Make sure you have the necessary equipment. Depending upon where you are teaching your class, you may need to bring burners, a toaster oven and all cooking utensils. Talk to the manager of the location before you plan your class to make sure all of your recipes are feasible.
Plan your class theme. A cooking class needs a theme rather than a random collection of recipes. Good themes are classes structured around the same ingredients, the same ethnic origin, recipes that could be served at the same meal or the same type of recipes (such as a collection of sauces).
Practice your recipes. No matter how many times you've used your recipes in the past, practice once before your class. Check the measurements and think about any tips you would give a novice cook to achieve success with your recipe.
Organize your class. Think carefully about the order in which you present the recipes so you don't accidentally save the long-cooking recipes for the end of the class, and so you can fill any lags in time while things are cooking.
Type up recipes. Each attendee should receive a copy of your recipes so they don't have to take notes throughout the class.
Prepare beforehand. The attendees don't have to see you chop ten onions, cook rice or cook dry beans from scratch. Do any prep work you can beforehand. If you are baking something, bake a sample at home to share-just in case something goes wrong with the oven.
Engage the audience. As you are teaching, talk about what you are doing. Be prepared with anecdotes about cooking or about your ingredients. If you're teaching a class themed around family recipes, tell family stories. If you're teaching a vegan-themed class, talk about benefits of vegan food.
Offer samples. Though people do want to learn how to cook, they also want to have some samples! Throughout the class, let people know that you will be offering samples. Portion them out so everyone gets an equal amount.