Do you want to know 10 tips to nail your trial lessons?

Ok, let’s start contextualising a possible situation you are having (or have had) as a private teacher you:

Made a huge effort to market yourself for months on social media and you finally managed to get some potential new students.

Talked to them, convinced them that your lessons are fun and efficient and you agreed on a price that suits you both.

Book a free trial lesson and teach your heart out for 30 minutes or 1 hour non-stop.

Say see you later and wait for the student to write you back to confirm the starting date of your lesson-pack.

Then the student disappears.

You write them a message, you send them an email and start thinking they may be busy or maybe they don’t really have the money to pay for private lessons. “Maybe they are one of those sneaky people that go booking loads of free lessons to take advantage of teachers”, maybe they lost their phone or maybe they moved to another country yesterday.

However, I would say (and I didn´t want to be right on this one, but I’m afraid I am) that the truth is that your lesson was actually super boring. Your lesson didn´t engage that human being to the point that he/she wanted to see you again.

You didn´t manage to show them that they need you, that they couldn’t make it without you, but that with you, they would have the results they needed.

So we do have to keep in mind that – more than getting students – the hardest part of private teaching is actually retaining these students. And your first lesson is your only chance to make a good impression and captivate the heart (and the brain) of these people.

After teaching thousands of trial lessons and having literally 100% of students coming back to me, I grouped some of the techniques I use to “impress” students and hope they can help you too!

Keep scrolling to read them!

Tips to have an engaging first lesson

1. Make students feel unique:

Human beings love feeling special, so don’t go on “automatic mode” asking them general questions such as “what is your level”, “why you need English” as if you were following a protocol that you use with all other students. Show them your lessons will be 100% personalised to work on their personal strengths and weaknesses (even if they won´t) and mention words that make them feel special, such as “personalised study plan” and “individual needs”.

2. Understand their story:

Genuinely try to understand their relation to the English language. Most students tell me they’ve got a kind of a trauma as the English subject was super boring at school, their teachers were super strict and they have always felt they would never be able to speak the language fluently.

Understanding the way they see the language will help you choose the approach to be used with that specific student, maximising the chances of coming across as a fun and engaging teacher.

3. Ask students what type of memory they have:

Are they more visual, kinaesthetic or more auditory?

Probably your students won’t be able to answer that because not many people know themselves that well, but at least they will realise you are a different teacher that will really adapt the materials to their way of learning, which gives you some extra points right from the beginning.

4. Give them positive feedback:

More than just analysing their level, tell them about the good things they already have. Even if the students have a very low level, you can certainly find some good things on them. It may be the way they pronounce a certain word or the right use of a grammar structure.

Telling them what they are good at will help increase their confidence and the likeability of them getting motivated.

Students will trust you more if they realise you can see the good in them (come on, we all love being complimented) and will long for more of that positive feedback.

5. But, at the same time, show them there are things that need urgent improvement:

You want to make sure students get this feeling of needing you. Pick some mistakes that they may have not realised they make (such as the pronunciation of regular verbs in the past – “ed” endings) and show them the right way, saying you will work TOGETHER to fix these little things.

It’s not about focusing on mistakes, but showing them you are able to spot things teachers have never told them before and that you are the person that will help them achieve their language goals.

6.  Show them how your lessons work:

Some students are not good at technology and that’s ok. Just show them the tools you will be using, if they will need to download material, if you will use apps etc so they can focus on learning instead of stressing about the hows. Create a realistic program (number of lessons per week, homework, tools to be used) and let them know exactly what they should expect from you.

7. Use a creative test to assess their skills:

After all the initial talking, test them using super fun activities so you can build rapport and have a good time together from the first lesson. I usually go with descriptions of optical illusions or interesting “what would you do” questions, so we all end up laughing while I assess their speaking skills.

8. Try to read the personality of your new student:

Some students are super shy, others are ashamed of making mistakes, some are up for challenges, so understanding their way of being will help you choose the activities for your lessons.

Using riddles with a student that is very afraid of failing may not be a good idea but asking a child to describe their clothes of their favourite doll can be perfect to make them feel your lessons are a safe place.

Use their personality in your favour.

9. Anticipate problems:

Try to be ready for the unexpected. Connection issues for example can make a lesson impossible so you need to know how to deal with these problems, making sure you don´t let the student go away (otherwise they will be with another teacher tomorrow).

If you are teaching online, make sure you check your audio, cam, and all the essentials you need for the lessons.

If your lessons are face-to-face, check the projector works, you have the copies you need etc.

10. Be ready for questions:

Students can come up with really weird questions. They can be language related or random personal things such as asking for discounts as they don’t have enough money to pay for your lessons.

Know how to improvise and don´t be afraid to say “I will look into it and come back to you later” if needed.

Hope this article helps you have unforgettable trial lessons that make students ask you for more!

Happy teaching!

By Teacher Little Mary

@teacherlittlemary