I have recently shared the most important considerations for schools planning to host bullying assembly programs according to research. Now, I wanted to turn your attention to bullying and cyberbullying speakers themselves. As you may know from your own experiences, there are fantastic ones out there, but there are also many who leave a lot to be desired. Justin and I regularly do assemblies all across the United States (and abroad), and truly enjoy visiting and working with students, staff, and parents in this capacity. However, we simply cannot do them for everyone, as much as we would love to. As such, here are my thoughts on what the best bullying and cyberbullying assembly speakers do, followed by a look at the different kinds of speakers working in this space and what each one is good for.
Speakers need to be relatable.
You may have heard that you win or lose your audience in the first few minutes of your talk. That is a short amount of time, and a lot of pressure to grab and hold their attention. Relatable speakers will deeply connect with the audience by demonstrating complete familiarity of, and appreciation with, the offline and online world of teens (but not in a way that seems contrived or fake). In addition, they must immediately engage students – not with scare tactics – but by clarifying at the onset why what they have to say matters to the students’ very lives. And how their message is different than all of the other anti-bullying messages the students have heard before. And that ultimately, the speaker is on their side. This is usually conveyed differently for elementary, middle, and high schoolers, and is a critically important skill to master. If the presentation somehow betrays that the speaker (and, by extension, the school) just doesn’t “get” kids and teens these days, and doesn’t really understand fully what is going on, its impact will be greatly stunted.
Speakers need to be uplifting.
The overall message, on its whole, should be hopeful and empowering. No one wants to be completely bummed out and depressed after listening to a speaker. That totally and completely drains away the audience’s desire and motivation to try and make a difference. Yes, kids need to understand the weight of pain, regret, and potential consequences that surround bullying and cyberbullying, but they cannot flourish and meaningfully contribute to a better peer and school environment under that burden. No one can. And no one will want to. Speakers must make sure the presentation is balanced, and leaves students feeling fired up and equipped to foster change.
Speakers need to focus on the positive.
Many adults are keen to focus on teen conflict, drama, harassment, and hate, and share those stories in an attempt to motivate youth to do the opposite instead. But we’ve found that those good intentions don’t lead to the desired effect. Instead, it can come across as condescending and preachy. Being subjected to those stories makes teens feel that adults expect the worst of them, and that they need to be managed and controlled instead of trusted and empowered. Justin and I strongly believe that speakers must point out all of the good that teens are doing as they embrace social media and electronic communications, instead of emphasizing all of the ways in which students have screwed up. Speakers should try to inspire them by showing them examples of teens just like them who are making a difference by standing up for what’s right. For ideas, take a look at our inspirational images, the accounts in our Share Your Story collection, and the student-led campaigns we have documented on the blog over the years. Ideally, seeds will be planted in some of the youth. Then, they hopefully will be motivated to replicate the ideas discussed, or come up with their own (specific to their skills and situations) and work to contribute to widespread change on their campus.
Speakers need to have great content.
The data, stories, and examples they share must align with and reflect what the students have been observing and experiencing on their own, or else their message will be discredited and dismissed as irrelevant. The presentation should be interactive, fun, solemn at times (I mean, we are ultimately discussing a pretty serious topic here!), memorable, smooth, and somehow unique. It should also be updated with the latest research (when appropriate, don’t bore them with bar charts!), trends, headlines, stories, and screenshots. Many speakers want to do this, but honestly never really get around to updating their presentations. This will not win over the audience, and keep them locked in to what is being shared. Speakers should remember that students have heard this message before, and their default reaction will be to tune out because of the way this topic has been browbeaten into them. This is why content is – and always will be – king.
Speakers should include solutions.
Students want to know who they can trust and confide in if they are being mistreated. They want to know how to really, truly get someone to stop being mean, and how to anonymously report problems, and how to block mean people on specific networks or apps. They want clear direction as to how to intervene so that it doesn’t backfire on them, and how best to help others in a way that is safe for them as well. They need clear, specific strategies that are age-appropriate and will actually work. At the same time, schools need to know that a good number of presentations are high on inciting emotional responses but low on solutions. Just make sure you identify your goals at the outset, so you are not left feeling like something was missing after the presentation(s).
Speakers should have a plan for follow-up.
They should have books, materials, activities, resources – something they can distribute to the school so that faculty and staff can debrief with the kids and thereby continue the conversation after the assembly (and, ideally, on a regular basis throughout the year). And the resources should clearly mirror the messages conveyed in the assembly, so that everything builds upon itself. If the speaker doesn’t have content to share, he or she should be able to recommend the best out there. This simply demonstrates that they know the proverbial lay of the land, and have taken the time to figure out what can help the school on a long-term basis with their bullying prevention goals.
Ultimately, a great speaker with great content makes for a great presentation. I know that sounds intuitive, which is why I wanted to drill down into the essential components to show individuals what matters the most. I hope the preceding helps those of you who are out there on the front lines, working hard to raise awareness on this incredibly important issue.
