How to sell yourself on that first lesson
The first lesson is probably the most important lesson you will ever do for each pupil. They do not know you and you do not know them. It is here that your success and future lies. The pupil will be a mix of emotions; excited, nervous, dubious, cautious and many more. Ideally this will be a two hour lesson and in this time you really need to get them moving. If it is only a one hour lesson, do not spend ages on the controls of the car as these can be covered later, just give an abridged version. Do not rush your pupil though, they will be nervous and could back off if they feel rushed. Keep a calm manner and explain simply what you want them to do. A nice quote I heard from an instructor was how he says to his pupil, he will drive the car through them. You need this pupil to go home and to school/college and say how fantastic this lesson was. If your pupil has had some lessons already, then I used to find out what they really wanted to learn from me and then I would achieve this. Often it would be a manoeuvre and I would sort this out in half of the lesson and teach them something new in the other half. Either way I wanted them to know I was the right instructor for them and give them the best lesson I could. Never, I repeat, never belittle any previous training or instructor they have had before. I have just recently had two trainees; both have had lessons with the same two instructors, with each instructor telling them that each trainer feels they are right. Don’t become just another instructor, become their instructor.
Ok, so they have had the best lesson of their lives. Now is the time to give them honest advice about their test and future lessons. You need to believe in what it is you are telling your pupil and they will believe it too. Many times I have had pupils or even clients on part three who after a lesson have agreed they were not ready for the previous two tests they failed. This is also when you will talk to them about booking the test, how many hours you feel would be a realistic goal etc.
There are no secrets to this, simply let your pupil know you care about their progress and are giving honest advice
