FAQ - The Business of
being a SIY Certified Teacher
About SIYLI hiring
Certified Teachers
Are SIY Certified Teachers "hired" by SIYLI to work with clients and teach public programs? Or are there "on staff" SILYI teachers used for those customers?
We do both, hire SIY Certified Teachers and a few SIYLI employees are also SIY teachers whom we send out to teach. It's important to note though that we do not guarantee work for an SIY Certified Teacher and this should not be your primary intention for becoming certified. SIYLI itself is not running enough programs each year to be able to support all of our teachers. So we do not want to create an expectation that we will be able to support teachers by hiring everyone to teach. Instead, our expectation is to support teachers to run your own programs and build up your own client networks.
Our vision is that there are many thousands of SIY Certified Teachers across the globe with the ability to find relevant audiences to teach to, so that we are all together having a larger impact in the world. We also envision that the amount of companies SIYLI is serving directly is very small in comparison to the amount of organizations being reached directly by Certified Teachers.
About Public Programs
Can Certified Teachers run public SIY programs? How can we advertise or market them?
Yes! SIY Certified Teachers can run public SIY programs (e.g. sell tickets for an SIY program that is publicly advertised). Teachers must obtain approval in advance to make sure that the date and location does not compete with other public programs, and ticket prices must be within the price range designated by SIYLI. Once approved, you can advertise and market the program in many ways, including online advertising, press, your website, Linkedin profile and other advertising channels.
You may also teach a "by invitation" program. This is a small program (up to 30 people) that is not publicly advertised, but marketed directly to a group of no more than 1,000 people. Pricing for this type of program is flexible.
How does SIYLI chose the locations of the public programs each year?
SIYLI holds public programs in cities around the world based on requests from partners and Certified Teachers. We are also trying to proactively reach out to regions we have less presence in, e.g. South America.
About Teaching at Universities
What category would universities fall into if you are teaching to students and/or staff?
There are a few ways to work with universities, depending on the audience and way that the program is administered. If the agreement is with the university and they are paying you to teach SIY programs within the university to their staff and/or students, this is considered an “in-company” program and would be subject to the pricing guidelines based on a per program fee. Assuming the university is a non-profit educational institute, you also have an option to offer a pro bono program.
Alternatively, if the university is hosting the program, but selling tickets and individual students or staff pay for their own attendance, than this would either be a public program (if it’s publicly advertised) or a by invitation program (if it is marketed to no more than 1,000 people and the program is 20 people or fewer). (See question above about public programs).
How does pricing work for facilitating the program in schools/universities?
With the steep discount you are allowed to offer, we are confident you could find a reasonable price point. If the pricing does not work, we are open to have a conversation and explore what does. You may also explore doing it pro-bono. We love the idea of SIY going into schools and universities, and are flexible to find a way for it to work.
About the non-compete client list
What happens if an instructor works with a company, and then that company shows up on the non-compete list?
Win the event that the company is one that SIYLI is working with, then we will honor that you were already working there. We would probably reach out to explore together if there are synergies and ways in which we can collaborate. We hold these same expectations in those instances when this same situation happens between two certified teachers, independent of SIYLI.
How does the “client list” work, once we are certified as teacher?
If a company you would like to contact is in the SIYLI's company list, contact us first. There will be some clients where there is not an opportunity to involve additional teachers, and other times when we can help support a coordinated effort. Again, we hold these same expectations in those instances where this happens between two certified teachers.
Would you be able to provide a list of your no-compete companies?
Due to confidentiality with our clients, we are not at liberty to do so until you are a Certified Teacher. You may reach us at [email protected] and share the ones you are interested in pursuing, and we can share the percentage of overlap.
About Selling SIY
As a Certified Teacher, do you sell programs directly in the capacity of an individual consultant or through SIYLI?
Certified Teachers sell SIY programs as an individual consultant or as part of your business, not through SIYLI. You are responsible for your own contracts (SIYLI provides a template), invoicing and program administration, in addition to teaching.
Can you share some successful models? Can you provide some examples of what successful business models are out there right now- revenue strong and growing and sustainable?
