The Problem Formula: How To Capture Interest At The Start Of A Course
Participant's motivation is not guaranteed even after they pay
Curiosity became fear in an instant.
When my daughter Rosie was four years old, we went to a park with a lake. She saw large water birds and got very close to them. She was about to pet one but then quickly ran back to me.
What happened?
A stranger said in a very low voice, "She's brave. Those birds have been known to bite." These words instantly caught Rosie's attention and directed her to safety.
Pointing to a problem has this effect. Doing so grabs attention and makes people ready to act. This is why I suggest you use the problem formula as one way to start out lessons.
The problem formula is a way to create a feeling of needing new knowledge
It works by pointing out a problem that knowledge solves. This formula is useful at the start of a lesson because people are often tired, distracted, or disengaged. So we need to guide their attention to our material, even if they've already paid for it.
Remember, many people buy courses and don't open them. Those that open them often don't finish. Creating an attention-getter at the beginning of a lesson will help them start. Now that we know how important it is to get attention, how do we use the problem formula to do it?
There are three steps to deploying this formula:
Find a problem your lesson solves
Describe the problem
Describe how your lesson is the solution
Here’s an example from an upcoming course on a creative way to complete big projects
The lesson is about an oddly named concept called “intermediate packets” originally developed by Tiago Forte. Intermediate packets can solve several problems. They help when we don’t know how to achieve a goal. They also solve the problem of not having time to achieve it. I decided to focus on the issue of time.
Here’s how the lesson might begin
It's hard to carve out time for the big project you have planned, whether it's to write a book, build a course, or start a new line of business.
You somehow have to fit this into a daily life that is already busy. And when you do have a free moment, it often seems like that 20 minutes or even an hour is not long enough to make meaningful progress.
So you wait until the day when you have a big block of time to make meaningful headway. But how often does that happen?
If only there were a way to progress in even the smallest moments of free time. Those moments would add up, and eventually, you'd get the major project done.
The intermediate packet discipline solves this problem ...
Do you find yourself more interested in learning about the "intermediate packet discipline" than you were before? If so, describing the problem hooked your attention and is a great way to start a lesson on that topic.
By the way, I will be creating a course on intermediate packets next year.
We see how useful it is to bring up problems, but doesn’t this all seem a bit negative?
Yes. Problems are negative in a way. But people appreciate being told about problems right around the corner. When a stranger tells you that puddle ahead is a lot deeper than you thought, you're glad for the information that kept you from getting wet. Our clients are the same. They want to stay dry.
Inform them about problems to open their mind about solutions.
Now, let’s sum up the ideas
People are often tired or distracted, so they are not always ready to learn.
Bringing up a problem is a great way to awaken attention.
At the start of a lesson, describe a problem, then show your information is the solution.
Don’t be shy about bringing up problems. People appreciate that they've been shown a problem so they can avoid it.
By the way, my daughter and I went to that park many times, and she never got bitten by those large water birds. As a parent, I appreciate that my child didn’t develop a phobia of birds that day.
What problems has information helped you avoid?
What problems can you save your clients from with the knowledge you've gained?
P.S. The Problem Formula is just one way to grab attention at the start of a lesson. There are two other easy ways to capture attention as well. I’ll be writing about them later on. They’ll also be included in another upcoming course on Atomic Courses.
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