The World Class Dance Instructor Blueprint

Take your dance instruction to the next level, filling in the blanks to become a kick-ass successful (or even world class) dance instructor!

Step #1 of 6
Quickly Review The Outline
The image below shows the outline for the Dance Instructor Blueprint. Review the headings and then continue below and we'll fill it out together:
To save this image, right click on it and select "save image as".

Ok, let's look at each section in more detail and start filling out your blueprint!

Step #2 of 6
Learn the 3 Fundamentals of a Kick-Ass Successful Dance Instructor
My goal is to give you a clear outline for being a kick-ass successful dance instructor in your field of dance, so you know exactly what to do to take your teaching career to it's next level.

Let's start by categorizing the skills you'll want to learn (or improve) into the 3 fundamentals of a kick-ass successful dance instructor:
  • DANCING SKILLS = Find ways to constantly (and drastically) improve your dance skills. We will break this down in more detail and give you one of our most powerful methods to drastically improve your dancing below but let's be clear...most skilled instructors (which I'm guessing you are) aren't held back by their dance skills. So while I'll give you some tips to improve in this area, make sure to balance your learning with the other two skills below because the weakest link will likely hold you back the most. 
  • TEACHING SKILLS = Improve AND Inspire your students in EVERY lesson - With every lesson you teach, you want to have multiple verified methods to both improve AND inspire your students! We'll go into this in more detail below but for now just know that improving (or inspiring) them probably isn't enough to keep them for the long run. It's the combination of doing both that turns them into raving fans that spread the word about your lessons (and keeps them attending for many years to come).
  • BUSINESS SKILLS = Use systems & processes that are proven to work to better serve your customers - From creating a syllabus, to teaching lessons, to deciding what to offer and when to offer it, having systems & processes allows you to measure your success, which allows you to figure out what works best and then do that instead of just randomly guessing at what will work best and never having confidence in what you are doing. Again, we will dive into the details (and give you some proven systems) below but the main thing to realize is that systems & processes will allow you to improve your services (for you and your customers) and make life feel a whole lot easier as well! 
The Bad News 
Your weakest link will probably hold you back more than you realize. 

If you are a great dancer but your teaching or business skills are significantly weaker, or you are a great teacher but your dancing or business skills are significantly weaker, etc...you might get some jobs but you'll probably struggle to make a real impact.
The Good News 
You don't have to be perfect at everything to make an impact and become successful. Plus, you can often make huge strides forward just by improving your weakest link.

Of course, the more you improve each one, the more in-demand & sought-after you will be!

Watch the video below to hear how I discovered this.
Ok, so now that you understand the 3 fundamentals of a world class dance instructor...

Let's get into the details of each fundamental!
Step #3 of 6
Improve Your Dancing
(Find ways to constantly and drastically improve your dance skills.)
WARNING!

Some people have the mindset of "I have to improve my dancing more BEFORE I can start teaching". This mindset could drastically slow your progress both as a teacher and as a dancer.

If this is your mindset, read this yellow section now. Otherwise, you can skip this section.

First, I'll say that I LOVE that you want to improving your dancing and I wholeheartedly encourage that. This is an important part of becoming a great teacher.

At the same time, if you spend hundreds of hours improving your dancing before you ever start teaching, when you do start, you will likely be a great dancer and a crappy teacher. After all, teaching is a skill and improving your dancing isn't likely to improve your teaching.

Since teaching dance is a skill (separate from learning to dance), I encourage you to start teaching as soon as possible...even if it is just your friends.

If you aren't confident enough to charge for your lessons, teach your friends in exchange for feedback on how to improve your teaching. 

I started teaching dance (not paid) on my second day of learning to dance. At UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), that was how our classes were structured. We would learn the Charleston from one person and five minutes later we were teaching it to someone else. While we might not have taught things perfectly, teaching really forced us to analyze what we were doing and better understand it for ourselves. I started out so bad, the good dancers actually warned others not to dance with me and within 1 year I was asked to start teaching local dance lessons, in less than 2 years I was teaching at some of the top Lindy Hop dance camps across the USA, and within 4 years I was traveling the world to teach. It all started by teaching my friends the Charleston on day 2 of learning to dance.

Start teaching your friends for free. Then as you improve, you can use systematic ways to decide the appropriate amount to charge each step along your journey (which we teach you in our training: How To Raise Your Rate & Stay Sold Out).

Ok, now on to improving your dancing!
To be clear, my goal for this blueprint is not to improve your dancing as you read this blueprint (I'll offer tips to improve your dancing in other blog posts and trainings). 

