How to become a guest lecturer

Interested in being a guest lecturer?

I’ve guest lectured at multiple universities and I've hosted 10+ guest lecturers in my own classrooms. Guest lecturing is one of my favorite things to do (and it helped me become an adjunct lecturer).

Here are the exact steps I took (and that you can too) to become a guest lecturer:

Step 1: Determine your lecturing topics

Start by identifying what you can teach confidently and what would be relevant to a course or department. Focus on areas where you have:

• Deep professional or lived experience
• A fresh or unique perspective
• The ability to connect theory to practice

Generally, guest lecturers are selected for their relevance to industry-specific topics. Take a look at your own LinkedIn. What talks are you uniquely positioned to give that others aren't?

In addition to considering your lecturing topics, give some thought to which college departments are most relevant for your industry. Often, 'business' is a good catch-all for anyone working in industry, but if you're in the tech sector, for instance, you may want to consider Computer Science or Data Science departments.

Step 2: Create a teaching resume

This step might be optional but is still helpful practice for yourself. Create a list of all the speaking opportunities you've conducted, and put it in a resume, on your LinkedIn, or on your personal website. This is my website's example.

By having a long list of teaching and workshop experiences, it'll give more assurance to the professor for the class that you'd be equipped to be value-additive to the class, and that you'd be comfortable speaking in front of a large audience.

Step 3: Create an outreach list

Now that you have a teaching resume, comes the next step: preparing for outreach.

Most guest lecturing opportunities are network-based. The professor happens to know of an industry professional, and they're invited back to the classroom. This doesn't mean you can't reach out and create opportunities (that's exactly what I did with the Stanford Graduate School of Business where I got one of my guest lecturing opportunities).

Ultimately, the deciders for guest lectures are the professors and lecturers who run the classroom, so you'll want to reach out to them. Browse local universities and colleges around you, and search the relevant departments. Write down the names and emails of all professors that might be relevant to your industry. Jot down potential intersections with your work.

This might look something like:

• Professor Cognetta, MAT 101 (Mathematics for freshman) - I could lecture on how financial models use some of the core math principles
• Professor Simon, ECO 102 (Macroeconomics) - I could lecture on how we use macro concepts in my trading job every day

Once you have this list, be sure to fill in with email addresses as well as LinkedIn profiles. This will be important in the next step.

Step 4: Do the outreach

Now, the fun part: reaching out!

Take the notes you wrote earlier and send customized emails to each professor. You also may want to befriend/ping them on LinkedIn. Each email should include a brief 1-sentence background on you, your interest in guest lecturing, and a suggestion of topics you might speak about. Be sure to include a link at the bottom to your teaching resume if they want to learn more about you.

Keep in mind adding a personalized touch goes a long way. If you have a mutual connection, or if it's your alma mater, you'll have a better shot.

Here's the exact email I used to get the guest lecturing gig at Stanford:

Hey Professor ____ !

I'm a GSB grad and taking time off from my business (which supports GSB students with PM interviews) and I'm hoping to build my teaching career. 
I know you teach the Customer Acquisition class, and I thought my experience might be valuable, if you're ever looking for support or guest lecturing. 

Quick background: PM at Google, co-founded Exponent where I've invested heavily in B2C growth marketing as well as scaled our sales operation to close 50+ universities, and somewhat relatedly I facilitate "Touchy Feely."

Let me know if you knew of any opportunities with you or anyone else - I would love to give back! 

Step 5: Scope out the guest lecture

Usually, you'll either never hear back from the professor, or they'll be interested in getting on a phone call with you. On the phone call, their goal will be to learn a bit more about you and what you might be able to offer the classroom.

This isn't an interview: treat it like an informal conversation where you can scope out what your involvement might look like.

Here are some important questions to ask during this meeting:

• How long would my portion of the lecture be?
• Can I see the syllabus?
• What would you say are the biggest missing components from your current lectures?
• Is there anything else I can do to be helpful to the students?

In some cases, the professor will give most of the lecture and give Q&A with you at the end. In other cases, you may be responsible for the full lecture. If you're interested in even more work, sometimes the professor will work with you to develop a case study or homework assignment based on your background.

Step 6: Give a great lecture

Once you have it all booked, it's up to you to show up and give a great guest lecture! This should be your bread and butter.

Here are a few things you can do to ensure you can get more lecturing opportunities:

• Check in with how the lecture went with the professor
• Ask the students for feedback and opportunities to connect
• Send a follow-up email to the classroom thanking them and providing more resources

The more you can come in to lecture and make sure you build a sustainable experience that benefits the classroom, the more likely it is you'll be invited back.

Of course, if you're looking for guest lecturing opportunities be sure to sign up at OpenLecture. And if you got a guest lecturing opportunity using this advice, please reach out to us - we'd love to hear from you!