A few months ago, I received a call from a parent who was looking for lessons for her two daughters. She was a little reluctant to commit to lessons because of a past experience with another teacher: the teacher was an excellent performer, but unfortunately not as great of a teacher. I chatted with her for a few minutes and I told her about my studio and my teaching experience. Then I offered to give her a trial lesson for free, so she could see for herself what my teaching style is like. She agreed to this, and afterwards, was happy to commit to lessons. We’ve been continuing ever since.
At her daughter’s lesson this week, the same parent kindly offered (with no request on my part) to be a reference or write a letter of recommendation should I ever need one. When she said this, I realized that having a reference or two (from other happy parents) ready to give her would have been a another great way for her to learn about my teaching style and personality — and it would have been much more convincing than hearing it from me!
Lessons learned: DO offer a free interview/first lesson, and DO have references ready to give out! =)
Click here to read ideas for activities to do with the student at the first free trial lesson and click here for some free printables for use during the first trial lesson.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenliveshere/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Here’s a sample of my Studio Policies handout I made during my Piano Pedagogy class at college. (This one is just a sample — the info is not completely accurate to my own current studio policies.) Hope it helps in making your own! 
