement.
I found the training workshop very useful and informative. It was well organised, and the content was clear, practical, and relevant to my role. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to learn new approaches and gain a better understanding of the topics covered. The session was engaging, and I feel more confident applying what I've learned in my work. Thank you to everyone involved in delivering such a valuable workshop.
Another great UniTasterDay training day! I always look forward to attending as you always know you will come away with more knowledge and understanding, further unlocked motivation, and more connections. A comfortable setting, thought provoking discussions, and lots of useful tips and tricks!
It was so useful to get student ambassador leads in the same space together to share experiences and best practice. Going through activities that we could do with student ambassadors was really helpful too. The session was engaging and fun, and I took a lot away that I will be implementing in my recruitment plan this year.
This training is for any university staff member who is responsible for:
The training is relevant for every type of ambassador role. This includes:
At UniTasterDays, our primary expertise is ambassadors who support student recruitment, widening participation, school liaison, and outreach roles. However, our training activities and insights can be applied to other ambassadors too, such as those supporting alumni relations activity. Therefore, if the sessions below sound valuable to you, please do join us!
We pride ourselves on delivering inspiring, interactive, and insightful training days. If you join us, you will experience a fun, feel-good training event, with hands-on activities and plenty of opportunity for participation.
We’ll grow your knowledge and network in equal measure. This is aided by group exercises, breakout discussions, and multiple refreshment breaks. You’ll depart with a community of fellow ambassador leads from across the sector who’ll continue to support you long after the training day has ended.
The early-bird cost is £275+VAT. The cost will increase to £300+VAT after Friday 11 December 2026. There are discounts for multiple bookings, as highlighted on the booking form below.
This opening session will look at the fundamentals of clear, compelling communication. We’ll revisit world-class basics like readability and brevity, then progress into the artistry of nuanced messaging. In doing so, you’ll stand out in the never-ending noise of nudges and notifications.
Together, we’ll activate our inner Duolingo to explore how to speak the language of our student ambassadors when advertising work opportunities, including the crucial consideration of emphasising benefits over features.
Next, we’ll look at how the battle is won or lost at the briefing. You’ll learn how to elevate your briefing beyond an inaccessible (and ignored) document. Instead, you’ll deliver an informative, inspirational keynote, with a side order of snackable training. This will uplift and upskill your ambassadors in the minutes before their shift begins.
The whistle blows. The shift begins. The success of your event will hinge on how well you manage and motivate your ambassadors. To begin, we need to prioritise self-reflection because how we manage others is usually determined by our own internal baggage.
As such, we’ll identify our bad habits, and our human tendency to overcorrect in situations when our imposter syndrome is blaring. Once identified, we’ll explore steps to avoid self-sabotage in management situations.
We’ll discuss the value of building experts, allowing independence, and establishing a culture of psychological safety, where hiccups are seen as a chance to develop, not demoralise. We’ll get comfortable feeling uncomfortable as we relinquish control to rally confidence.
Finally, we’ll discuss bringing senior ambassadors into your inner circle (and WhatsApp group) to double the size of your staff team, your influence, and your eyeballs across campus. To help, you’ll gain leadership advice from HE directors which can be applied directly into your work as student ambassador coordinators.
Carrot or stick?
This is the age-old dilemma when it comes to managing behaviour and performance in a team. Spoiler alert: the carrot is king. This session will speak against the ineffective "three strikes" policy and focus on motivational tools instead. We want your ambassadors to leave their shift with a spring in their step and a string to their bow.
We’ll explore the value of stewardship by learning from colleagues in alumni relations, some of whom have the sole remit of saying thank you with impact. We’ll also consider the three Rs of reward, recognition, and reporting. After all, we send open day stats to the Vice-Chancellor to make their day. Why not our ambassadors?
Simon has almost 20 years of experience in the higher education sector. During that time, he has led student ambassador schemes at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry.
Throughout his career, Simon has supported ambassadors in a wide range of duties, such as on-campus events, classroom mentoring, exhibition staffing, phone-calling campaigns, online messaging, and social media activity. Prior to this, Simon participated in the mass recruitment and selection of student-staff at two students’ unions.
Simon has a particular flair for designing engaging training sessions, developed through his previous consulting and volunteering roles. Currently, he leads the training portfolio for UniTasterDays, including their quarterly training days in Birmingham, on-campus training for staff, on-campus training for ambassadors, and 6-week professional development courses.
Past recipients of Simon’s training include Bath Spa University, LiNCHigher, Liverpool Hope University, Queen Mary University of London, Study Higher, St Mary’s University London, University College Birmingham, University of Aberdeen, University of Bristol, University of Essex, University of Salford, University of Sunderland, University of Winchester, and various HELOA regional groups.
Finally, Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, EFMD, IDPE, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, PSEWeb, SU Digital, SU Marketing Conference, and Utterly Content. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023.
You have your own expertise and experience to share as the managers, officers, coordinators, and administrators responsible for recruiting ambassadors.
This training will invite you to share your valuable knowledge, practices, and stories with your fellow attendees. We’d love to hear everything – your success and messes, your wins and wobbles – through group exercises and full-room discussion.
Rest assured, there’ll be no pressure to share. But if you do have wisdom to offer, and tactics to champion, then the floor is yours. There’s no ‘i’ in team. And there’s no ‘i’ in student ambassador.
If Birmingham is too far, then we’d love to come to you instead. We can deliver this training day (and many others) on your very own campus. This option is perfect for large teams or departments who would benefit from the same learning, perhaps at a future away day.
We also offer a selection of training days for student ambassadors. These training days are energising sessions designed to complement your own training, delivered in partnership with yourselves. You can learn more at the links below.