Live AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions are a great way to connect your incoming students with the people who can best answer their questions. You may be aware, if you previously used it, that we made the decision to discontinue our Live Events product last year. The good news is, however, that if you use Community, you can emulate this experience within your Spaces!

By hosting real-time text-based Q&A sessions in a Community Space, you can create authentic conversations, increase engagement, and help students make informed decisions about their university choices.

AMAs have the potential to provide admitted students with direct access to student Ambassadors, academics, and key teams within your institution. These sessions help students get answers to their questions in an informal, accessible environment while allowing your institution to showcase expertise, student experience, and support services.

One of the key advantages of running live Q&As within your Community is that all content remains accessible after the event. Students who couldn't make it live can log in later to review the discussions and still benefit from the answers provided.

An AMA is a scheduled event where designated hosts are available in a Space for a set period of time (typically 30–60 minutes) to answer questions submitted by Community members.

Students can:

Hosts respond in real time, and can also link to resources and future events.

In order to add staff, faculty members, and academics to your Community for the purposes of hosting your AMA, your best bet is adding them as Staff Ambassadors. To do this, simply follow the steps in this article.

We've seen some really great success stories from universities who have run AMAs around key decision-making moments in the admitted student journey. Here are some examples:

Example topics:

Example topics:

Example topics:

Example topics:

Example topics:

Example topics:

Choose an existing Space that aligns with the AMA topic or create a dedicated Space specifically for the event - or for an entire series of AMA sessions.

Select a date and time when your hosts can actively participate - and that will also suit your incoming cohort. If they are at school or in exams, factor this in - perhaps early evening is best. If you are hosting an international AMA, consider the time zones of your international applicants.

Our recommendations for session length are:

Consider your audience's time zones if recruiting internationally.

Before the event, ensure your AMA hosts understand:

If you're using Student Ambassadors, provide them with some guidance on:

Build awareness ahead of the event through:

When you're promoting the session, clearly communicate:

Invite students to start posting questions before the session begins. This helps create momentum and ensures hosts have questions ready to answer when the AMA starts. It also gives a nudge to those feeling a little more shy, if someone has already taken the plunge ahead of them!

At the start of the session, ask hosts to introduce themselves in the Space, and explain their role - as well as the topics they're here to answer questions about.

AMAs really do work best when answers feel personal and approachable.

Encourage hosts to use a friendly tone - there is no need to be overly formal or bogged down in institutional jargon! If you're using Student Ambassadors for an AMA, encourage them to share their relevant experiences - this is gold dust for incoming students wanting to hear insights from someone who has been in their shoes.

Hosts should also make sure they're providing context to their responses, rather than one-word replies.

Many students will have similar questions, and responding within the Space allows everyone to benefit from the discussion. Brief your hosts to keep their answers public in the relevant Space, even if participants send them a DM - they could even have a template response to hand to send in reply to any DM's, to ask the sender to post their question in the Space.

For high-attendance sessions, consider having:

This makes sure questions aren't lost in the ether, response times remain on track, and gives you added confidence that someone is keeping an eye on things.

At the end of the AMA, use the host Space to leave students with everything they'll need on that topic going forward. It's of course established good practice to thank your hosts and participants, and also to summarise the key takeaways. This would be a great use of a moderator towards the end of the event.

The host should also share any useful resources in the Space thread, and encourage students to continue asking questions within the Community.

After your AMA, consider tracking:

Regular AMA sessions can help maintain an active Community, provide valuable support to incoming students, and create meaningful connections between future students and your institution. It shows that you're listening, and you're playing an active role in preparing them for what comes next.