With online teaching and tutoring on the rise as a result of COVID-19, you’ve likely considered offering your services. We encourage all professionals and experts to start sharing their expertise with the world. However, that first scheduled session can seem daunting, which is why we want to provide you with some useful pointers on how to conduct your first virtual call on Symposium.
Here are 4 tips you can utilize to go into your first scheduled call with confidence
-
Come Prepared
Preparation is everything when heading into your first virtual meeting. Be sure to establish a lesson plan and determine what you want your client to understand from this first session.
Consider the following: How long is the session for? Have you agreed to multiple sessions yet or is this an introduction to see if they’d like to continue your services? Have you had any communication with the client prior or will with this be the first call? Knowing these answers will be useful in the structure you choose to implement.
While it’s useful to come to the session with a structured plan, always leave some room to improvise. Don’t try to teach everything on day-one. Keep it simple, straightforward, and streamlined.
-
Determine your client’s intentions
Everyone one has different needs and there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to online coaching. You should always determine what your client is seeking and why they want to learn this skill. Are they seeking math tutoring because they’re struggling in school? Are they taking cooking lessons because they want to make a special dish for their spouse? Are they seeking self-improvement through your service? Once you understand your client’s “why,” only then can you design your “how” for them.
Establish time at the beginning of your call to get to know the client. Ask about their intentions, outline their goals, and learn about their story to tailor your approach accordingly.
-
Give your client time to ask questions during your call
You should not be the only one asking questions during your call. Understand that your client is likely nervous trying something new and some concepts that might seem simple for you are difficult for beginners to wrap their heads around. There may be little things you have mastered that you don’t even think about anymore, and it’s possible you might miss an important detail. That’s completely fine: like we said earlier, there’s no way to cover everything. But if you give your client time to ask questions, you now have a chance to hear, address, and clarify their confusion.
Teaching something to a beginner requires patience, persistence, and empathy. The only way to know if they are following along is to regularly check in to see if they are understanding.
Bonus Tip: Connect with them outside of your call on social media and offer an open ear to answer any questions they may have forgotten to ask during the call. Developing and maintaining this relationship is vital to continue to provide them your services ongoing.
-
Use engagement strategies
Just like a regular classroom, no matter how captivating your lecture is, listening to someone speak for long periods of time can be mentally draining. Valuable information can be lost if there’s no space to process the information. This is where tools of engagement can help break up the monotony of the lecture. Here are some ideas to help bring excitement to your call.
– Utilize graphics and videos. Bringing in related videos, infographics, pictures, and other resources can help reframe the information they’ve received so far. Words and lectures contain a bunch of theory, but visuals can help bring those theories to life. Remember: these as tools, not crutches. Using too many videos will make your client think that they could’ve taken this same information off of YouTube. Remember, YOU are the expert.
– Give your client a quick, fun, easy task. Create a more interactive experience involving the material you went over so far in the session. This is a great way to keep things hands-on and coach them through any troubles they have understanding the content.
– Make them teach you: One of the benefits of online teaching is that you learn more by teaching! So, consider giving your client an assignment to teach you what they learned today on your next call. This establishes two things: A call to action to schedule a follow-up meeting, and a chance for them to truly process the information and soak in the knowledge you’re providing them.
While there will be many other tricks you learn while exploring this new virtual side hustle, it’s best to not overthink it and just have fun. These are a handful of suggestions, and you can get a couple extra tips from reading what advice our top selling SymPros have for other Symposium users. We hope those on the fence will join the marketplace and share your passion with others.
Follow these tips and you’ll be one of our top earners in no time!
Find Tips to Set Up Your First Listing HERE!
