Tips for Hosting Successful Virtual Cooking Classes with Tomas Hoyos | The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

But what does a good product look like? Like, what does a really successful live event look like for somebody who has the following and has an idea of what it is, but maybe doesn't know how do you pick it and know what will be awesome?

Yeah, it's just fun. And there's something magical about getting a big group of people together, making something delicious and fun with someone that they look up to. And like, food is so many different things, right? It's like friendship, it's family, it's culture, it's memories, it's like everything. And so bring people together to make something together is just like really fun at its core. And so as long as you don't like deviate too far from that, you have something really great to work with. As far as what a common, really successful class looks like it'll be. What's a fun recipe? One main recipe. And then a lot of times people will do a fun cocktail for happy hour. So they'll make one recipe. They'll usually start with the things that are really simple and straightforward. Maybe there's a recipe that their community loves or like a post that gets a ton of traffic on their blog. They'll pick something that's like really low hanging fruit and easy and they'll make that. A lot of times people say like, hey, do I need to create new recipes for these classes? Like, absolutely not. Just make it easy on yourself. And like, what? Are you sure someone like wants another, you know, sourdough basics class? It's like, well, it's not that they want another sourdough basics class, it's that they want your sourdough because they've been following you for a really long time and they really love like all of the effort that you put into your craft and like how you make it accessible to them and like the tone that you use when you communicate, like what you're teaching someone. And so they really just want to make it together with you. And then there's also kind of the, you have something to show for it. You know, at the end of a class if someone's participating and following along, like they have something delicious that they can share with other people. But like a really successful class is usually like one or two recipes. It's a fun group of people. You'll kind of, you'll make it together. It's something that it's not going to be super hard for you unless you want to make it challenging. And you've got like, you know, that's your, your. Yeah, yeah. And that's kind of what. What like a really fun, successful class looks like. But.

And is it like half hour, hour? Do you have you found there's a sweet spot for. On the recipe side, I'm guessing, you know, fitness workout would be like 30 minutes to an hour. But what does it look like when you're making a recipe?

Yeah, so I, I'd say it really depends on what your sweet spot is. Um, the most common we've seen are 45 minutes to an hour and a half.

Sure.

We have seen people do like really long things on, on weekends. Someone did this like heroic meal prep class that was on a Saturday. It was like several hours. Yeah, there's just this huge number of people cooking together, getting ready for the week. And it was. And had so much, you know, to show for it because they made a bunch of different recipes. We've seen a lot of like the bread making stuff happen on weekends and that's a bit longer. But yeah, the sweet spot is usually like somewhere around an hour, like plus or minus 30 minutes. That's kind of been the, the most, the most common.

And how much of it is informational versus entertainment? Like, are people actually making these alongside the creators in real time?

Yeah. So 2/3. Usually it's around like 2/3 to 75% of the class is cooking along with you. So the majority of people cook along, not like a demo that people watch. And there are a subset of people who really love to watch. And so they're essentially treating it like a live interactive TV show. You know, and the TV show is an institution. Right. Like the cooking shows are an institution and everyone loves them. And they're super fun and awesome. They're not live, they're not interactive, and you can't ask questions. And so the first time that I watched like a really huge cooking class, the amount of people I saw like taking notes during the class just blew my mind. It was amazing. They weren't there to cook and they were just taking notes to make sure that they could really crush it when they did it later. And it's, you know, it's just like a really, it's a really fun, live, interactive thing. But you can also make it your own. So if there's a specific culture that you want to create, whether it's around when and how people ask questions or how many recipes you cook, there's little funny rituals that people create and there's little moments in there that just don't happen unless you're there with people live. So the other night, someone was teaching a class, and one of the questions was like, hey, I see that cookbook on your shelf. What is that cookbook? Like, what are the cookbooks you have in your house? And the person who's teaching, like, took a moment and she said, hey, this is super fun. Like, let me go grab my stack of cookbooks. And then she went through and did, like, a show and tell and talked about, like, who were the creators, who, you know, the food bloggers that had inspired her and, like, what were her favorite recipes and what are her cookbooks? And, like, someone was like, when are you writing your next cookbook? It was just this, like, really fun moment that took, you know, less than five minutes, but that just happened. If you don't have the serendipity of, like, a really live, engaging, interactive experience with people who really do really want to support you.

