8 expert tips for your Streaming and online sessions

With the new restrictions resulting from the health crisis we are experiencing, the use of Streaming and Online Sessions is becoming more and more common in centers that use TIMP.
With these tools you can offer your customers virtually any service telematically and that your business continues to have activity 100% online in these difficult days.

For this reason, and in order to bring you some tips for successful live sessions, we have consulted one of our regular contributors, Isaac Fernandez of Xtensal Pilates, who a few months ago quickly adapted to the digital format to be able to continue in contact with his students through online classes.

We have structured Isaac’s tips in eight distinct blocks.
They are initially designed for a Pilates class, his specialty, but they are perfectly applicable to any physical exercise session, dance class, yoga or workout.

Take note because they will be very useful, especially if you have not yet started to teach your first sessions through Streaming and Online Sessions:

In a live online class it is important to convey information clearly and concisely.
The reason is that, unlike an explanatory text, in an online class the student must follow your instructions as you give them, so you cannot get lost in lengthy explanations that distract the attendees from what is essential: to correctly perform the exercises you propose.

As Isaac comments:

“Prepare your sessions to be clear and direct, without involving a large coordination component. Think that when our students do not understand an indication, they will have to get up to look at the screen”.

When it comes to teaching a physical discipline , it is always more effective if you transmit your knowledge with on-site examples . in situso that your students can clearly see how this or that exercise is performed.

According to the director of Xtensal:

“When you start with your online classes, try to exemplify with another person.
In my case, I am very lucky to have Pilu [su pareja y compañera docente de clases], so while I give the indications she executes them.
We don’t always do this, but we do it at the beginning of the classes for the new adaptation to the digital medium.”

What if you don’t have anyone to help you put into practice the exercises you propose in class?
No problem, you can always exemplify them yourself:

“In case you can’t do it with anyone, do it yourself. Not the whole class, but those exercises that you want to introduce in the session or on which you want to focus according to the muscular intention”.

Sometimes an instruction may not be as clear as we would like it to be to the students.
For example, you may mention a specific area of the body that some attendees may not be able to locate, such as a set of muscle fibers or a very specific joint.

In these cases it works very well to point out in some way the parts of the anatomy involved in the exercise to be worked, as if you were using a laser pointer in a presentation.
Isaac explains his peculiar method:

“Something that was very curious, and that I made fashionable, was to “stick” my finger in front of the camera while giving directions to make reference to the area Pilu was working in.
We would say it would be like a virtual guide.
If you’re on your own, self-signalize.”

When preparing your session it is essential that you introduce in it the necessary information and eliminate everything that is redundant or complicates the delivery of the class.
If this is already very useful in a face-to-face class, when we enter online terrain it is even more necessary.
Let’s see why:

“Unlike face-to-face classes, I try to give fewer indications, and not for that reason less concise, but I do avoid collapsing information.
This will also help if the student has a weak internet connection: our voice will not be cut off as much or as continuously.
Prepare blocks of clear and concise movements, instead of a large battery of exercises that involve a constant change of position.

To ensure that your students attend your online session, it is advisable to send them in advance all the information necessary for their access to the session.
It is also a good idea to offer a series of recommendations on the material to use or the best place in the house to follow the class:

“One day before, send and prepare an access guide for the class (for example: access through our app using the link we send you, etc.) and all the information they need for the session: space, mat, implements, apparatus…”.

This login information that Isaac discusses reaches your students through a session link they receive when they book their session online with the TIMP booking appand all the information about the material to be used can be made available to them in the class description they will see in the app when they book it.

And if you already use TIMP Streaming it’s even easier, because you don’t even need a session link.
Because it’s integrated into the dashboard and the app, Streaming connects you directly to your users.
No links.

And speaking of the best place to practice during the class, as the teaching professional you must decide where is the best place to conduct your session.
You may be teaching online from your workplace or from home; in either case this is what Isaac suggests:

“Very important: the space must be a well-lit area (be careful with backlighting), where you are the protagonist. Also, the sound quality must be optimal: remember that your voice is your tool”.

As you have read, sound also plays a key role in online sessions: if you are not heard well on the other side of the screen, your students will end up disconnecting because they will not be able to follow your instructions correctly. Set up your computer’s microphone properly and do sound tests beforehand.

In a live class anything can happen, especially if you do it from home.
Therefore, from Xtensal Isaac recommends that in your classes naturalness reigns above any other consideration:

“Smile at the spontaneity of a home.
Dogs, cats, doorbells, children playing or even pilates with their parents, will be scenarios that you can find in your classes: smile at that home normality”.

To achieve better class adherence and repeat online learners, you should encourage them to put into practice what they have learned during the class, and to keep exercising until the next online session arrives.

And if you also open your mouth by telling them what you are going to do in the next class, even better:

“Make a record in each class of how important it is to keep moving from home and tell them what you are going to work on in the next session.”

As you can see, these are very practical tips based on experience that will make your online sessions a success with the public.

You still don’t have Streaming and Online Sessions active in your panel?
Then don’t waste any more time and activate them with the help of our support team, at your disposal by phone or chat.

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