Course Creators Weekly #62 🗓 August 30th, 2021 - Taking a break

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  Switch things up every few minutes—we've evolved to notice and react to changes
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  Put students in breakout rooms for group discussions
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  Ask questions, get students to post in the chat or unmute to speak
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  Learn to be an entertainer as much of an instructor, in equal parts
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  Adapt your approach to the size of your cohort—the dynamics are different
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  Vary your pace/style: Fast and slow, loud and quiet
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  Don't just tell—ask questions and lead students to answers
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  Create opportunities for students to meet and interact, e.g. discussions, projects
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  Ask simple ice breaker questions in the first 5–10 minutes (e.g. last thing you ate?)
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  Split content into more slides to speed up the perceived pace of the lecture

Stories are important because as humans, we've evolved to engage with them. It's in our DNA. If you want to create impactful courses and be able to sell them, storytelling is a top skill to learn.

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  Learn about the hero's journey and how every great story follows the same pattern
• ️ Understand that the journey isn't linear, but a cycle of ups and downs
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  Listen for and notice the hero's journey in books and movies
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  Put the spotlight on your audience's story more than your own
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  Transport your audience to the stories you tell through vivid details
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  Tell the point of your story; make it relevant to the audience and why they should care
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  Create a "story bank" with your audience's stories as well as ones from your own life
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  Tell more stories; it's the only way to become a better storyteller

In this article, Julia Saxena shares everything they did in the run-up to launching Minimum Viable Video (MVV) together with Cam Houser.

There are so many great lessons in there. But, as always, remember that every course and every launch is different. Take inspiration, but don't follow blindly!

On naming:

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  Naming is hard—brainstorm and get through the bad ones until you find good ones
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  Use people's feedback to guide your decisions, but in the end, make your own choices

High-leverage pre-launch activities:

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  Free workshops—validate, experiment, and fine-tune your content through feedback
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  Offer a lead magnet (e.g. short email course) to grow your email list and drive up sales
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  Set up your launch email sequence—prime your audience and address their objections
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  Send personalised emails (e.g. for MVV, they did 50 personalised videos)
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  Find other creators to collaborate with—potential guest speakers and partners
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  Talk to potential students 1:1—invite them to reach out with every one of your emails

Other lessons:

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  There isn't a "right" time to launch—start shipping and iterating as soon as you can
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  Be prepared to price your first launch lower—you need students (don't price too low!)
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  Find a partner with a complementary skillset to split the work and celebrate with
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  Accept and embrace the fact that you'll never get things 100% perfect—just start

I highly recommend checking out the article for more context and better understanding of why all this matters!