There is no one single formula for becoming a financially successful SIY Certified Teacher. There are, however, general principles that support you in becoming successful. These include:
- Become a masterful SIY teacher. In our experience this is driven primarily by practicing teaching SIY as often as possible. We’ve seen a direct relationship - the more you teach the more skillful you become, and this is reflected in the participants feedback scores. Another significant dimension to consider in becoming a masterful teacher is humility. We all have strengths and weakness, and part of becoming a masterful teacher is the ability to really hear feedback and for you to make meaningful efforts to address the feedback and grow as a teacher. Which leads me to the final thought, and that is having the courage to really listen and set about improving your skills.
- Becoming a masterful salesperson. Again, in our experience, the most successful SIY certified teachers either have or build a network of customers. They often, but not always, market themselves to a specific audience and/or market themselves as solving a specific problem. In other words, they don’t remain general offering to help anyone with anything. This really helps to build momentum, as they become established and recognized as a valuable resources for that particular audience and/or helping people with that particular challenge. Another dimension of the successful salesperson is that they are always marketing and selling their services. It takes a lot of time and effort to build up a business. Please don’t think becoming certified means people will automatically knock at your door. This rarely, if ever, happens and is a sure way to set yourself up to be disappointed.
Do you have to be location specific? For instance I plan to sell the program to an international network and therefore travel to deliver it.
No, you do not have to be location specific. You may deliver the SIY program in any part of the world.
About SIY advertising/branding on your site and with other of your programs
How can I market myself as an SIY teacher and what branding can I use on my website?
Once you are certified, we hope that you will actively market yourself as an SIY Certified Teacher! For example, you can list this on your LinkedIn profile and include information on your website. SIYLI will provide you with an SIY Certified Teacher logo that you can use, a business card template and other marketing materials. You may advertise on your website that you are an SIY Certified teacher that can teach the SIY program.
The SIY program overlaps with my current business- can I brand SIY within my current business offering?
Yes, you can add to your website that you are an SIY Certified Teacher and can teach the SIY Program. In a sense, it's like adding a new product to your portfolio. There are branding guidelines we share with Certified Teachers so that they use the appropriate SIY Certified Teacher logo and colors, and describe the SIY Program accurately.
Can I modify the SIYLI program to merge it with my existing program?
To call it SIY, you must teach the exact same SIY program. You may include the SIY program as a discrete part of a longer program.
You may also borrow an SIY exercise and include it in another workshop of yours, though we kindly request that you mention SIY as the source. In this instance you cannot call the workshop SIY.
About Pricing
What is the SIY pricing?
For a client program in the U.S., SIYLI’s list prices are:
- SIY 2-day program: $30,000 USD
- SIY 1-day program: $20,000 USD
- SIY ½-day program: $10,000 USD
- SIY keynote (60-90 minutes): $0 to $7,500 USD
As a certified teacher, you would be able to discount these prices by 50%. These prices are adjusted by GDP for different countries.
What is the pricing for a shorter sampling of the course (such as 1-2 hours) when teaching in-house at a client company?
As a certified teacher, you can offer a short introductory program or keynote that is 1 to 1.5 hours. The pricing for this is flexible and you do not need to pay SIYLI a licensing fee.
You can also deliver the full 2 day SIY program and teach it in 2-hour increments over several weeks. For this, the same pricing requirements apply as for the 2-day SIY program. The customer still has to pay for the program, regardless of the format in which it is delivered. Please note that select portions of the SIY program can not be taught on their own.
About Licensing
What licensing fee would I owe SIYLI when I teach the SIY program?
The licensing fee is 25% of the program revenue. For an in-company program, that would mean 25% of the price that the client pays. For a public program, it is 25% of the revenue from ticket sales (after taxes and any credit card transaction fees are taken out). Note that there is no licensing fee due for a keynote SIY program.
Since SIYLI is a Non Profit, can you please explain how the licensing fee (the 25 %) is used?
The licensing fees goes to support a small team that provides ongoing support to Certified Teachers (community events, webinars, new materials, answering questions, etc.), to product development (keeping the SIY program up to date and updating the my.siyli.org platform) and to overall marketing efforts that help us all (e.g. website maintenance, brand awareness).
About Teaching SIY
Do you have guidelines for how many participants should be in a 2-day SIY program?
