I took a curious colleague out for her first ever barefoot run this week and she absolutely loved it!
Pretty much the only instructions I gave were "relax", "listen to your body", and "if something hurts, then change it". Firstly because I'm still a beginner, and secondly because I didn't want to overwhelm her.
I initially said that we would do 500m max, but we ended up doing just over 1.6km, and even then I had to practically drag her back into the car! She wanted to keep going forever.
At first she was making a slight slapping noise. I pointed it out and asked if she could eliminate it. She discovered almost immediately that bending her knees more made for a ninja runner.
Apparently if she attempts to run in shoes, she is in agony the next day and limping for a week. After the barefoot run, zero pain
Saw plenty of wildlife (the silent approach really helps) along the towpath, and we weren't plagued by cyclists.