As yoga teachers we are always looking at ways to bring yoga to the masses, and a great way to do that is to offer a workshop. Whether for beginners or for going deeper into a specific set of poses, students can benefit from the workshop atmosphere and feel more confident to ask questions and get clarification on something. It also brings in more income for you, the teacher, and promotes your business and brand.
Pick Your Topic:
When building your workshop think of a specific topic or niche that you would like to share with your students. Make the topic very clear and apparent so students know what they will be doing. You wouldn’t want to offer a beginners workshop and then throw in handstands or some advanced pose that they were not prepared to learn.
Put it on the Calendar:
If you own your own studio or work for one, get your workshop on the calendar in a timely manner. Give the students time to hear and learn about the workshop and then put it on their calendar; usually a month before the date is standard.
Promotion:
Promotion is key in creating a successful workshop, and if not done properly or with intent can make or break a workshop. Create an event on social media platforms to indicate when, where, and what the workshop is about. Reach out to your dedicated students and ask them to share the workshop, there can be incentive for the student that if they share and bring in clients they can attend the workshop for a discounted rate. Make announcements in classes you teach to remind students about the workshop.
Build Your Outline:
Go back to the topic you have picked, and think of what knowledge you want the students to walk away with. This outline is just for you to refer to so you can make it as fancy or simple as you want. Remember that it’s an outline and should just be a reference to glance at to help make sure you hit all the points you want to cover. Perhaps you have specific words and poses you want to discuss, put them on your outline with notes to remind yourself of the relevance. Whether your workshop is a few hours or a few days, you want to give yourself ample time to go over topics and leave space for the students to implement what they are learning. Another thing to consider is giving time at the end of the workshop for questions or comments from the students.
Create Your Handout:
As a teacher and a student, I love getting handouts to go back and reference once the workshop is over. In a workshop a lot of information is being brought to students in a short amount of time, even with the best of intentions they can easily forget some portion of what they learned. Providing a handout is useful and can allow the student to go back, reread and jog their memory of something they may have forgotten. People also learn very differently, and sometimes the best way for someone to learn is to read the information before they can physically implement it. On your handout you’ll want to put pertinent information that is easy to follow and flows with the structure of the workshop. It’s also a good idea to leave space for the student to take notes or journal about their experience.
Practice:
If this is your first workshop then it may be a good idea to “practice” going over the content of what you’re teaching. As you read your outline you can hear any parts that don’t flow the way you want, and can make adjustments before the workshop. This also can help calm nerves because you’ll feel more confident in sharing the content because you already know what you want to say.
Teach Your Workshop:
The day has finally arrived where you get to teach! You know what you want to share, you have your outline ready, and the handouts printed and ready to go. Show up about 30 minutes early to prepare the space if props are needed, and to help check in your students. Showing up early can help alleviate any nerves you may experience.