Sometimes when you’re applying for an ESL job, your potential employer will ask you to do a demo class, where you’ll act out teaching a lesson to demonstrate your skills.

This might seem like a scary proposition, but we promise that once you get into the swing of things it’ll soon fly by. The best way to reduce any potential stage fright is to be organized and prepared. To help you with that, we’ve created this easy guide to ESL demo classes.

What is a Demo Lesson?

Demo lessons are becoming increasingly common in ESL circles. They’re a good way for interviewers to evaluate the skills and personalities of teachers before hiring them.

If you’re still in your home country, then you’ll most likely be asked to hold a demo class over Skype. In this scenario, you’ll be given a topic, or choice of topics to prepare a demo lesson for before the interview. Then, when it’s time for the demo class, you’ll usually be given around 10-20 minutes to shine. Your interviewers might fill the role of your students, allowing you to engage with them just as if you were teaching a real class. In less common situations your interviewers will remain silent, leaving you to proceed with the class while pausing for the feedback of the students or miming their responses.

If you’re meeting them in person, then your demo class will be similar to a Skype interview, but you might be asked to give a demo for a real student, a whole class of students, or even your fellow teachers. If you need to give a demo class in front of a full class of students, it might last for an entire lesson rather than 10-20 minutes – so be sure to check this beforehand.

There is also one final situation where you might find yourself giving a demo class. After you have been hired, your school might ask you to give demo classes from time to time as a way for them to recruit new students. In these situations, parents will bring along their students to try out one of your classes and then decide if they want to enroll or not.