Training Courses – how to plan modules?
Do you have some knowledge or experience of value that you can pass on? Can you do that through the web? Audio or video or written format – a blended learning? Will you repurpose content ? Which is the best way to deliver training for you and for your audience? Is it a free giveaway or an introduction to your other content or do you want a paid model to have people sign up for training? Good content that is given away can help establish you as an Authority in your area of business and generates more leads or enquiries. The web is awash with good content, most of which is free. Have a look and see what is already available. Have you got something new that is worth packaging up?
Training courses format or structure
A course or module in a course should be structured in its layout to have a start, a middle and an end – to have flow. Write a simple outlay and then add the meat to each course, topic or module. Lots of professionals have recommendations on how to do this well. The “4mat plan” is popular and would recommend you have:
Introduction or Frame – The headline that grabs attention and gets the audience interested. Example “Most websites do not work at all – here is why” Tell them what you are going to tell them.
Why – Tell them the why, as in what is important in this course for them. What issue will this resolve for the learners?
What – Tell them what you want to tell them. Example – Explain why a decent website can make a difference to generating leads and sales or reducing costs, but only with Digital Marketing input and constant quality content creation..
How – The practical aspect of the learning, show how it is done, show a case study and get people to “do” with you. Implement a way of assessing how well the learners are taking in the information – create a simple test.
What if? – Maybe a Learner will not get it and will need to go over it again. Or maybe they try to implement what they learn and it does not work for them? What happens then?
Review – Tell them what you have already told them
CTA Action steps – Ask people to put the new learning in to practice and tell you how they get on.
*Ask for actual reviews only when the learning leads to earning.
Ten Training Courses Tips:
- Make sure that your content suits the audience, to give them what they need, so perhaps do an initial simple needs assessment, to determine what ‘blanks’ need to be filled in. Do the learners need any specific qualifications or skillset before undertaking this course? People will really only learn when they really want to learn.
- Ensure that any content, in terms of graphics or text, looks and reads well. Will you use Powerpoint? If so, Headings should be size 32 and text 16 with one good pertinent image per slide. Do you need any tools or technology? Make sure they are available and working – have a backup plan.
- Image – Make it memorable, related, sharp, maybe funny, preferably original, but not some vaguely related stock image.
- Ask people what they expect. Understand what they expect and also what they actually need.
- Let people know the Agenda, the timing, the length and the break plans.
- Role play can help people learn and practice together – interaction helps stop “lecturing” on your part.
- Develop the course material and trainer notes, so that it can be delivered by another person on your team.
- Practice your presentation, to be comfortable with delivering in confidence.
- Review the material after every delivery to tweak it or add more content, based on the questions asked.
- ONE Big Thing – Make each module focused on one main point and hammer it home
WEB BASED TRAINING COURSEs APPS AND SOFTWARE
You can put your course online to make it easy to access and you can even sell it if you like. Here are some platform options to consider from Free to 30% commission on sales.
Course Kit http://www.coursetoolkit.com/ Put your course online and also offer tests for students – FREE
Siminar http://about.siminars.com/index.html From Free to use and a commission on any sales
CourseCraft https://coursecraft.net/ for 5% commission or $49 per month for Pro version
Google https://www.google.com/edu/openonline/index.html a work in progress option
LearnWords https://www.learnworlds.com/ from $29 a month plus $5 per sale
Adobe eLearning http://www.adobe.com/resources/elearning/ Not Free
Moodle https://moodle.org/ Big enterprise option, used by many third level colleges
Udemy https://www.udemy.com/ Well established
Lynda which is now owned by LinkedIn https://www.lynda.com/
LMS Learning Management Systems – Third Party Platforms – the way to go
Nowadays you can also use third party LMS Learning Management Systems such as Thinkific, which is a stand alone course platform, much like Teachable. You can get some which are WordPress plugins such as AccessAlly which is feature rich, but limited to certain CRM platforms or the lower cost option of LearnDash or Lifter LMS. Many of the third party stand alone platforms have more gamification features and are self hosted, so you do not have to worry about that aspect of things. Other LMS options include Learnupon and Kajabi or WPCourseware or LearnPress. They are all much the same, but different at the same time. Write up your requirements in detail, then find one that does everything you need.
We like to teach what we need to learn, so we will be adding more to this article. Good luck with your teaching training courses online.
If we were to offer a course, it would be a simple guide to getting a website for your business. Designed for the client, not the developers, some tips on how to engage with the right suppliers to get the website your business needs.
Course layout
A typical structure for a course would be having say 6 sections or Milestones and then about 6 topics in every section, each of 5 to 10 minutes long. Therefore the total time required for our course is a maximum of 360 minutes of 6 hours. And it could be as short as 3 hours, if every video lesson is kept to 5 minutes. Every video would come with a transcript to read plus any useful PDFs or addendum notes, spreadsheets, links or tools. Make it easy for the attendee to take action after each topic or module.
For us this could be a course called Getting the right website for your business – A guide for the Client NOT the Developer.
How to engage suppliers to create a website that will get your more business, help your clients and save time for you.
The Steps Explained – an overview intro first or topic 00, to help you understand what is involved in getting what you want, in a way that delivers good returns for the long term.
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1. Domains – what are they, what is a TLD, which TLD to use for your business, where to buy your domains, how long for, in which name, having multiple domains
2. Hosting – What are the various options, what is the difference in the various options, which one is right for you now, ,
3. Security – SSL Certs, Firewall, Backups, Support, Plugins/Extensions, updates
4. Graphic Design – Branding, Logo, Custom Design, Design Theme, FREE versus paid, updates
5. Platforms – CMS, Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace
6. eCommerce – simple online sales, Catalogue and shop, enterprise eCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento
Maintenance, care, support, guidebook, marketing overview and a posible upsell to a Digital Marketing Guide for Business owners.
Every topic title should be explained, as to what you are about to cover and why it is important, 3 reasons,, what is the benefit, and at the end of each one, recap to remind people what you have taught, maybe set a task or homework to do or have a simple quiz. Then create a bridge or connection to the next topic, to link them all together, as you go.
Digital Marketing an overview, what is involved, why do it, where to focus, how to measure.
1. Digital Marketing – what is it, how does it work, what do you need to know, CRM
2. SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
3. SMM – Social Media Marketing, Social Media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Google My Business
4. Backlinks – Do you want them, How to get them, Black Hat V White Hat, Google Analytics, Tracking Pixels
5. Content – Blogging, guest blogging, repurposing,
6. The Tools – Video, Audio, Photo, Lights, Mobile
Pulling it all together, creating a plan, measuring results, focusing on what works for your business. Rinse and repeat.
Splinter offers – sometimes people will offer a splinter product or small course or ebook to get a person to make a small committment. Having expressed some trust then the vendor will look to offer the Flagship product, which is the main course. In our case that could be where we offer a FREE ebook, ‘A Guide to Building a Website’ or ‘How to Optimise a Website’. Then we can get people to give us their email address in order to get the FREE material. That allows us make further contact or remarket to promote our ‘paid for’ flagship course, if we had one.
Build it and they will come – The movie was good, but this is Rubbish advice. With so much useful information available online free, why would anyone pay you for a course? Before you invest the time to create a course and build out an online training platform, make sure that people are willing to hand over sufficient money to get access to this material. There are so many courses available online now that you should also do some research to see what else is available online. And at what price?
Bottom Line – Can you presell enough people to make it worth building the course?
