Course Writing 101: A Simple Guide
In today’s highly competitive business world, it’s critical that you stay ahead of the curve. As business leaders, it’s important to be thinking ahead and planning for the next step in your company’s development, and one of the most effective ways to do that is through online courses. By creating courses that are tailored to both educate your employees and improve their skills, you can nurture top-notch talent while giving yourself an edge over other businesses trying to reach the same people. Below, you will find everything you need to know about course writing for business.
Course Outline
Before you begin writing your course, it’s essential that you have a clear vision of what your course will be about. This is also known as your outline. It’s at this stage that you write a full outline of your ideas and topics, including how each lecture will relate to one another and what resources or technology (if any) will be necessary for students in order to complete certain tasks. Write out every detail that you feel is important – without an outline, there are no guidelines or structure within which you work! Outlines keep you focused while writing a course and provide valuable information for later on when designing assessments.
The Essentials
Having a goal and reason for creating a course is crucial. When you’re working on courses, it’s easy to let yourself become scattered and unfocused if you don’t know why you’re doing what you are. Look at your endgame—what do you want your students or customers to get out of it? Do they need an official certification for their business? Will it improve their skill level or help them land a job in their field? Thinking about these reasons will help keep things on track and make sure that every decision you make along the way lines up with where you want to be. It will also help guide future decisions—and there will be plenty of those, so remember, don’t be afraid to pivot!
Course Description
There are a few things that any good course design needs, and if you want your business to succeed and grow, then there are two key elements that every course should include. The first is making sure there is a solid foundation for students to build upon. This means answering all of their basic questions before they even have them and then adding on additional information in an incremental fashion. If all you do is give people enough information without ever building on top of it then they’re not going to be able to retain everything—nor will they really learn anything at all!
Key Features
1. Who is it for?
2. What are you teaching?
3. How will you teach it?
4. When do you want to launch?
5. What resources will you need to create it and make sure it’s successful (e.g., a website, social media accounts, etc.)?
6. Who is your audience and what can they expect from your course (e.g., how will they learn, who is going to teach them)?
7. What makes your course unique, what sets it apart from similar courses out there?
Benefits & Target Audience
Course development is an important part of any business, but it’s rarely taught. As a result, many businesses are missing out on adding real value through their courses. Here’s a course design workshop that will show you how to write high-quality courses that will add long-term value to your business. You’ll learn everything from starting with your learners’ needs to defining specific goals and creating a framework for your course content. You’ll even learn how to assess whether or not you should be creating a course at all (yes, some businesses don’t need them!). Come prepared with a good idea of what kind of course you want to create and we’ll take it from there!
Prerequisites, if Any?
If your course is targeted toward a certain company, you may need to clear your idea with them first. For example, if you plan on using an internal tool for your course, be sure to check whether it’s ok for external use first. If your content deals with intellectual property or other sensitive information (e.g., trade secrets), double-check with legal first. And if there are prerequisites that must be satisfied before taking your course, put them in parentheses after Prerequisites. For example: Prerequisites: None required
Why Should I Attend This Course?
Welcome. This is an introduction to course writing for business and is designed for two key types of people: People who are looking at developing a new course or learning product People who want to sharpen their skills in course writing for existing courses/products The course will run over three days, with each day focusing on a different aspect of course design. The first day will be focused on defining what courses are, how they work, why you should use them and some examples from real businesses. The second day will focus on planning your course including designing your content plan, analyzing your audience, creating personas and more. The third day will focus on execution including how to write your content, how to get it ready for delivery and more. For those attending all three days we’ll also have time set aside at the end of each day to discuss questions that attendees have had during that day’s sessions as well as any other questions they may have about course design. This is going to be fun!
How Will the Course Benefit Me?
People don’t take courses because they need another certification. They take them because they want something specific, be it a promotion or additional skills. Your course must fill that need for your students. Clearly identify what students will get out of taking your course and how it will benefit them personally and professionally. Don’t assume that everyone who takes your course will become a loyal customer; focus on putting together an educational program that has value in its own right so people keep coming back even if they aren’t interested in getting certified.
What Will I Learn in This Course?
Course writing is an oft-overlooked area in business. But your company’s courses—whether that’s a software application or a classroom seminar—are one of your most important assets. They can increase customer retention, improve employee productivity, and even help grow revenue by ensuring new hires hit their performance targets on day one. This course will take you through everything you need to know about designing effective courses and help you create highly valuable training materials that are key in improving your business’s bottom line. You’ll learn what types of businesses need courses, how to get them designed and written effectively, and how to determine whether your company has room for new offerings in online learning.
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