Running small group public speaking workshops

Size each workshop from the speaking time every participant needs, not from the size of the room. If each person should speak three times for a few minutes and get feedback, a two-hour workshop can only hold a small group. Set that number as the slot's capacity, give each format its own service, and let people book one place each online. The workshop disappears from your page once it's full, and everyone who comes gets real practice instead of watching others.

A speaking workshop isn't a lecture. People improve by standing up, speaking, getting feedback and trying again. Do the maths for each format: minutes per turn, turns per person, feedback time, your own input and breaks. The result is the number of places.

Numbers are examples: set your own. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end. When you create a slot, you set its capacity; each booking takes one place, and the page doesn't show how many are left.

The booking form has an optional note. Ask participants for a line on their situation, such as "I present to my team every Monday", so you can tailor exercises.

A course that builds over several evenings works best with the same group throughout. Create the weekly slot with the number of places and repeat it on that weekday until the last evening. Participants book the first evening online; you then book each one into the remaining evenings from your calendar, with their name and email so they get a confirmation for each. Once the group is complete, the remaining evenings are full and hidden from your page.

Companies may ask for a private workshop for a team. Create a service for it, agree on the date, create the slot and book it yourself for the contact person, setting the number of people and adding the company name in the note. The slot is then full and doesn't show publicly. Invoice the company the way you already do.

In a small group, one absence changes the rhythm and an empty place is a lost practice turn for someone else. Participants can't cancel online, so ask them in the description to tell you as soon as they know. You can then cancel their booking from your list, which frees the place on your page. If you cancel a workshop, cancel the bookings and tell participants yourself: Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.