This weekend I spent two days with 1500 college students representing nearly 300 schools across America.

It was NACA Live – the National Association for Campus Activities’ annual national conference. I had the incredible honor of being selected to showcase on stage for 15 minutes, and spend the day interacting with students.

I engaged in dozens of individual and group conversations with students from New York to Hawaii, Alabama to Indiana, and everywhere in between.

These are students who sit on the programming board at their campus, whose job is to organize events for the student body throughout the semester.

My goal in each conversation was to get a better understanding of who this generation is, so I can communicate and engage with them more effectively when I return to campuses this fall as an orientation speaker.

I tried my best to go into conversations with no judgment and no agenda, just to understand.

Here’s what I learned.

Lesson 1: The Safety Zone is the new Comfort Zone

“What kinds of events are most popular on campus?”

“Oh,” she replied. “Definitely make-and-takes. Anything with free stuff.”

Makes-and-takes are events where students create a stuffed animal, or their own slippers, or an art project, or food, and take it with them.

“That makes sense,” I said. “What kinds of events are you struggling with?”

“Anything with live entertainment. Magicians, comedians, hypnotists, that sort of thing. We can’t get anyone to come to those events.”

When I first built my magic career in the college market, it was common to have 100-300 students, even at small schools.

But today? 

Programming committees tell me that a crowd of 20 is a huge success.

I asked, “What are you doing to try to improve attendance?”

They replied:

• Stick flyers all over campus
• Post more on TikTok
• Combine the event with free food or giveaways

Not a single student I asked identified the deeper issue, the root cause of the problem.

It’s not the marketing.

Ask a college student in 2024 to attend a show and this is what they hear:

“Leave the comfort of your dorm, walk across campus to a room you’ve never been to, turn off your phone, and watch a person you’ve never heard of do a thing you might not like, with people you’ve never met.”

When I was a student, the purpose of college WAS the social experience.

But that’s simply not the case for students today. Their social lives exist in digital space, and they don’t feel the need to have unpredictable interactions with real people.

They like magic. They like comedy. They even like motivational speakers! But they want to engage with them on TikTok and YouTube, in controlled environments that feel safe.

It’s not the marketing, it’s the medium.

We used to be told to get out of our comfort zones. Today, students aren’t even in comfort zones anymore, they’re in safety zones – everything is predictable and within their control.

My Takeaway: We’re not going to convince students to come to live events by telling them how great it is or how much fun it’s going to be. Instead, we should focus on providing a space that feels safe, even if it’s uncomfortable.

And I believe the secret to creating that space is not in the events themselves, but the students doing the inviting. 

If you’re on a student activities board or programming committee, work on your own interpersonal skills. Do the students you interact with feel heard, understood, and valued? 

When you do that, you build trust. When they trust you, they feel safe. And then you become a safe space, instead of creating one.

That way when you invite people to a live show, they’ll be more likely to attend. Not because the event feels safe, but because you do, and you’ll be there.

Lesson 2: Yes, attention spans are down 

They’ve been called the “TikTok Generation” and based on this weekend, that seems to be the case. 

Pretty much every student I told that I don’t even have a TikTok account dropped their jaw to the floor like a cartoon. It was inconceivable that, as a public figure, I wasn’t on that platform.

So I asked some students for advice. 

“If I decide to start a TikTok account, what would someone like me, a human connection speaker, do on there?”

I was told in no uncertain terms, “Do not just talk.”

They said, there has to be something else going on – an entertaining distraction – in order for them to “make it through” a video of something who’s “just talking.”

One student told me, in a moment of unashamed honesty, “I just don’t have an attention span.”

While this sentiment was not shared by all students, it was certainly the prevailing opinion.

My Takeaway: My presentations have always incorporated storytelling, magic, and audience interaction. I need to lean harder into that than ever before if I want to earn the attention of this generation, but do so without watering down the message.

This will be my challenge before the fall tour.

Lesson 3: Meaning still Matters

After delivering a showcase at one of these conferences, I usually get flooded with students asking to see magic tricks.

This time I was flooded with students, but not one of them asked to see magic. Instead, they asked questions.

And in almost every case the question was personal and deep.

• “When people don’t respond the way I hope, how do I avoid a negative spiral?”
• “How do you find motivation to keep going when you’ve lost hope?”
• “I’m shy, how do I develop the confidence to speak up?”
• “How do you go on stage without fear?”
• “In a relationship, how do you avoid getting impatient with your partner?”

These questions give me hope.

They’re the kind of questions that indicate this generation is, at least subconsciously, aware that their world has become in many ways superficial and, ultimately, too safe.

My Takeaway: Students are clearly yearning to engage with their world is a deeper, more meaningful way. It’s up to us – educators, professionals, mentors public figures – to offer them an alternative to their current reality.

But remember, it’s easy to get overly excited and push too much, too fast.

You don’t want to be a plane, taking off without the passengers, because no one chases a plane down the runway. When that happens we get annoyed at missing our flight, and then we find a different plane.

Instead, we need to take their hand and go for a walk. I’m constantly surprised at how far people will walk if they have a guide they trust.

All hope is not lost

The prevailing narrative among adults about Gen Z and younger is that they’re a lost cause, hopelessly sucked into a vapid, superficial world with no way out and no desire to engage with those around them.

This weekend taught me that is flat out false.

They are, undeniably, a unique generation in human history. But that doesn’t mean they’re bad, wrong, or hopeless.

If we can respect the world they were given and meet them where they’re at, I believe this generation will surprise us.

And I can’t wait to hit the road this fall to meet them where they’re at.

Book Brian for your orientation or leadership event

 

Contact Scott Talarico at Neon Entertainment (scott@neon-entertainment.com) or fill out an inquiry form to schedule an event consultation with Brian about your orientation or student leadership program this fall.

Dates are limited and already booking.