I know lots of you are doing demo lessons this week for all your potential new students – good luck!
To help you on your way, here is my top lesson plan to guarantee awesome sign ups plus lots of tips and tricks!
My Top ESL DEMO Lesson Plan
- TPR Warm Up -> Genki Disco Warm Up (5 to 10 minutes)
2. A guaranteed successful “full” lesson with the new words -> song -> game. My top recommendation being How are you? with the Monster Game (10 to 15 minutes) If it’s good enough for Tom Cruise’s co-star in her TV show, it’s perfect for your demo class!
3. The Superhero Song to finish off on a super high note for getting everyone wanting more ( 5 to 10 minutes)
That’s it. Simple. Less to go wrong. And lots to go right. Click the links above to see the videos of the ideas in action.
Ninja Tip: If you’re in a country where Rock, Paper, Scissors is super popular, do that after the warm up too.
Tips & Tricks
- Make sure all the parents JOIN IN, not just watch. This gets the awesome word of mouth marketing you require. “You’ll never guess where I went today…” they’ll tell their friends. Try playing the kids off against the parents to see who can be loudest!
- Shorten the lesson compared with a regular demo class, around 30 minutes and finishing on the Superhero song keeps everything super high.
- Make sure you have less free spaces than there are potential students e.g. have 10 parent/students attending, have only 8 spaces free. They have to sign up there and then to get the place! (Everyone else goes on a waiting list.)
- Have an assistant to handle the admin of the parents signing up. (If they go home to “think about it” or “discuss with their spouse” you have lost them – just think how many things you planned to get round to but never did once you left the room!)
- Don’t have too many free demo classes – no more than 2 or 3 per year – it devalues your brand. And although there should be never more than 2 years difference in age between the youngest and oldest in a regular class, for this demo class here you can have people of all ages – after all the parents are joining in aren’t they!
If you don’t have the Genki English Teacher’s Set yet, get it now, it will be the best investment you can ever make in your business.
And of course, practice the night before in front of the mirror so your delivery is super smooth!
Enjoy!
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. If you want a crash course on the business side of running a super successful English school, check out my Start your own school guide here!
P.P.S. If you have any questions, please put them in the comments!
Earn More From Your Passion For Teaching English!
Hi Richard, with the sign ups do the people also need to pay there and then? Or can they pay within the week either cash or transfer? Do I explain terms before signing up? Eg costs andvregulations Discounts for signing up on the day? Etc.
Hi Fanitsa, great questions! Usually they’d be paying by monthly bank transfer, so you get all the bank details etc. Shouldn’t be much need to explain the terms etc. usually they just sign up and look at them later. But you could have your assistant prepped to explain if asked. No discounts on the day, the scarcity of losing out and being put on the waiting list is enough.
Where can I give the adevertissement about demo lessons? In a local newspaper?
Word of mouth is always the best option! You could do the local newspaper, but don’t get it to be an ad, find a story they will like and get them to write an article about you for free!
I always take longer than I want with this demo. Really going to try and get it to about 30 minutes today!