ESL Demo Lesson Tips

A demo lesson is an opportunity to show yourself in action, demonstrate your teaching style and interaction with students. 

But at the same time, it is also a challenge: you need to not only hold a lesson, but also make it structured, interesting and dynamic, even if you only have 30 minutes.

How do you organise a lesson so that it goes smoothly and leaves a positive impression? What techniques should you use to show your professionalism? 

In this article, we'll look at the key tips that will help you conduct an effective demo lesson and feel confident in front of any audience.

Preparation for a demo lesson is 80% of success. If you plan everything correctly, the lesson itself will go much more smoothly.

You need to find out their level of English and interests to choose a topic that will catch their attention.

Now, let's talk about the topic. It should be simple enough to cover within a limited time while still being engaging enough to demonstrate your teaching method. 

For example, a boring grammar test or a vocabulary list isn’t the most effective way to showcase your skills, but a short paired discussion or a game could work really well.

Another point that should not be ignored is time management. 

Determine how much time you will spend on the introduction, the main part, and the conclusion, and be sure to leave a few minutes to spare. 

Because sometimes technology fails, and students might need a bit more time to complete the task.

And finally, technical preparation. If the lesson is online, check the camera, sound, and screen sharing. 

If it's offline, prepare all the handouts, whiteboard, or presentation. It may seem like a small thing, but it can make all the difference in how you are perceived. 

You don't want to spend the first few minutes struggling with the microphone instead of grabbing attention right away, do you?

When all these details are taken into account, you will feel much more confident. And this is at least half the battle.

To make your demo lesson memorable and impressive, you need to put it together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. 

Let's take a closer look at what it should consist of.

An exciting start

The first few minutes make all the difference. 

If students lose interest right away, it will be difficult to regain it. 

For example, if the topic of the lesson is travel, you can start with a warm-up activity that involves showing three photos from different countries and asking students to guess which one is the most expensive for tourists. 

Encourage them to explain their choice in detail.

Interacting with students

The worst thing you can do in a demo lesson is to talk all the time. 

Keep your students involved as much as possible: ask open-ended questions, give them the opportunity to speak up, and encourage discussion. 

If the lesson turns into a lively dialogue, it's a good sign.

Students did not come to listen to a non-stop monologue, they wanted interaction. 

Also, CCQs (Concept Checking Questions) are a great tool for checking understanding without too much explanation. 

In addition, it is another way to avoid boring lectures, as students come to the right conclusions on their own.

Practice in different formats

Forget about long explanations that make students count the minutes until the end of the lesson.

Learning new words? Use them with gamification techniques. 

There are many different tools that help to diversify the lesson, such as Kahoot, Wordwall, Flippity, Mentimeter and so on. 

You can find more tools in our article 6 online tools to spice up your English classes.

The atmosphere in the classroom 

It is important to create a friendly, relaxed atmosphere where no one is afraid to make a mistake or speak up. 

How can you do that? Smile, support your students, and don't be afraid to crack a light-hearted joke (in moderation!). 

A teacher who knows how to create a comfortable atmosphere immediately earns trust.

Consider the level of students

The demo lesson should be appropriate to the level of the audience, so that students don't feel overwhelmed or bored. 

If you have information about the students beforehand, that's great. 

If not, start the lesson with a simple warm-up activity or a few questions that will help you quickly get a sense of their confidence in English. 

In this case, you should have some preparations from an easier task to a more difficult one.

We hope that these tips will help you deliver a demo lesson that will showcase your skills, engage your students and make a good impression. 

The key is to create a dynamic lesson where students are not just listening, but are actively involved in the process.