We recommend an audience size of 15-50 people. A lot of the exercises in the program are dyad conversations and sharing with the larger group, so having at least 15 participants creates a rich shared experience. There's no set maximum, and SIYLI has successfully held SIY programs with over 100 people, but the larger group size does lose some intimacy. Your audience size depends on your own experience as a teacher, and the needs of your client. Teaching to a group between 15 and 50 requires a similar energy/gravitas. For groups larger than 50, it's best if you'd have previous experience teaching multiple full days to large audiences before and/or a co-teacher with similar experience.
How can I deliver an SIY Keynote?
Keynotes are a great way to develop new business, present at conferences and provide taster sessions! SIYLI provides program materials for a 60-90 minute keynote (slides and a teacher guide). You may deliver it on your own (without a co-teacher). The list price for the Keynote in the US is $7,500 USD and there is no minimum pricing; you do not need to pay SIYLI a licensing fee.
As a Certified Teacher, can I alter the program to tailor it to specific specific audiences (e.g. higher education)?
Skillful teaching means accurately reading your audience and adapting your presentation style - both in presence and communication - to meet their energy, culture, industry jargon, dress code, timing, etc. The goal is to adapt the language, examples, and depictions of people in the SIY program to your audience, without changing the fundamental learning experience.
When working with organizations and specific audiences, we do recommend that you adjust the context and examples you use to make sure that you are meeting your audience’s needs and frame of reference. You cannot, however, remove exercises or change scientific studies.
Do you already have the SIY material in other languages? Or will we have to translate?
We currently have program material translated into Chinese (traditional and modern), German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Translations are done by Certified Teachers and then shared with the teacher community. SIYLI helps support translations using a coordinated online system.
About Co-Teaching
Do I need a co-teacher?
While you are a teacher training participant, it is required that you co-teacher all your practicums. This is a required part of the training process. Some current Certified Teachers are interested given it's another opportunity to practice, and we will make introductions as needed. We will manage exceptions if there aren't two in the same region.
Once you are a certified teacher, you are not required to co-teach, however, SIYLI strongly recommends that you do, as you learn more and the participants have a richer experience. When holding an SIY public program, you must co-teach.
How is the co-teacher paid?
That is for each Certified Teacher to decide. Paying a fixed amount per day is a standard practice in the training industry. In the US, for example, you might consider between US$1,200 and US$2,000 a day, depending upon the experience level of your co-teacher.
What's the best way to find a compatible co-teacher?
After the Teacher Training program you will have strong bonds with your cohort and know many people well that you can reach out to. Once Certified, we will introduce you to the network of all Certified Teachers. At SIYLI, we are also looking at ways in which technology can help teachers announce co-teaching opportunities and match availability.
What if there are not enough co-teachers in my region or the closest one isn’t available?
You might consider hiring a co-teacher from a bit farther away. Typically clients pay directly for travel expenses, so you might raise this issue with your client. If you make a thoughtful effort and cannot find an interested co-teacher, contact SIYLI and we'll try to assist you.
Can I co-teach with another person from the teacher training?
Yes!!
About how many Certified Teachers and where
What was the average revenue of licensed teachers last year?
At this time SIYLI does not share this type of information.
How many SIY teachers are there already in my city or region?
The full list of certified teachers is here, and you can search be region: https://siyli.org/certified-teachers/
How many teachers are you going to certify this year and the next years? Have you identified the numbers of certified teachers you would like to have globally to ensure integrity of the program?
Our teacher training cohorts range in size from ~75 to 112. How many we intend to certify in future years depends on how current Certified Teachers are doing in terms of quality and reach. We strive to strike a balance between reach (have SIY taught in every corner of the globe), quality (check program evaluations and impact scores) and ensuring we are not undermining the ability of Certified Teachers to sell programs by having too many teachers in one area. We may manage teacher training admissions applications based on a geographic distribution of teachers.
About Ensuring SIY Quality
Do you provide some kind of “personal development” within the teacher community to keep certified teachers great?
SIY participants complete program evaluations forms, the results of which are shared with the certified teacher who taught the program and SIYLI. We also provide ongoing development through webinars and materials we share. There's a Facebook group for teachers to share experiences and hold community. We also host an annual retreat for certified teachers that can be attended either in person or virtually.
