I wish I could get into teaching. I'd love to do a class on manual mat cutting and/or advanced techniques!
Why not? That might be well received, Seth, if a sufficient number of framers would be interested in learning more about the topic, and if you can develop a professional presentation.
Teaching is fun and gratifying, but preparing a good course is a lot of work. The days of "winging it" are gone - teachers must be thoroughly prepared. They must also posess good presentation skills, but being a good entertainer is not enough. Framers who invest their hard-earned time and money attend educational courses these days expect to take home practical, profitable concepts they can use in business.
First, write a description of your course, saying what it will cover and how it would be beneficial or profitable to framers. This may become a brief synopsis from which you build the course outline.
Next, develop a highly-detailed outline of your proposed presentation, explaining point-by-point what you intend to talk about. Then go through your finished outline and determine the line-by-line timing. For example, you might plan to spend 4 minutes talking about line II.D.1.b. of your outline, which could be your recommendation to use a #11 X-Acto blade for hand-cuts instead of a razor blade. At the bottom of your outline, the minute-by-minute timing of the line items should add up to the session time.
I suggest creating at least two versions of the course outline; perhaps one for a 90-minute presentation and another for a 120-minute presentation. Workshops and lecture/workshops may extend to 3 hours.
If there will be a coordinated PowerPoint presentation with photos, text, drawings, etc., you will need to describe each slide and indicate its chronological order with the outline. If you can't compose your own PowerPoint presentation, that up-front expense would be yours.
If there will be hands-on demonstrations, include them in your outline, accounting for the time they will take out of your session. Describe them in detail, including the materials used and necessary classroom provisions, if any. For example, you may need a covered table of certain size at the front of the room, and/or a power cord.
If you want to teach a workshop, describe the materials and techniques the students will practice, and account for the hands-on time in your session.
When you are ready, send your outline to the people who organize framing education for PPFA, PFM, or Decor. If one or more of them are interested in offering your course, they will probably have questions. If your course content overlaps or conflicts with that of another course they offer, you may need to modify your presentation.
If you can find one or more corporate sponsors to provide materials and tools, or to pay your price to teach the course, that would make it more attractive to the organizers. After all, the organizers spend considerable time and money to promote educational courses in their venues. They need to find good, affordable courses attractive to framers.
One more thought: If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
