A dry rehearsal with AI tools is one of the highest-value preparation activities available to you — and it takes only 20 minutes. Walk through your session top to bottom, using the AI exactly as you plan to in the real thing.
What a Dry Rehearsal Actually Involves
A dry rehearsal is different from just testing your prompts. In a prompt test, you run each prompt in isolation and check the output. In a dry rehearsal, you run the entire session flow — including transitions, your commentary about the AI output, your response to a hypothetical student question, and your segue out of each AI moment back into the main session. You’re not just testing the tool; you’re practising being the facilitator while the tool is running.
Set up exactly as you would for the real session. Same browser, same screen layout, same AI tool logged in. Work through your session notes and treat the rehearsal as if students are watching. Say your transitions out loud. Read the AI outputs aloud as you would on-screen. Notice where you stumble or go silent. Those are the moments to tighten up before the real thing.
What You Learn From a Rehearsal You Can’t Learn Any Other Way
The most common discoveries from dry rehearsals are not about the AI tool — they’re about your own flow. You discover that your transition from the AI brainstorm to the main discussion is awkward. You notice that the AI output is three times longer than you have time to discuss. You realize your backup plan for a crashed tool was “figure it out” rather than an actual plan. These are fixable problems when you find them in rehearsal. They’re live problems when you find them on-screen.
What This Means for Educators
Every live facilitator who appears effortlessly prepared has rehearsed. The rehearsal is the invisible work that makes the visible work look easy. Your students see the polished result; you do the dry run that produces it. AI sessions are no different from any other workshop in this respect.
The Simple Rule
Schedule 20 minutes the day before any session where AI plays a significant role. Walk through it top to bottom, out loud. Fix what you find. Show up ready.