Workshop Series

About the project

In November 2016 I started my freelancing journey and four weeks later I hosted my first workshop. If I was scared? Hell yes! But teaching would then become my main source of income, I just had no clue about what was coming next...

It is interesting that I was practicing Agile methodologies before I even knew what Agile was. In fact, the first time I heard from Agile was through one of my participants. I never forgot that little chat, during our lunch break of a workshop in Frankfurt.

Tools

Figma
Notion

The Team

Myself and so
many partners!

Timeline

2017-2019

Process

My Commitment

Share everything I learn along my journey with others! That was a very deliberate decision and I am so proud of the outcomes. Check it out!

The Numbers:

After the first 3 years in business (pre-pandemic) these were the outcomes:

  • 52 Workshops
  • 23 Collaborators
  • 25 In-House Trainings
  • 7 Cities
  • 416 participants
  • less than 3% no-show rate
  • over 90% shared feedback

Cringe Facts:

  • I priced the workshop based on what I thought people would be willing to pay.
  • I was googled the participants, terribly afraid they would uncover the “impostor” in me and doubt my expertise.

Luckily I was able to improve those details after this first experience.

Cool Facts:

  • We created a warm and welcoming atmosphere for everyone.
  • It was a very personalised experience with nicely handwritten name cards and individual communication from the ticked booking to the thank-you email.
  • Catering was provided (it was a very simple one, but hey!).
  • All Materials were included in the ticket price.
  • Having a feedback form with me from day one was maybe the most crucial decision for the development of the series.

All these decisions above remained relevant for every single course I hosted afterwards.

Positioning & Differentiators

Even after attending courses and workshops by some big names in the industry, it was eye-opening to me that the things I cared about were often not provided. It made me proud and I attribute the success of my courses to these “details” everyone else seemed to have forgotten.

  • Safe space for everyone (!)
  • Accesible locations
  • Kids welcome with their parents
  • At least one spot for someone who could not afford the ticket
  • Partners and collaborators were invited to join
  • Food intolerance/allergies were considered
  • Support for the left-handed participants
  • Translating for the international participants

Concept Development & Experimentation

None of the courses were the same. Every single time I had the opportunity to test, implement and get feedback. Interviews were also a super important part of the process! But the immediate feedback loop game me the insights about how to improve for the next session.

The Metrics

  • Course Topics
  • Duration
  • Ticket price (and profit, of course)
  • Location
  • Materials
  • Catering
  • Breaks
  • Time of the day/ Day of the week

The Results

  • Great feedback
  • Profitable AND Inclusive Events (you don’t have to chose)
  • Follow-Up Connections
  • Growing Community
  • Long-Term Partnerships & Friends

My Learnings

  • Teaching is the best way to learn.
  • Putting yourself out there, will have a great effect on building a network.
  • People understand it takes courage to speak in front of a group and they will applaud you for doing that.
  • Teaching will open doors you didn’t knew existed before.
  • You will build a connection with lots of different people, that would have not been possible to work with on a 1:1 basis.
  • We all have something to share! We just need to be one step ahead in other to teach people something new!

All that been said, I highly recommend you start gathering some experience with teaching. Our experiences and interests will never overlap 100% so we can always learn something new from each other.

So thankful and grateful for the experiences and for everyone that was a part of it!

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