How to run hair styling workshops for small groups

A styling workshop works best with a small group, one clear technique, and hands on hair from the first half hour. Decide who it's for — people who want to style their own hair, or hairdressers who want session techniques — then choose one style per workshop, such as a textured updo, braids or waves with irons. Limit places to the number of stations you can supervise, say whether participants work on their own hair, on a partner or on a mannequin head, and send a tool list in advance. Demonstrate, then circulate; the value of a workshop is correction in real time.

Two audiences want very different workshops. Private clients want to recreate a look at home: an easy updo for a wedding guest, heatless waves, a braid for a child's hair. They need simple steps, affordable tools and patience with their own reflection. Hairdressers and students want the techniques you use on set: prep for volume that lasts under lights, pinning that holds for a long day, editorial textures. They need speed, detail and the reasoning behind each step. Mixing both groups in one session rarely satisfies either, so run separate workshops.

Participants remember one technique practised three times better than five techniques seen once. Build each workshop around one finished look, broken into steps: prep, base, structure, finish. Name the workshop after the result — "Soft bridal updo", "Waves with a flat iron" — so people know exactly what they'll leave able to do.

Keep the group small enough that you can reach each station several times during practice. Plan a demonstration at the start, a first attempt with your help, a second attempt more independently, and time for photos of the result at the end. Allow for set-up and clean-down around the session, especially if you use a hired room.

A salon on its closing day, a studio or a hired room all work if they have good light, a mirror per station, tables at the right height and enough sockets. For private clients, a relaxed setting helps; for professionals, a space close to a real salon set-up makes the techniques easier to transfer to their own work.

Add up your time including preparation, the room, products and any mannequin heads you provide, then divide by the number of places you expect to fill rather than the maximum. Price per place, and say clearly what's included.

Send the list with the booking confirmation or in the service description: brushes, sectioning clips, pins, elastics, heat tools if needed, and the product types you'll use. Keep spares for those who forget, and check the room has enough sockets for heat tools.

Send a short step sheet with photos, so participants can repeat the style at home. Mention the next workshop date: people who enjoyed one technique may want the next, and a clear follow-on keeps your groups full.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Create one service per workshop and open a slot with a capacity equal to your number of stations. Each participant books one place online; when the workshop is full, the slot disappears from your page. For pairs working on each other, say in the description that each person books their own place. You can also book a place yourself from your calendar for someone who calls. Repeat a regular workshop each week on chosen weekdays until a date, or open each date individually.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Clients can't move bookings online: they contact you, you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and let them know yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.