You have a course idea and you’re excited to share it with people, so you grab a blank
sheet of paper to start brainstorming how you’re going to put this course together
and then this happens...
Outlining and structuring your course is one of the most important steps to get right because
everything in your course depends on it.
We’re going to go in depth on what to do and what not to do when structuring and outline
your course.
Let’s get into it.
Hello creators, I’m Ben Toalson from Podia where we empower creators to make a living
doing what they love.
In today’s video we want to help you get over one of the biggest hurdles to starting
the process of making your online course.
Deciding what to teach, how to structure your content, and how to outline your course can
be daunting, but I’m going to give you a clear path and some helpful pointers so you
can make your very best course.
Outlining a course can be broken down into three parts: identifying the end goal, bridging
the gap, and choosing the best mediums.
We’re going to take these parts one at a time.
Before we do anything else, we want to identify the end goal.
The first step to figuring out the end, is to figure out the beginning.
Hang with me here…
For this we’re going to ask two questions:
- Who is my course for?
This question is really important because it helps us understand the person for whom
we’re trying to create a result.
How do they relate to the subject of your course?
What skills do they already have and what do they already know?
- Question number two is what are they currently struggling with or experiencing?
This question helps us understand where they are starting on their journey with you.
What is this person struggling with?
What are the gaps in their knowledge?
What is missing from their life without having taken your course?
Now that we understand the beginning, it will be easier for us to figure out what a good
ending point would be.
The question you want to ask here is, what end result do I want to create for my student?
When answering this question we want to keep a couple of important things in mind.
Don’t over-do it One of the biggest mistakes course creators
make is to try to teach their students everything they know about a specific topic.
Instead of being helpful, this is actually overwhelming and can leave your students feeling
more frustrated.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get this part right, and to do that, we’re
going to ask three questions:
- How much material you can realistically teach?
You’ve got to understand your own limits.
Sure, you might be able to make a 100 hour online course about your topic, but that could
take you ages to make.
What’s a reasonable amount of information for you to teach?
- How much material your students can realistically learn?
Most students are coming to you with a specific goal in mind.
It’s not like college classes where they expect to spend an entire semester with you,
and most people aren’t going to be able to learn a semester’s worth of info in a
short amount of time.
- Can your main topic be broken down into subtopics?
Rather than cover the full scope of what you know, could you zoom in and choose a subtopic
that can still produce results for your student?
Get more specific Getting more specific is a great strategy
for making your course manageable.
“But Ben, my students won’t learn as much from me if I don’t tell them everything!”
I understand your concern, but think about the alternative: If your student is overwhelmed
with too much information, they may not get any results from taking your course.
It’s better for your student to have success with a relatively small goal than to fail
trying to learn everything you know.
When you get specific, you are more likely to be able to deliver on the result, and the
result is more tangible and much easier to sell.
Use the Course Outline Template Now that we understand who we’re creating
our course for, where they are now, and what end result we want to create for them, we’re
going to break the end result down into manageable steps.
To help us do this, we’re going to use Podia’s free course outline template.
If you’d like to follow along, the link is in the description.
Write down the “who” and the “what” at the top of your outline before we move
on to our next step.
Now it’s time to bridge the gap.
Think about where your student is now and the end result you’d like to create as opposite
banks of a river.
What major steps or milestones will they need to achieve to arrive on the other side of
the bridge?
As you think of these major steps, write each of them down in its own module box.
Make sure each of these steps encompasses a unique aspect of your course.
Now it’s time to break the modules down into individual lessons.
In this step, it’s important to find the right granularity
If the lesson is too specific, your student could get bored and have trouble staying engaged.
If it’s not specific enough, your student could miss an important step and not achieve
the desired result.
If one of your modules could easily be broken down into sections with their own separate
steps, it’s a good idea to turn those sections into individual lessons.
As you choose your lessons, write them down in the spaces next to their corresponding
module.
Our last step is to choose which mediums are best for each piece of course content.
There are many different ways to present information, but the most important question to consider
is “is this medium the best way for my student to achieve the result I promise?”
You have to think about how students learning about your specific topic tend to learn best,
which medium does the best job of making the information clear, and what mediums are most
accessible for your students.
With that in mind, I’ll talk briefly about the pros and cons of each:
Video Video is the most engaging.
It’s a multi-sensory experience that can captivate the viewer.
It builds the strongest relationship between the student and teacher because the student
can see you or at the very least, hear your voice.
Video can be very time-consuming to create and the equipment to produce quality video
can be a big investment.
Still, for most course creators, having some type of video component is a must-have.
Audio Audio content is the easiest to consume because
students can take the content “on the go” or while they’re doing other tasks.
Think podcasts or audiobooks.
Your student could be learning from you while doing the dishes or going for an evening run.
it is easier to get distracted while listening to audio only.
Also, while audio is less expensive to produce than video, it’s still really important
to have good quality and the equipment you’ll need to achieve that quality can still be
somewhat expensive.
PDF guides PDF guides are easier and less expensive to
produce than video or audio.
It’s also easier for students to go back to and reference.
A PDF worksheets can help walk students through doing the work whether you use checklists,
quizzes, or a specific framework you’ve created.
You can also use charts and graphs to enhance the learning experience.
Because the student can’t hear your voice or see you, they won’t be as engaged or
connected with you.
Text This is the “easiest” to produce for creators
that are comfortable with writing.
It’s also the least expensive because it doesn’t require additional tools or skills.
Text is the least engaging form of content and writing will can take some practice.
Still, it can be a great medium if you’re just starting out or if you determine it would
be the most beneficial for your student.
Final Engagement
Now instead of a blank sheet of paper or stacks upon stacks of scribbled nonsense, you’ve
got this clean, clear, structured outline that will tell you exactly what you need to
do to bring your course to life.
Take a deep breath with me.
If you were feeling stuck before, I hope this video has given you the tools and the motivation
you need to get rolling on your course.
Who are you making a course for?
What problems will your course solve?
Leave your answers in the comments below!
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Thank you for watching and I’ll see you next time.