Instead, my goal for this blueprint is to give you a method to improve your dancing much faster (see the end of this section) and to give you a strategy to know what skills to focus on improving next so you aren't just randomly taking dance classes that aren't specifically focused on something that is going to make a big impact for you.

Let's start with the strategy to know what to focus on. To do this, start by categorizing your skills.

For example, I split dance skills into 5 main categories:
  • Musicality
  • Connection
  • Style & Moves
  • Confidence
  • Miscellaneous
Now, you don't need to be great in every category but the more you know and implement, the stronger your dancing will be (and if harnessed correctly, being a better dancer can improve your teaching too).

You can choose to focus on one or two categories and be one of the best in your niche, or focus on developing them all and be more well rounded.  Either will work, so go with what excites you!

I know very successful (world traveling) dance instructors who have great musicality but not so great  connection and I know other successful instructors who are well rounded in all the categories but don't necessarily stand out as top-notch in any one category. When I first started traveling to teach dance, I really only had connection and confidence. 

So you don't need to be great at everything to be successful.
You just want to make sure you are better in a topic than the people you are teaching!
As you improve in a topic (or learn more topics), more dancers will want to learn from you (assuming you follow the processes shown in the business section below).

To be an in-demand dance instructor, improve in a variety of topics...or focus on intensely improving in one topic.

Now, if you are thinking, "I'm too old", "I've got two left feet", "I'm too shy", etc...it's time to stop that pessimistic thinking!

I've taken awesome sold out classes from an 80 year old man, someone in a wheelchair, a guy who woke up in a body bag because the medics thought he was dead, and plenty of other people that probably have way more excuses not to be the kick-ass successful dancers and teachers that they are. 

They found a way and I will help you do the same!

The only excuse that makes sense to me is "I don't want to."  But if that were you, you wouldn't be on this page right now! Right?

Ok, let's get started on turning you into a kick-ass successful dance instructor!

To fill out the dancer section of your blueprint watch the video below OR read the slides and transcript here.
A Powerful Method To Drastically Improve Your Dancing
Earlier, I said I'd give you one of my most powerful methods to drastically improve your dancing so here it is.

To be clear, this is not a dance technique. 

It is a technique to adjust how you learn dance techniques, moves, concepts, etc...so every lesson you take provides you with the absolute most powerful information to improve your dancing. 


To Become World Class: Look at everything you add to the dancer section of your blueprint and make sure you learn the universal version of that move, technique, concept, etc. That way you can use everything you learn with every partner you dance with (not just the ones who already know that move, technique, concept, etc).
Want More Dancing, Teaching, & Business Tips
To Become A Kick-Ass Successful Dance Instructor?
Upgrade to our monthly Teacher Training to get instant access to over a hundred tips, techniques, methods, and processes for your dancing, teaching, and business of dance!
Step #4 of 6
Improve Your Teaching
To improve your teaching skills, you want to constantly be learning more:
  • Methods to improve your students
  • Methods to inspire your students (which will ensure they LOVE your classes)
If you want to have kick-ass students that are passionate about becoming better dancers, BOTH improving and inspiring your students is key.

If you improve your students, but you don't inspire them, dancing will probably never be something they fall in love with and they will likely end up losing interest at some point (or continue but never really be passionate about improving). 

If you inspire your students but you don't consistently (and ideally drastically) improve their dancing, you may keep them around in the short term, but eventually, they will notice they aren't progressing much and will likely start looking for instruction elsewhere.

Whereas...
Implementing these two things will keep your students coming back to your classes year after year!
Plus, organizers who might hire you to teach at big workshops are much more likely to hire you if they are impressed by how awesome your students are AND your students RAVE about your classes.

Plus, it is fun to get to dance with awesome students and it feels great when they LOVE your classes!

Therefore...
It's extremely valuable to have multiple methods to improve and inspire your students!
That way, you can pick and choose the best methods for each class situation, offering them variety in their learning experience so they stay interested, and covering the same topics in different ways that work for different people.

And again, it all starts by learning one method...and you can get away with teaching quite a few classes with just a few methods.

To learn two methods to improve your students and two methods to inspire your students...

Want More Dancing, Teaching, & Business Tips
To Become A Kick-Ass Successful Dance Instructor?
Upgrade to our monthly Teacher Training to get instant access to over a hundred tips, techniques, methods, and processes for your dancing, teaching, and business of dance!
Step #5 of 6
Improve Your Business
If you are serious about being the best instructor you can be...