About SIY Impact
What are the results in the companies you have been training SIY program?
You may check some of the results here: https://siyli.org/approach/results/
How do you measure the impact of the investment of SIYLI into the organizations, in terms of revenue?
We show them the data we currently have, participant testimonials and survey results, and industry research: https://siyli.org/approach/results/
Have you received any feedback from events, clients, organizations that they would like to have more than 2 days of engagement to be “sustainable” and help people practice?
The 2-day program comes with a 28-day challenge that is available to you to provide to your participants. These are daily prompts and practices, and weekly buddy check-ins, to help participants sustain and integrate practice over the four weeks after they’ve attended SIY. We’ve heard that participants love this reinforcement to help establish the daily habit of practicing mindfulness.
About SIY Compared to Other Mindfulness Programs
How is the SIY program different from MBSR or EI Teacher Training?
The SIY Program teaches Mindfulness-based Emotional Intelligence. The practice of mindfulness is used to improve skills addressing various emotional intelligence competencies, including self-awareness and self-management, and improve other essential life skills including leadership, resilience, and alignment.
MSBR is a clinical intervention prescribed to help patients learn to calm their minds and bodies in order to help them cope with illness, pain, and stress.
There are numerous trainings focused on emotional intelligence, each using their own methods and exercises to help students learn about and become more emotionally intelligent. SIYLI’s SIY Program is designed to teach the practice of mindfulness, and how the practice enhances emotional intelligence competencies and skills.
About the Teacher Training Program itself
Can you please elaborate more about the content of Teacher Training. And what are the takeaways from this program?
Here is our sample curriculum.
If you have other questions please email us at [email protected]
How much does it cost to obtain my certification?
The cost of the Teacher Training is $9,800 USD. This includes all program materials, two one-hour coaching calls, certification panel time, and venue. It also covers breakfast, lunch, coffee/tea, and snacks during Module 2 (the first in-person session). This price excludes all travel and accommodations, and all other such expenses. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are not provided during Module 4 (the second in-person session), though there are several lunch locations within walking distance from the venues. Please note that this price also does not include the cost of attending a 2-day SIY program, which will require separate registration and payment.
Does the certification cost include the 2-day SIY program? or is that in addition?
It is not included. The availability and pricing of all our public programs can be found here.
What do I do if I have a conflict with the Teacher Training dates?
You must attend both in-person sessions to qualify for certification. We offer multiple trainings annually, so we encourage you to apply again to a later training.
How many people will you admit to the program?
Our programs typically range in size from 75 to 112.
How long does the teacher training take?
The program takes place over nine months. The full program journey can be found here.
Do the in-person sessions include written certification tests?
No. However, there is a written test submitted electronically at the end of Module 3.
Do I understand correctly that the practice teaching works by actually teaching the 2 day course and videotape myself and send this to you?
Yes, though you only need to send in portions of the 2-day SIY program, and not the entire video recorded program. This method will be used by your coach to help you grow, and will also be used by SIYLI to help determine our certification decision.
About Ongoing Support
Can you please share what resources SIYLI will provide once we are certified?
SIYLI will provide:
- SIY Program marketing materials and tools to support you working with your clients and holding public programs (impact data, cases, updates sales presentation, proposal and contract templates etc.)
- A self managed group guide to launching yourself as an SIY Certified Teacher. SIYLI will facilitate the launch of these groups once you are certified.
- SIY 2-day, 1-day, four half-day and keynote slides and teacher guides. These are continuously updated. We send most recent versions to Certified Teachers with an explanation on changes and an invitation to a webinar when there are major updates.
- Access to translated versions of the 2-day program.
- An online platform (my.siyli.org) to coordinate your programs and to access above mentioned materials.
- A series of webinars throughout the year. Topics are defined based on survey to teachers. Mix of personal development, sales best practices, and SIY program updates.
- Facebook community to interact with other Certified Teachers
- A Certified Teacher point of contact for questions.
We ask that:
- Certified Teachers agree to follow specific brand guidelines, the teacher code of ethics, pricing and commission guidelines, program integrity guidelines and the public program protocol.
- Use online platforms or google forms to inform SIYLI that you've sold a program and register participants
- Have participants complete a program evaluation at the end of a course and send to SIYLI