Cactus Language Blog

Top TEFL Tips: Standing up in Front of a Class

Posted by Sarah under Cactus TEFL

Laura Harrison, Cactus TEFL Advisor, helps to calm those pre-teaching nerves

Diving out of an aeroplane, wandering the streets of Johannesburg after dark with a laptop, dressing up as an antelope and climbing into the lions’ enclosure at your local zoo…granted, these may not be as common place nor as necessary as public speaking, but for many people they feature much further down the fear factor list.

Ok, perhaps I exaggerate a little, but it’s fair to say that speaking in front of a large group of people can be really, really scary.

As a former EFL teacher myself, I can sympathise with the many trainees who love the idea of TEFL, but who are simply terrified of that first teaching practice session. For a lot of people, their fear of standing up in front of a class is the only thing preventing them from training in this field.

For people who genuinely feel that this is something they could never do, there is obviously the option of teaching privately to ensure that tutees are either individuals or very small groups. For the majority of people who train, though, the best chance of getting work will be in private language schools, where you’ll teach groups of 12-18 students, so it’s something you need to be prepared for.

The good news is that once your first teaching practice is out the way, it’s amazing how quickly you get used to it.

For anyone about to embark on their TEFL course, here is some useful advice to help calm those pre-teaching nerves…in this day and age the well-known tip of imagining your audience naked is probably ill-advised!

Top tips for speaking in front of your class:

1. Make sure you’re as prepared as you can be for every lesson that you teach. Preparation means confidence.
2. Speak to the students beforehand – building up a rapport will mean a few friendly faces and will make all the difference when you get up to teach.
3. Try to stand/sit in full view of the students prior to your slot if you can. This will make it much less daunting when you have to come up to the front, and will avoid the usual situation of all eyes being on you as they study you for the first time.
4. If you suffer from the shakes, hold your notes in a thick pile so that they don’t quiver as much as a single sheet!
5. Remember that the students are there to learn…and they want you to do well! You may not believe it, but they are sure to be more interested in what you are teaching them, than in the finer points of today’s choice of outfit.
6. Breathe! Remember that in the grand scheme of things, standing up in a class is really not that bad. There really are much worse things that you could be made to do…if it helps, make a note of them to remind you of the awful things you COULD be doing!

Cactus TEFL is an independent admissions and advice service for TEFL courses and TEFL jobs worldwide, offering TEFL courses in over 30 countries.

Tags:EFL, tefl, TESOL