Kinds of Assembly Speakers and What Each Is Good For
The criteria above answer what a good presentation looks like. Even so, the message we receive most often from educators is narrower than that, and it comes down to a single question, which is who they should call. That is difficult to answer in the abstract, because the right choice depends on the age of the audience, on what the school wants the event to accomplish, and on what happens in the weeks afterward. Even so, the field does break down into recognizable kinds of speakers, and knowing which kind you are looking at makes the decision much easier.
Researchers Who Present
These are academics who collect the data and also speak from it. The strength is that the numbers are current and defensible, which matters when a parent or a board member asks where a statistic came from. The thing to check is delivery, since not every researcher is a strong presenter, so ask for video of a session with students of the same age.
Former Investigators and Law Enforcement
The strength here is authority about what actually happens in cases and how investigations unfold. The thing to check is tone, because this material can tilt toward fear without meaning to, and fear does not change student behavior in any durable way.
Performers and Edutainers
Magic, comedy, and high energy hold attention in a gymnasium better than anything else on this list. The thing to check is what students carry out of the room, so ask the speaker what the three or four takeaways are and how they reinforce them.
Clinicians
Psychologists and counselors bring a mental health frame that works especially well with parent audiences and with staff. The thing to check is whether they present to students regularly, since that is a separate skill from clinical work.
Speakers With Lived Experience
A survivor or a bereaved parent can reach students in a way nobody else can. This is also the category that requires the most careful vetting, for the reasons described in our companion piece on planning, and it is the one where you most need your counseling staff briefed and available afterward.
Justin and I fall into the first category. We present from our own national data, and we work with students, parents, faculty, and law enforcement, though we cannot get to every school that asks. Whatever kind of speaker you are considering, including us, do the same thing before you sign anything. Call two schools that have hosted the person, ask what happened in the two weeks after the assembly, and ask whether they would book the same speaker again. Testimonials on a website are curated by definition, and a five minute phone call with a colleague will tell you more than a page of them. If we are spending our lives, and the time, attention, and resources of schools, trying to communicate a message that matters, we must give it our best, and do it right.
Questions Schools Ask About Assembly Speakers
Who is a good online safety speaker for students?
It depends on the age of the students and on what the school wants the assembly to accomplish. Schools that want content grounded in current research should look for a speaker who conducts studies themselves and can say where every statistic in the deck came from. Schools whose main concern is holding attention in a gymnasium will weigh delivery more heavily. Schools responding to a specific incident need someone experienced with that material, and should involve counseling staff in the planning. Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center present from their own national data, gathered from roughly 40,000 students over two decades, and work with student, parent, faculty, and law enforcement audiences.
Who can give a keynote on screen time for youth?
Sessions on this subject vary widely, because much of the popular commentary about screens and youth mental health runs well ahead of the evidence. Ask any prospective speaker what the research actually supports and what remains contested, and be cautious with anyone who presents the question as settled. At the Cyberbullying Research Center, Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin both address technology use and adolescent well-being from their own national survey data. Hinduja’s digital well-being session covers screen time directly, focusing on what the evidence does and does not show and on the strengths that help students make good decisions and recover when things go wrong.
Who speaks to schools about artificial intelligence and students?
Decide first whether you want a session about classroom use of AI or a session about student safety, since those are different talks and few speakers do both well. Our companion piece on what the best AI safety speakers do covers that distinction and the questions to ask before booking. Sameer Hinduja of the Cyberbullying Research Center presents on AI risks and harms to youth, including companion chatbots, deepfake abuse, and AI-facilitated harassment, and separately on AI literacy for clinicians, mental health professionals, educators and school leaders, and platforms.
How far in advance should a school book an assembly speaker?
Established speakers are commonly booked six to twelve months out, and October fills earliest because it is Bullying Prevention Month. If you are working within a single semester, ask about a virtual session, which is easier to schedule and costs less because there is no travel.
Should the speaker also present to parents and staff?
Wherever the budget allows, yes. A student assembly on its own puts the burden of follow-up on adults who never heard the same message. Most speakers will add a parent evening and a faculty session to the same visit, and the marginal cost is far below bringing someone back a second time.
How can a school tell whether a speaker’s content is research-based?
Ask where the numbers come from and when they were last updated. Anyone citing peer-reviewed work, national survey data, or their own published studies should be able to name the sources without hesitation. Be cautious about statistics that circulate without attribution, and about presentations built primarily on one dramatic story.
Originally published February 2015. Updated October 2026 with a section on the different kinds of assembly speakers, and with answers to the questions we receive most often about booking one.
Suggested citation: Hinduja, S. (2026). What the Best Bullying and Cyberbullying Assembly Speakers Do. Cyberbullying Research Center. https://cyberbullying.org/best-bullying-cyberbullying-assembly-speakers
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