Three steps to creating curiosity at the start of a course
Plus learn about my current build in public project
Hello,
Welcome to this Thursday’s edition of Course Builder’s Corner.
I have two things to share with you this week.
I. My next build in public project
II. Three steps to creating curiosity at the start of a course.
Let's get started
I. My next build in public project
Over the next 30 days I am building a free email course on how to build atomic courses ... starting today.
I'm doing the updates daily on Twitter this time with only occasional updates in the "build in public" section of this newsletter. (link here)
I'm making my progress easy to follow by putting all updates in a single Twitter thread which you can see here:
https://twitter.com/roddaut/status/1651373473158275073
If you're on Twitter, please follow along there so you can join the daily fun.
II. Three steps to creating curiosity at the start of a course
Since 2011, I've created and marketed 15 courses.
I used to start each course with the first lesson but participants weren't as engaged as I wanted. Then I learned these four steps to creating an introduction that inspires curiosity.
Step 1: Identify an overarching concept/problem
Determine the larger idea behind your course. For example, the larger concept addressed by my course on organizing digital information for action, is "trusted system".
Step 2: Use the analogy-finding question
To find an analogy, I ask what's an example of the concept? For my digital info course, I came up with the rules of the road as the trusted system. But I could have easily used other systems we trust such as the system of purchasing items with cash.
Step 3: Negative talk
To make the story more interesting describe it in the negative. Instead of describing how we can drive safely because of the rules of the road, I described what life would be like if there were no driving rules at all -- total chaos.
Step 4: Connect the analogy to the course
Tell them how this analogy relates to your course as a whole. This part is what delights your readers. Once they see the connection, they feel their eyes are opened. They want to know more.
Step 5: The simple list
Now that you have their attention, you can merely list the ideas you'll cover in your program.
Thanks for reading and …
Before you go, you may want to check out any of the following:
The Atomic Course Blueprint- Want to create a course without the usual overwhelm? Try creating a tiny course. Find out more here.
iPARA: How to organize your digital life for action- Is digital disorganization keeping you from reaching your goals? What if just four folders could let you not just stay organized but actually get things done. See for yourself here.
That’s it for this week. I’ll see you next Thursday with another issue.
