“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein
Einstein’s quote applies to all teaching but especially to online courses.
I’ve written before about the fact that I never finish courses I sign up for. And I’ve even signed up for a course that looked great… until I opened it up to see 30 modules of content and immediately requested a refund. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
You see a course is meant to expedite the process from A-Z and not seem like an odyssey. Otherwise, your course attendees may as well just Google it and sift through the results themselves.
Honestly, I’d pay more for the CliffsNotes version.
You can’t cram your 10 years of experience into a single course, and no one would want you to. We want to take the shortest route from A-Z – that’s what we’re paying for.
And if this means multiple smaller more targeted courses instead of one big one – that’s fine.
You’ve got to break it down and simplify it.
How do you do you do this?
Well, imagine you’re explaining it to a 12-year-old who has a TikTok attention span and limited vocabulary.
Or, set yourself a 3-minute time limit to explain a concept to someone who knows very little about your topic.
This forces you to use simple language and get to the point without any unnecessary details.
You’ll also have to get creative with comparisons, analogies, and examples – since that’s how kids (and adults) learn best. You can also source illustrations, photos, or other visuals to help clarify your concepts.
Our brains are lazy and love to be able to connect new concepts with existing concepts they already understand. So, using these tools helps reduce cognitive load.
Also, make sure you don’t use any industry acronyms or jargon. Or if you do, make sure you clarify what you mean. Remember our lazy brains? If you say PT, you may mean Part Time, while they may think Physical Therapy, or Pacific Time because that’s what their brains relate that acronym to.
Run every piece of content you want to add to your course through this process and you’ll soon figure out what’s important and should be included and what’s completely unnecessary.
I promise your course attendees will appreciate you taking the time, to save them time.