What makes your class the highlight of someone’s week?

The vast majority of the population know they need to exercise, they know they need to tick it off for the week and get it done… but how do you change your class from being ‘a tick in the box’ to something they actually look forward to week in week out? 

The answer is simple as a phrase…. But there is a huge amount of stuff going on behind it. 

Your class needs to feel unmissable. It needs to bring joy to someone’s day. It needs to be about more than just the exercise.

So how do we do that? I’m going to walk you through that now but bear in mind that I teach dance fitness and resistance training in the community. I move people from doing little exercise through dance fitness into lifting weights. What my guys need might be a little different to what yours do and vice versa. 

Make it easy to arrive.

First up let’s look at the pre-class experience… is your class easy to find? Do you let them know where to park? Can they get into the building easily beforehand? Do you have this info easily available to new people? Do they know where to wait if you have classes before the one they are coming to? Are you available to say hi when they get there? New people can feel nervous about trying something new, we need to reduce those barriers as much as we can on social media and in their first few classes. I have to use the ‘back entrance’ for my classes so I make sure I’ve got an A-frame right outside the driveway and pop instructions on Gymcatch so they know where to go when they get there. 

Make people feel they belong.

Now we’re looking at the arrival experience…. Are you saying hi to everyone? Are you learning their names? Do you explain what the class is going to be like, where the loos are, where the front is (so they can hide at the back if they want to)? If they are on their own do you introduce them to anyone or can you rely on your geeks to say hi to them? Part of the joy is making sure people know what’s about to happen and also to include them straight away. You can’t do everything so your existing community can massively help with that. This reduces the barriers to returning. 

Create an unforgettable sesh

What about the class experience? Are you using music your community likes? Are you thinking about how to explain your message and maybe move between classes? For example, I let people settle into the dance fitness realm whilst simultaneously ensuring my emails touch on resistance training here and there. I also use bodyweight resistance classes sporadically during the month that offer less scary options… Tonight I’m doing a 50/50 aerobics and bodyweight resistance to try and bribe some of my dance fitness crew to try the resistance stuff… it’s working… 5 of the people booked would NEVER sign up for my weights classes despite showing interest in them. What’s the atmosphere like when you teach? Is everyone having the time of their lives? Are you? Are you bringing your personality to the game? What can you do to encourage everyone to let loose? For example, I can’t sing but I still do it now and again. They all laugh at me and occasionally ‘boo’ me… I love it, it means they all sing their heart out because they know they can’t be as bad as me. 

Teach for confidence, not perfection.

Then it’s the instructor stuff….. Is your teaching working for them? Are you cueing ahead of time so they can follow? Have you made your movements as easy to replicate as possible? If you are teaching resistance stuff, are you able to correct technique and give great coaching tips that people will remember? A lot of this stuff develops over time but it’s worth revisiting it to make sure you are giving them everything they need to feel successful. It isn’t about being the best mover on the planet, it’s about making them feel that they are. Being an instructor isn’t easy and it can feel a bit personal sometimes to look at how we teach, but we can always learn something new, a slightly different cue or a quick tweak to our delivery that makes all the difference. 

Finish as strongly as you started.

Then it’s after the class…. Are you buzzing your t*ts off? Do you tell them you are? Do you go and say goodbye to people and make time to have quick chats here and there? Do you make a beeline for your new people to say well done? Do your community chat to the new/newish people at the end? One of the best things I ever did was verbally follow up at the end of class, let them know I’m going to send them a discount code for a class pass ‘tomorrow’ and then always do it. This means I get more opportunities to help persuade them that my classes are too much fun/too worthwhile to miss. 

I’ve been teaching classes of one variety or another for 20 years. I still revisit all of this stuff regularly to make sure I’m not dropping the ball. Sometimes I might think there is something they are going to love, and in actual fact they are just tolerating it so I have to think again. That’s the joy of this job, constantly learning more about the people in front of us and how to best serve them, how to best bring them joy and how to best make them feel like they’ve just had the best night of their lives.

The biggest draw for my classes has very little to do with me. It’s my community. And not just in a social way like when we go out. It’s about how it feels in my classes. I’ve let them know how helpful they are when they talk to my new people for me, ‘newer’ people see the ‘older’ people doing it for them and then they in turn do that for the next group of newbies. It’s the atmosphere that you cultivate by being your beautiful self that allows them to be theirs. That’s the most fun bit of it…. The ‘Your vibe attracts your tribe’ quote did not lie. Being yourself means that the people who stay think you are kind of cool and that they are more likely to echo the feelings and the atmosphere that is so important to you. 

Anyhow, I feel like I’ve waffled on plenty and probably not very eloquently but you get my drift. YOU and all your weird bits are what makes your classes what they are… ….

Your music matters. Your cueing matters. Your marketing matters. 

But none of those things are what people will remember. 

It’s your humour, your personality, your weird sayings and the way you make people feel welcome. That’s what turns a class into the highlight of someone’s week. Everything else just helps to get them there enough times to be able to feel that in their soul. 

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