I've found myself getting a little lazy with my class introduction - that opening statement that answers the question many of your participants have before the class begins; "I wonder what we're doing today... and how hard we're doing it?" A consistent and informative opening statement is a major part of any successful class, one that I see as a Best Practice.
In retrospect, I should have committed to delivering a more informative class intro for challenge #1 of the 28 day challenge. If you aren't taking the challenge #1 was:
#1 - We all have areas where we know we could improve. Today's challenge is to publicly commit to one tangible improvement at least for the next 27 days of the challenge (e.g.: start your class on time, spend more time helping new students, not be in a hurry to leave, build in more warmup into your profile, etc..)
So better late than never, we've create a specific challenge to encourage Instructors (and Me) to create a Scripted Start for their next class:
#15 — Create a scripted class opening: “Great actors don”™t show up on set and improvise as soon as the camera starts rolling. They practice putting their own personality into the words scripted for them…. Practice delivering your opening and closing scripts and you”™ll be as polished as a professional actor.”
You will find a podcast transcript (includes a link) of an interview with Lawrence Biscontini in the group Files folder that will give you a lot of direction. Post your completed script.
So John... what do you have planned for us today?
In what I feel was one of, if not the best, interviews I've ever published, MI Lawrence Biscontini describes the elements of what he calls a "Scripted Start". Lawrence explains that there are nine points you should include in your initial opening statement:
- Welcome
- Intensity
- New Students
- Gratitude
- Sound and Equipment
- Teaser
- Theme
- Issues
- Purpose
I know that sounds like a lot to squeeze in, but in reality you should be able to smoothly touch on all nine points in a reasonably short paragraph. And your introduction doesn't have to these in order, you can mix them up anyway that makes sense to your personality - just be sure to include everything.
Here is the link to Lawrence's interview - we've included a transcript for those of you who prefer to read, rather than listen.
ICI Podcast 236 Scripted Starts and Flawless Finales Part 1
Here's a pdf of Lawrence's original article, published in the IDEA Fitness Journal.
I'm working on my Scripted Start and will be posting it in the ICI/PRO 28 Day Challenge group later this week.
Now If you find yourself thinking; John and Lena have creating a "Scripted Start" as a challenge for this week... I wonder if one of next week's challenges is going to be about drafting a "Flawless Finally"? You're right 🙂
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