Workshop Practicalities

Community Workshop Series #3

Welcome to the third instalment in this five-part series on running community workshops in your kids' yoga or well-being business. If you’ve been following along, you’ll already know why workshops can be a fantastic addition to your offerings and how to gather ideas in the pre-planning stage.

Now, let’s get practical and talk about the logistics of planning a successful workshop.

Booking a Venue: What to Consider
The venue you choose will set the tone for your workshop, so it’s important to pick a space that meets the needs of both you and your attendees.
Consider the following:

• Accessibility: Is it easy for people to get to? Is there parking or public transport nearby?
• Suitability: Does it have enough space for movement? Is there natural light, heating, or air conditioning?
• Cost & Policies: Check the hire cost, deposit requirements, and cancellation policies. Make a note of the last cancellation date to avoid unnecessary charges.

Booking a venue well in advance ensures you have time to plan, promote, and secure attendees. It’s also wise to have a backup plan in case of cancellations.


Additional Services: Do You Need Them?
Depending on the type of workshop, you might choose to include extra services,
such as:

• Catering: If your workshop includes refreshments, consider dietary requirements (e.g., allergies, vegan, gluten-free). Outsourcing food can be expensive, but it ensures safety and inclusivity. I personally find it much less stressful to arrange external catering - as I'm not exactly a domestic goddess and I worry so much about giving people food that they may be allergic to!
• Additional Staff: If you're working with children, do you need another adult present for supervision?
• Guest Facilitators: If you’re offering something outside your expertise (e.g., sound healing or creative arts), hiring a specialist could add value.

Whatever services you feel you need, book them early and factor the cost into your pricing.


Promoting Your Workshop
Once you’ve secured your venue and any additional services, it’s time to start spreading the word. Even people who express strong interest may not actually attend, so allowing plenty of time for marketing is crucial.

Key strategies include:

• Save-the-Date Announcements: Let people know something is coming and invite them to register their interest.
• Early Bird Incentives: Offering a discount or bonus for early bookings encourages commitment.
• Multi-Channel Promotion: Share details via email, social media, your website, and printed flyers.

Setting Up Your Booking System
A smooth booking process makes it easy for people to sign up and pay, I found that the easier a workshop was to book, the quicker the workshops filled up!

Some options include:

• Bank Transfer: A simple but manual option.
• Online Booking Platforms: Tools like BookWhen or a website-based system streamline the process.
• Payment Gateways: PayPal or Stripe offer secure online transactions.
  
  

Make sure your terms and conditions are clear, including:

• Cancellation and refund policies.
• Minimum numbers required to run the workshop.
• Payment deadlines.

Writing Your Workshop Copy
At this stage, you still don’t need to plan the exact details of your workshop! Instead, focus on crafting clear and engaging copy (text) for promotion.

A useful description would usually include:

• The key themes and activities (e.g., movement, mindfulness, relaxation, craft).
• Who the workshop is for (e.g., families, parents, children of a certain age).
• The benefits of attending (e.g., quality bonding time, stress relief, learning new techniques).

You don’t need to finalise the session plan yet—just share the main ideas to generate excitement.


Final Steps Before You Plan the Workshop
With your promotional copy ready, it’s time to put it everywhere:

• Email your mailing list.
• Share on social media.
• Print flyers and posters if relevant.
• Keep talking about it!

By this point, you should have a good idea of how many people are likely to attend. If bookings are slow, a final push before your cancellation deadline can help.

If the number of people booked aren’t viable, don’t be afraid to cancel—it’s better to reschedule than run a workshop at a loss.
I've had to cancel or postpone workshops before, and honestly, at the time I felt embarrassed and it had me questioning everything about my business! Now I know how common this is and it is just something that happens to everyone at some point.

Looking Ahead
This stage is all about laying strong foundations before diving into the details of the session itself. In the next part of the series, we’ll explore how to plan the actual workshop content.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or book a chat with me.

Don’t forget that you can download the free guide to accompany this video series here.

If you are considering running seasonal workshops for kids or families, you may find my seasonal bundles helpful for April, you can get 20% off the full Season Bundle by using this link.

Happy planning!