Yeah, that's cool. How much do you have to be an entertainer to be successful with it? Like, if somebody's like. Because a lot of people who I would guess, who blog, maybe Instagram, they're like, hey, this is super comfortable for me. Like, I can write, I can photograph, I can, like, tweak this recipe a little bit. But then it's like, it's different. Like, right now, you and I are talking, and I look down and I see, like, record. And I know every single word that I'm saying is being recorded, and it'll eventually be broadcasted, but even this, like, we can go back and edit it. When you're live, you're live. And that's kind of scary for some people. Some people thrive on it. So how do you know if it's a. It's something that you can do and be comfortable with? And can introverts do live events? And if so, how do they be successful with it?

Yeah, so. So first, you know, we. We see tons of folks, and that's one of their first questions when that they ask us is like, do I have to, like, entertain people? And do I have to be super high energy? And the answer is no. Like, you just. You just have to be yourself. And, you know, if you want to do it, awesome. Like, go for it. You don't have to if you don't want to. But what I'll tell you is every person who does it, like, says, this is super fun.

It's a.

It's a group of people together. You know, you're sharing an experience that you really love. You know, there is, you know, there's some elbow grease that goes into it. It's Not. No work. And, you know, maybe you get some butterflies before your first one.

Yeah.

One person in particular, Serena Wolf, who was another person, one of the first people to start teaching on Air Subs. And then now, I think she just did a class last night with, like, a few hundred people in it. And she's awesome, and she's, like, really funny and really high energy and great, but also is just, like, so willing to laugh at herself and be down earth. And, like, she's constantly, like, you know, cracking jokes at her own expense, and she's just not taking herself seriously. And she told me the story the other day, and she's told her people publicly that she was, like, shaking a cocktail and then she put the top on and the thing, like, went every.

Everywhere. Yeah. So, you know, in some sense, people can kind of like that. Yeah.

And so the, you know, the other thing, too, is just with live as a medium, the bar is lower when it's live. You know, like, if it's recorded, the bar actually, like, counterintuitively gets a little bit higher because people, like, maybe expecting a little more production value. It's live if, like, you know, the pot clangs in one direction, like, no one really cares because, like, they're actually, like, really focused on their own kitchen and cooking the thing themselves.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's actually. It's an. It's sort of counterintuitive there, where the energy is, like, really casual, and so you don't have to make it more, you know, more serious than it is. You can kind of just show up and be yourself. And we see people who are super talkative, and then we see people who are much more introverted and serious, and it's really just about, like, getting people together who are passionate about something.

Yeah. And part of it is, what are you. What are you selling it as? Like, if you're selling it as entertainment, you should probably be entertaining. If you're selling it as get the information you need to have meal prep accomplished for the week on a Sunday, if you can deliver on that really well, but you're not super entertaining, great. You've still delivered on the thing that you said that you're gonna deliver on. Probably better. If you're also entertaining and engaging and interesting, which isn't always an easy thing to do, especially if you're by yourself to. I've done this with solo podcast episodes where it's just like, you press record, and then it's just me talking into the mic for, like, half an hour to 60 minutes, easier now, to your point, like, the first few times, you might have butterflies when you do it, but when you're first getting started, it's a new skill. Like, it's a new thing. And I think insofar as people can view that as. It's not the same as writing a blog post. It's not the same as doing Instagram. It's not even the same as doing like, Instagram Live. Yeah. It's a new thing that you're gonna. Unless you have previous experience with it in some form, you're an actor or you've done improv or you've done cooking classes or has taught before, you'll probably have to have some learning that goes along with it, which is expected.

Yeah. And I would think on that spectrum of entertainment and education, like edutainment, like, no matter where you are, like, you'll be somewhere on that spectrum. And that's okay. The thing is just sort of being authentic to you and not trying to be somebody else. Yes. Something that you're not. And you definitely don't need, like, acting experience or like tons of public speaking experience. You know, again, it's sort of like, I encourage people to just try one and see how you like it because chances are, like, you're going to get a ton of energy from like the other people who are there and it's going to be this really cool, fun thing. You know, again, like, totally. Like, someone described it as like, I feel like I have a. I'm hosting a dinner party. Like, I have like a, like a party to, to go to, but I don't like, cook for everyone. And it's also like, I'm sharing something that I know because I'm already comfortable. I've already, like. And I already know how to make this. I've. I've talked about it. I'm an expert here. And so it can be really, you know, kind of this totally. Thing you share that, you know. Yeah. La.