Tips and tricks

We’re offering some guidance in terms of situations that might arise, as well as some tips you should follow in your daily work in order to have a good booking rate:

• You do not always need to stick to the session structure - this will mostly depend on the yosers preferences, but also on the nature of your relationship with them. Once you get regular learners, your sessions with them will seem less structured and more like a get-together with an old friend. Again, follow the recommendations but do not do it blindly, and save some room for spontaneity.

• Remember, our goal is: tutor talk time < yoser talk time! Don’t get carried away and ask the learner questions which will make them talk more (even if they are curious and want to know everything about you). Yosers should be stimulated and engaged so that they get the most of the session, especially 25-minute sessions.

• Time management: as you know, there is a timer in the Yo! Zone which clearly indicates when the session is almost over. Please don’t disregard it, as the session automatically ends precisely at the 25th/50th minute, so if you forget to do the recap, you will not be able to do so afterward. Take enough time to go over the recap and give feedback to the yoser (if they opted for that), but do so in a gentle, natural way - do not start recapping abruptly.

• Speaking of ‘abruptly’, this also applies to ending the session. Do not leave without saying goodbye to the yoser! Remember, our yosers are our customers, without whom our business wouldn’t be sustainable, so it’s very important to show a customer-oriented attitude. It’s essential for you to showcase the right attitude, since you are the company representative.

• In case the yoser is not attentive during sessions or they are unresponsive, the tutor should try to engage them as much as possible. If this becomes a pattern, the tutor should let the Tutor Support team know.

• The tutor should not leave the Yo! Zone before the session ends. However, this can be done only in case there is extremely inappropriate behavior on the yoser’s end – sexual harassment, violent behavior, etc. In this case, the Support Team will check the session recording so that we can address the issue accordingly. Please refer to Being late and cancelations for more details.

• Meeting with yosers outside session time is not allowed. In case the yoser insists on this, saying they are in your country/city, feel free to explain our policy to them, we’re sure they won’t mind.

• Providing or promoting any external service to yosers is not allowed. Tutors should refrain from accepting any external services from yosers. External forms of payment, gifts, or tips from yosers are not permitted. External forms of payment, gifts, or tips given to yosers by tutors are also not permitted.

• In case a yoser wants you to teach them another foreign language, please note that you are not obliged to teach any language other than English. Yosers are also informed about this and they know we cannot guarantee that the they will be satisfied with the service in this case. It’s up to the tutor to choose whether they are comfortable with this or not - if you speak another language pretty well and you’re confident you can teach some useful expressions and words, we won’t stop you! Yosers sometimes specify if they want a lesson in another language in their request so you can even prepare something. If you decide not to teach another language, you can say that openly to the learner (in a polite manner, of course) and you may even edit your profile information by editing that info.

• In case your yoser is a beginner, and you barely understand them, here are a few strategies that might help:

1. ask the yoser politely to speak more slowly
2. use the chatbox if you notice they don’t understand a word/sentence and encourage them to do the same
3. send images to clarify what you’re saying
4. if the yoser is asking you for suggestions on what to do during the session, feel free to propose one of the materials for beginners we have in our library
5. compliment the learner’s skills as they probably need some encouragement, but don’t forget to correct them from time to time to facilitate their learning process
6. ....try to have some fun and make sure the learner also has a fun experience!

• In case you have a booking with a brand new yoser or a trial session with a yoser whom you haven’t talked to before, here are some things you should know:

1. this person booked your session for a reason - they probably already like you based on your profile information, and they want to get to know you better. This is your time to shine, but don’t forget to ask the yoser questions about themselves as well as you shouldn’t be the only one speaking (remember that the learner is supposed to talk more than the tutor!)
2. in trial sessions, after the introductions are done, make sure to ask the potential yoser whether they want to hear more about our service and sessions. Only if they agree, feel free to tell them a little about how our sessions are, let them know what our mission is and how we can help them practice their language skills.
3. in line with the previous tip, make sure to ask the learner why they are practicing English, as it’s important for you to know how to best cater to their needs and help them achieve their learning goals
4. make the yoser comfortable by creating a pleasant environment - smile and show a good attitude throughout the session. During the first couple of minutes, try to have a small talk about everyday topics (weather talk is also allowed 😄
5. if the yoser wants to do a material instead of having a free talk, or if they seem a little confused, we encourage you to suggest the newest Daily news articles, according to their level - these materials are interesting, contain vocabulary explanations and example sentences, and will certainly spark an interest in the learner.
6. showcase your communication skills, your charisma, and your professionalism - after all, this is why yosers like our service and tutors and stick with their favorites, so your goal should be to have many regular learners and motivate the ones who book the first session with you to stick with you
7. encourage them to speak more, and praise their English skills in case they aren’t very confident - they will be even more motivated to speak and won’t hesitate to do so even if it means they’ll make mistakes
8. try to teach at least a few new words/expressions during the first/trial session, so that the yoser has an impression they’re making progress!
9. if the yoser wants to be corrected (check their request), please do as they requested and pay attention to what they’re saying so that you can correct them accordingly.
10. let the yoser know how important it is to have someone whom you can talk to regularly in order to improve language skills - it’s important for tutors to occasionally reinforce the idea of creating a regular habit of the speaking practice
11. be flexible in your approach - let’s say a new learner wants to use materials and doesn’t want to engage in small talk or to exchange introductions for some reason. Don’t take it personally - maybe the learner is in a hurry and wants to go over the material as soon as possible, so do what they want to do, and if you finish the material in a timely manner, maybe you’ll have a few minutes to get to know each other better!
12. it might be challenging to remember each individual learner you work with, so it’s okay to discreetly take notes during your sessions. This will allow you to remember important details if they decide to book another session with you and helps build a learner/tutor relationship.
13. giving yosers a positive experience with Yo! will encourage them to book another session and continue their language-learning journey! Don't be afraid to sell the company and yourself, especially if it’s a trial session - however, try to do it in a subtle manner as we don't like to push people and make them uncomfortable.

Don't forget to occasionally, and thoroughly, read through all the supporting articles in the Knowledge Base.