How to Conduct an Amazing Demo for Teaching English Online

It may be strange to teach English online. Although the Internet has been around for a long time, talking to someone online is still a bit unnatural and may take a while to get used to it. Since you are not in the physical classroom with your students, you need to rely more on facial expressions, body language, and some educational tools in online English class to get your students fully engaged. And a demo is quite important for an applicant who wants to get the position offer since it is one of the most crucial determinants. To help you, we have summarized some tips to help you make an Amazing English teaching demo.

What is even weirder than that is to conduct a demo for your potential employers so that they can see your teaching style and whether you are qualified enough for their companies or schools. Actually, it's just a less than 10 minutes trial lesson and the employer will pretend to be a student to attend your English teaching demo class.

The truth is, these demos are so important. This will be the reason whether the company hires you or not and a nice demo class will allow you to get a higher rate of pay. For companies or schools, they use demos to see your teaching style, course planning ability, and your teaching English online experience. And another point is that they want to get to know your personality and hear your accent since Chinese parents care much about the accents.

Because this can be a little strange, it's best to be well prepared before your demo class during the interview process. Here is how you should prepare for your demo:

1. Make a plan.

Making a plan is an important part of teaching, which cannot be ignored even for online English teaching. You may be provided with a level, topic, or language structure, or you may be asked to choose your own structure. Either way, make sure you have a plan for each step of the demo lesson. As long as you can remember it, you don't have to write it down in detail in the formal lesson plan. Sticky notes work well for some teachers, while others prefer papers.

2. Keep things simple.

Try to do your demo in a simple way if you are going to teach young children since most Chinese companies are targeting young students. Do not choose materials or activities that are too complex. Keep in mind that when you are employed, you are likely to get course materials, so the focus on your demo lesson should be on you and your teaching rather than on materials. Before your demo lesson, make sure that you are familiar with the content and structure and you will be able to provide clear instructions for them.

3. Use some educational tools

Educational tools are very helpful to get your students engaged if your students are younger kids. Since it would be very boring and easy to get your students distracted if you keep talking and teaching without some actual materials. And some employers indeed tell the applicant that they do prefer teachers using educational tools.

 4. Smile.

While smiling is one of the important tips for you. Since a smile can ease the tension between you and the employers and it will help to make a good impression on them. You don't need to be cheesy the whole time, but a resting you-know-what face is not a good idea in these circumstances. Especially when teaching young students, you may find that you need to exaggerate your facial expressions in order to communicate more effectively. And the employers do prefer teachers like this.

 5. Practice makes perfect.

You may think this is making it a big deal. You are confident with yourself. But do a run-through of your lesson beforehand. No matter how good the lessons you have planned in mind or on paper, voicing it out loud is very different. Going through this course several times will help you remember the steps and make the course run smoothly. If possible, do it in front of the mirror so that you can see what your students will see, or ask a family member to look at you and give you constructive criticism.

Finally, try to relax! Try to do it as you have planned. Your demo must show off your entertainment-loving and energetic personality, neutral accent, teaching style, and rich experience. Even if you are nervous, you can fake it and give a smile, and then you will soon find that you really impress your employers! Good luck!