...DON'T SKIP THIS SECTION!

I know, I know...

You might be thinking...having business skills means putting money first.

THAT IS NOT TRUE!

And it's that kind of thinking that keeps some amazing instructors from helping way more people (and yes, making a good income).

But don't worry, I used to think that way too until I actually found some great mentors and now I will share all the best ideas I've learned with you!

You'll see in the video below that badass business processes are all about...
  • 1. Being more clear and straight forward about what you offer people...so you only provide it to those who truly want it.
  • 2. Knowing when to offer each product you offer (or what step in the process your customer is at) so you aren't bothering them at times when they don't want what you are offering.
  • 3. Using each of the 5 offer types in their most effective order (see video below)
Or put even more simply...
It's all about having badass processes that work!
Processes to sell your private lessons, group classes, big workshops, merchandise, etc...

And each of these things is different and therefore benefits from a slightly different process.

This is something I have definitely messed up in the past and I don't want you to have to go thru all the same mistakes and growing pains I had to experience, so let's get into it!

In it's simplest terms, think of every interaction like a relationship.

You wouldn't go to a bar, introduce yourself to someone and then ask them to marry you, right?

Do you see how that process probably wouldn't work very well?

Instead, try this...

First, find a reason to talk with them. Then find a segue to start talking about first dates. If all is going well, then ask them out. If the date goes well, ask them for another date...and so on.

This process is probably going to be more successful, right?

This same concept works for your business too.  

Instead of just asking someone "Do you want to take private lessons from me?" and hoping that works...

First, find a reason to talk with them. Then find a segue to start talking about private lessons. If all is going well, then ask them if they want to do a mini-private lesson for free (equivalent to buying them coffee). If that goes well, ask them if they want a normal lesson (a longer date)...and so on.
Whether you are getting hired to teach a weekend workshop or booking private lessons, every offer is a process that includes multiple steps.
Of course, sometimes you'll be able to skip a step or two in the process and when those times come, it will probably be obvious...

...but during the times when it's not obvious...

...follow the steps in the process and you'll have a much higher rate of success!

To get a better understanding of the Badass Business Process and to see examples for all 5 types of offers that help you be wildly successful...

...watch the video below or read the slides and transcript here.
By the way, I created an in-depth step-by-step process for booking more private lesson students which includes:
  • How to know who is most likely to say "Yes, I want to take your private lessons!" instead of turning you down
  • 5 great segues for starting the conversation on taking their first private lessons from you, each designed for specific moments when they make the most sense
  • 3 exact scripts to use for the "would you like to take private lessons" conversation, that intrigue and excite the student instead of coming off as arrogant or insinuating "you should take private lessons from me"
  • How to give something to someone in a mini-private lesson that's so amazing and valuable that they can't wait to do a full lesson
To access this process and a whole lot more, join our Teacher Training here...or if you already have a Teacher Training Membership, click here.

Want More Dancing, Teaching, & Business Tips
To Become A Kick-Ass Successful Dance Instructor?
Upgrade to our monthly Teacher Training to get instant access to over a hundred tips, techniques, methods, and processes for your dancing, teaching, and business of dance!
HOMEWORK: Create Your Own Editable Blueprint
Having my blueprint is a good starting point, but creating your own which has your techniques (and some or all of mine too) is even more powerful!

This will help you understand what your areas of strength are and which areas would be best to focus on based on your current knowledge, skills, and structures.

Look at the topics I have provided for you and do one of the following actions for each one:
  • A. Delete topics you don't want to learn or teach (hopefully none :).
  • B. Highlight topics you don't use yet but want to use in a different color (maybe red?) and if you think of any more topics that interest you, add them in red as well to the appropriate sections.
  • C. Any remaining topics will be ones you already know and use. You can leave these topics white and add your own topics you know and use (in white) in the appropriate sections.
Look at the sections that have the most white (these are your strengths), and the sections that have the most red (those are areas you want to improve).

Keep learning new techniques and improving your blueprint by upgrading to our "Teachers Learning" Teacher Training below.
Want To Improve Yourself As A Teacher?
Watch the video below to see the 4 ways you can strengthen yourself as a dance instructor.  Learn about the benefits, negatives, and costs of each option to help you become an in-demand, sought-after, or world-class dance instructor.
Upgrade to our monthly Teacher Training to get instant access to over a hundred tips, techniques, methods, and processes for your dancing, teaching, and business of dance!

What do you think of this blueprint?

Share your ideas in the comments below.
FB Comments Will Be Here (placeholder)
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.