Setting up a
“How to Use the Oils” Workshop
in your home

Having a workshop in your home involves the simple process of organizing three things: the objective, setting, and format. The process outlined below evolved over years of doing workshops in my home. Use it as a starting place for your own workshops.

The Objective. My objective is threefold: 1) to convince participants of the value of essential oils so that they will choose to purchase and use them on a daily basis 2) to keep them in my System if they are not yet ready to order and 3) to encourage them to bring or send friends to a future workshop!

The Setting. Two or three rooms on the main floor of your home is all you need to create a functional setting. If you have three rooms (yes, the kitchen counts), set up the massage table in one, a computer, company catalogues and Terra Cotta Pendant diffusers in another; essential oils and chairs for the presentation in the third. If you plan to use two rooms, set up the massage table in one room and all other factors in the other.

The Format. The Workshop is divided into the Presentation Hour and the Activity Hour. Make your formal presentation during the first hour when people are fresh and their attention span is at its best. Use the second hour to facilitate interactive methods of learning; smelling oils, observing the massage, asking questions, referring to the reference material and talking to others who have experience with essential oils.

Putting it All Together

When participants arrive, welcome them, take their coats and offer a glass of water. Ask them to fill in a ballot for a chance to win the Door Prize. Give them some printed information, a small pad of paper, a pen and invite them to take a seat in the presentation room.

The Presentation Hour can be divided into 6 ten-minute slots. Having small time-slots makes it easy to organize the points you want to get across, and to practice them, one slot at a time.

7:00 The Introduction – Stand and welcome everyone again. Ask people to introduce themselves to the group, saying their name and sharing their primary reason for coming to the workshop. Once everyone, including you, has been introduced tell them about the format for the workshop.

7:10 – Briefly introduce essential oils, telling what they are, where they come from, and what makes them effective, exciting, and valuable.

7:20 – Talk about the difference between using essential oils as First Aid (when there is a problem) and daily (proactively, as a method of staying healthy). Explain why you use them on a daily basis.

7:30 – Demonstrate how to use the oils by giving examples of different oils for different application methods. Ask if anyone has any stories to share about the things you mention.

7:40 – Draw out more testimonials from the group by listing common health concerns like stress, fatigue, insomnia, and headaches. Ask if anyone deals with these issues then look them up in your reference material so you can report which oils may help. Explain or demonstrate how to use essential oils to address these concerns.

7:50 The Conclusion – Conclude the Presentation Hour and introduce the Activity Hour:

Tell them how they can learn more about essential oils:

1. order some oils and experience them at home
2. get on the Contact list and receive tips on essential oils
3. schedule a one-to-one consultation
4. return to another workshop bringing a friend or two

Draw for the door prize. I draw for a Terra Cotta Pendant and tell them that if they don’t win one, they can buy one at the workshop for a special price.

Tell them that in the Activity Hour they are invited to:

1. smell the different essential oils
2. look up their health concerns in the reference guides
3. observe the massage
4. get their questions answered
5. schedule a consultation
6. purchase a Terra Cotta Pendant diffuser
7. place an order

8:00 - Refresh their glasses of water and start mingling.

This sounds simple. It is! Your job is to distill the information you want to convey into succinct points that are educational, relevant, and convincing.

12 Useful Tips

1. Timing trick. We schedule our workshops from 6:45 – 9:00. It takes about fifteen minutes for people to arrive, and for us to get them settled. Scheduling the workshop at a quarter to the hour allows us to begin the presentation precisely at 7:00.


2. Break the ice. Here is a fun way to do the introductions which immediately puts people at ease. Pair them with someone they don't know and have them interview one another asking their name and interest in essential oils for the purpose of introducing their partner to the group. Allow about 5 minutes to do this and then begin. Watch what happens. It is much easier to introduce someone else than to introduce yourself.


3. Defer questions. At the beginning of your presentation, request that if participants have questions, they write them down so they can remember to ask them in the Activity Hour. This will minimize interruptions and facilitate a good flow to your presentation.


4. Focus on your audience. Having your outline on index cards is a very good idea. Rehearse your presentation well enough, however, that most of your time is spent looking at the participants - not the index cards! Practice really does make perfect.


5. Keep the lid on. The minute you pass around a bottle of essential oil, you lose the attention of the group as everyone begins talking amoung themselves. We find it works best when we save the smelling of oils for the Activity Hour.


6. Don't just sit there! When things get off track during the Presentation Hour, remember it's up to you to keep things flowing smoothly in the direction you've planned. Use the Activity Hour as a place to direct lengthy or detracing stories or problems that arise during the Presentation Hour.


7. Avoid oil spills. At the beginning of the Activity Hour, I usually demonstrate how to handle the bottles of oils when smelling the oils. I tell them that if they want to actually sample the oils, the cost is five dollars a drop. This usually gets a laugh while discouraging everyone from helping themselves!


8. Team up. My most successful workshops are ones where at least two Distributors are working with me; one to demonstrate the massage, and one to help me answer questions during the Activity Hour.


9. Keep them in the game. The Door Prize ballot is your first effort to capture their information and get them on your Contact list. As they are filling in the ballot, explain to them that they can give you an Email address and be put on the Contact List to receive tips about essential oils.


10. No pressure! We never want people to feel obligated to place an order at our workshops. When enough relevant information has been gleaned by a participant most often a decision will be made to try at least one bottle of essential oil. Remember that part of the objective is to keep them in the system and encourage them to bring or send friends to a future workshop. None of this happens when a participant feels pressured.


11. Follow them home. Make a brief phone call to the participants the following day. Ask how they felt at the end of the workshop, how they slept, if they had any questions that weren’t answered, and if there was anything that was confusing or unclear. This will not only uncover anything that may have been missed, but will begin to build credibility and form a relationship. You may find this to be the most valuable part of your workshop!


12. Lead the field. It is your experience, confidence and knowledge of the oils that is the power behind a strong presentation. Continually educate yourself about essential oils. This will keep your presentation current, relevant, convincing and interesting.

Once you have perfected this vital step in your System you can carry out the other steps that lead to it with confidence. All you need to do is find the people who will come to your workshop. How do you do that? That’s the topic of the next Article.

©2007 Terra Cotta Pendants About the author: Lori Gosselin has worked in network marketing since 1997. In 2003 when Terra Cotta Pendants www.Terra-Cotta-Pendants.com was born, she found herself back at square one, educating herself, now, on Internet marketing. To assist Essential Oil Distributors build a successful business she shares what she has learned through this series of Articles. to the Business Builder's Newsletter!

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