Your Course Needs More Than Just Great Content—It Needs Attention Hooks
Scientifically proven ways to captivate minds
Imagine a crowd of men in black and white suits. Then out of nowhere you see a woman in a red dress. You know what happens. Your attention is immediately captured.
That's the power of contrast in action.
It's one of many psychological principles we use to get attention and market our courses, but here's the problem: most course creators forget to apply these same powerful techniques inside their courses.
Your students are just as distracted as your potential customers—maybe even more so once they've paid and the initial excitement wears off.
Let's talk about why this is a costly mistake and how to fix it.
The Forgotten Marketing Inside Your Course
We spend hours crafting the perfect hook for our sales page. We agonize over attention-grabbing headlines for our social posts. But then we deliver our actual course content like a plain, unadorned encyclopedia of information.
Here's the thing: Your students need to be re-sold on paying attention to each lesson, just like they needed to be sold on buying your course in the first place.
Without this internal marketing, your completion rates will suffer, your students won't get results, and your reputation as a course creator will take a hit.
Three Psychological Principles to Keep Students Engaged
Let me share three powerful psychological principles that I use in my own courses to keep students engaged from start to finish:
1. The Von Restorff Effect: Make the Important Stand Out
This principle predicts that when multiple similar things are presented, the one that differs the most gets the most attention.
Remember the little girl in the red coat from Schindler's List? In that black and white film, your eye is immediately drawn to that splash of color. You can't help but notice it.
How I use this in my courses:
I include unexpected, unusual images—like a hammer smashing a cookie or a broken LEGO minifigure—to illustrate key points.
These images create a moment of wonder and curiosity that makes the associated concept more memorable.
I pair familiar concepts with unexpected metaphors (like comparing tiny courses to potato chips—"you can't eat just one").
When your lesson suddenly shifts from the expected format, your students' brains perk up and pay attention.
2. Miller's Law: Chunk Information into Manageable Bites
Our short-term memory can only hold about 7 items (plus or minus 2) at once. This is why phone numbers are broken into chunks rather than presented as one long string of digits.
How I use this in my courses:
I break every major concept down into just three steps.
In my Atomic Course Blueprint, I teach exactly three main lessons: the Atomic Outline, the Magic Bullet Writing Process, and the Information Sandwich.
Each of those lessons is further broken down into only three components.
This deliberate limitation isn't about giving less—it's about making sure what I give actually sticks. If I taught 10 principles in each section, most would be forgotten.
3. The Curiosity Hook: Start with Stories and Metaphors
Our brains are wired to pay attention to stories. They create anticipation and curiosity that keeps us engaged.
How I use this in my courses:
I start lessons with metaphors that seem unrelated at first, then reveal the connection.
In my lesson on how to create the purpose statement for your course, I start with the following question: "What do the GPS app on your phone, a waiter at your table, and a ship in port have in common? None are of any use until someone decides what to do with them. Your course is no different—without a clear purpose, it can wander aimlessly."
These unexpected connections create an "aha moment" that makes the concept both more interesting and more memorable.
The Consistency Principle: Match Your Course to Your Marketing
If you hook people with engaging, creative marketing but deliver a bland, dry course, you create a jarring disconnect.
When you apply the same attention principles to both your marketing AND your course content, you create a consistent experience that feels cohesive and professional.
Your students will think: "Wow, the course is just as engaging as the marketing promised!" instead of "The marketing was amazing but the course is so boring."
Making Your Courses Irresistibly Engaging
Think about your current course. Are you re-engaging your students' attention at the beginning of each lesson? Are you breaking complex topics into digestible chunks? Are you using unexpected elements to make key points stand out?
If not, you're missing a huge opportunity to increase completion rates and student satisfaction.
Remember: Great content alone isn't enough. Even the most valuable information needs to be packaged in a way that maintains attention and engagement throughout the learning experience.
Want to Learn More?
In my Atomic Course Blueprint, I show exactly how to structure engaging courses that keep students hooked from start to finish. One of the bonuses even covers the three different types of stories you can use to maintain engagement throughout your course.
Check it out here: The Atomic Course Blueprint
Still here? Yay! If you've used any creative attention hooks in your own courses, reply to this email and tell me about them. I'd love to hear your ideas!