Successful Pre-Tutoring Communication
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Having an effective tutoring appointment is more than just showing up with knowledge in your head, and a desire to share it. An effective tutoring appointment starts with the first points of contact with your student, continues through the tutoring appointment, and finishes with a follow up. The pre-tutoring communication with your students can help set you up for success in your actual tutoring appointment.

First Point of Contact

The first point of contact will normally come in the form of an email or text. You will still receive phone calls, but they are less frequent than what they once were. The sooner you are able to reply to those first contacts, the greater the opportunity for a successful connection.

In an email response, you usually have a little more space to share about yourself and your experience. I usually share a brief, two sentences, about myself, my rates, a link to my Google reviews, and a link to my availability and booking calendar. Make sure you answer all of their questions, and then invite them to send along any additional questions. If you have any questions about their needs, ask them.

In a text response, you have less space to share. I normally thank them for reaching out to me, let them know that they can find all the information they need to know about me on my website, and encourage them to send along any additional questions they might have. I then send them a link to the page of my website that has my rate, availability, and reviews on it. If you have any questions about their needs, ask them.

In a phone call, you have all the time you need to share and answer all of their questions.

Scheduling

If your response to their first contact were successful, then the next point of contact will usually be about how to schedule the appointment. In your response you will want to be clear about when and where you are meeting.

  • When
    If they have sent you dates and times that work for them, and you can make any of those work, then let them know what date and time would work.
    If they have not sent you dates and times that work for them, then email them back specific dates and times that work for your schedule.
    Be very clear about the date and time that you are talking about, including time zone and day of the week. You will sometimes have students, or their parents, setting up appointments while in a different time zone.
  • Where
    If you are planning on meeting online, let them know the platform (google meet, zoom, teams) that you will be using. If you are planning on meeting in person, let them know what public space (library, coffee shop, student center) you would be willing to meet them at.

I use a booking calendar on my website to handle my scheduling. Normally in my response to their first contact, I include a link to my booking calendar. It quickly lets the student know if our availability will work, and if it does, they can schedule the appointment. I setup the booking of appointments to send a link to an online classroom automatically for me. If you did your tutoring in person, then you could have it setup to let them know the public space you would be meeting them at. When I did all of my tutoring in person, I would find a single table in the library or student center, and meet all my students at that table. So, I could set my booking calendar to send that as the appointment location.

Confirmation

Once you all have agreed on a date, time, and location, then send a confirmation email with a calendar invite. The calendar invite is important for ensuring you get the tutoring appointment into their calendar, and you can set the calendar invite to send a reminder email automatically for you.

You will want to clarify with your student how and when you expect to be paid for your services. Also, if you have anything they need to come prepared with to the appointment or send you ahead of the appointment, let them know. If you want them to come prepared with questions, let them know. You might be a student’s first tutoring experience, and they will be looking for you to point them in the right direction on how to be successful in their tutoring appointment.

The booking calendar I use also handles this portion of the process for me. When a student signs up for an appointment they are automatically sent a confirmation email with a calendar invite, which is setup to send a reminder email 24hrs before their appointment, information on how they can pay me, and details of what they should come to the meeting with and send ahead of the meeting.

Reminder

If you have sent them a calendar invite with a reminder set on it, then you are probably good to go. If you do not have that setup, then I would take the time to send a reminder email the day before the appointment. Most students are thankful for the reminder.

The keys to success with the pre-tutoring communications with your students are to be clear and timely. Always keep in mind that while you may have been tutoring for many years, it is often times your students first experience. The more you can help guide them with a calm and clear voice, the more comfortable they will feel coming into their actual tutoring appointment.

Make returning your student’s communication in a timely fashion a priority. Having all this communication wrapped up in a timely fashion will help to calm your student’s nerves. Many students will be reaching out to you at a point of stress in their life. Finding you and knowing that there is the prospect of hope on the horizon, goes a long way to calming their nerves ahead of the appointment.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about how you communicate with your students or about anything tutoring, please send them along.

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