Teaching Mastery Academy for Digital Course Creators

My Top Teaching Tips for Emerging Course Creators

• Francesca Hudson: Teaching Mastery Academy • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Transitioning to online teaching or thinking of creating a digital course, but have never taught before? We’ve got you covered. Learn how to tackle the unique challenges of digital classrooms with four key principles: understanding your audience, planning for engagement, scaffolding learning, and establishing a personal connection.

Get practical tips on creating engaging online courses with welcome videos, live Q&A sessions, and gamification tools. With platforms like Kajabi, Teachable, and Thinkific at your fingertips, and tools like Typeform and Badgr enhancing your strategies, you'll be empowered to create impactful and seamless learning experiences.

Don't miss these actionable insights that will make your online teaching both effective and enjoyable!

To register for my FREE 5 Day Challenge to Learn The Art Of Teaching a Home-Run Course, click here!

Think of your course (or your course idea,) like a luxury car. People won’t pay top dollar unless it’s high quality, delivers an incredible experience, and meets their needs perfectly. Teaching Mastery Academy teaches course creators like you how to ‘build’ that luxury-level course—one that students trust, complete, and rave about, justifying premium pricing every time. Ready to take your expertise and ensure your digital course stands out from the crowd? Premium courses (and premium returns) start with the core teaching fundamentals that all the best course creators instinctively do, but now I'm showing you how! Join the VIP waitlist for Teaching Mastery Academy now! Click here to learn more.

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When I first started teaching English literature to a room full of teenagers, I quickly realised that just knowing the material wasn't enough.

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I had to figure out how to teach it in a way that captured their attention, kept them engaged and helped them to actually understand it. I mean, we're talking about Shakespeare and poetry here. It's not exactly what most teenage boys find thrilling, right, and it was tough at first, but over time I learned how to make the material come to life for them by using stories, creative examples and interactive activities. And here's the thing you don't have to be a trained teacher to do this. Whether you're creating a course on marketing, fitness or something else entirely, anyone can learn how to teach their material in a way that gets results. In my very first episode today, I am so excited and it's a really special first episode. Today we're talking all about how you can become an amazing teacher, even if you've never taught a class in your life. I'm going to show you how you can take what you know and turn it into an engaging course that actually helps your students succeed. We'll talk about some of the key strategies that great teachers use to keep students motivated how to provide feedback and how to structure your course so that your students feel confident and accomplished along the way. So whether you're just getting started or you've already launched a course and want to take it to the next level, this episode will give you practical tips that you can start using right away. So why does this matter? The truth is, just because you're an expert in your field doesn't mean that people will automatically understand what you're teaching. Teaching is a skill in itself, and learning how to teach well can make or break your course. The better the teacher that you are, the more people that you will reach and the more success that you will have as an expert in your field. Think about it how many times have you taken a course or watched a tutorial and felt confused or bored or overwhelmed? That happens when teaching isn't clear, it's not engaging or it's not structured properly. But the good news is that you don't need years of experience to become a great teacher. With the right strategies, anyone can learn how to teach effectively, connect with their audience and help their students get real results. That's why this topic is so important. Whether you're teaching fitness, marketing or any other topic, learning how to teach well is what will set your course apart and lead to happier, more successful students. Just think about those testimonials to come.

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I thought I'd start by rewinding a little bit and just giving you a little bit of background as to how I learned some of these valuable lessons. And when I started teaching English literature, especially to teenage boys, I quickly learned that you can't rely on the subject matter alone to keep students engaged. You have to tap into their interests and capture their imagination, and I learned that the hard way. I remember the very first sort of week that I started teaching at this boys-only school was my very first job and I was just basically handing out the handouts and then expecting the boys to start writing, and they looked at me and then they started being naughty. And the reason why is because I hadn't scaffolded the learning first, I hadn't broken down the information in two ways they could understand and I hadn't approached the content in relatable ways. So I learned very quickly that I had to find creative methods like interactive discussions, acting out scenes and incorporating media that they already loved, to make the lessons relatable. All right, so that was in the classroom. But what I learned from that experience is this Every great teacher, whether in a classroom or online, needs to know how to reach their students on a personal level. It's not just about delivering information. It's about connecting the material to the learner in a way that really sparks their interest, and that's one of the most important lessons that you can bring into your own teaching, whether it's face-to-face or digital.

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When I transitioned from in-person to digital teaching, I realized something crucial you can't teach the same way online as you do in the classroom, right? You don't have that face-to-face interaction and that initial struggle of not having immediate feedback from students or not being able to read their body language or engage them in real time. It was tough, but it forced me to rethink how I approach teaching as a trained teacher. The lesson here for aspiring course creators or educators is this, and this is if you had no training as a teacher before. As a teacher, you need to plan for engagement in advance. You have to build in points where students can interact, reflect and stay connected to the material. So when you're teaching online, you can't wait for students to raise their hands. You need to anticipate where they might need support and create spaces for them to engage, even if they're working at their own pace. So it's almost like thinking about the Q&A session before it's happened. What type of questions do you think your course content will raise from students who've just sat through that module or sat through that lesson?

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Because one major realization that I had was that online students often lack the motivation they get from in-person teacher's presence In the classroom. You can motivate them with your energy. Online. You have to think about how to make the course itself motivating. This is where the art of teaching comes in. Whether you are teaching live or online, it's about setting up clear goals, creating small wins throughout the course and keeping students actively engaged with the material. A great teacher knows how to break the learning process into manageable pieces that students can digest and feel successful completing. That's something that you should always keep in mind when designing your course. Structure your content so that your students feel that constant sense of progress. I call it positive reinforcement. You can call it whatever you like, but keep that momentum going.

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So for all the aspiring teachers and course creators listening, here are a few principles you can apply from day one. Are you ready? I've got four of them. So the first one is know your audience. Just like I had to find ways to make English relatable to teenage boys, you need to know what resonates with your students. Build your lessons around their interests and their needs. Build your lessons around their interests and their needs. You know your niche. You know your audience. The energy that you bring to your lessons and to your content is the same as being in the classroom and the students knowing that you care. One of the biggest pieces of feedback that students have when they reflect back on their teachers is they really cared about the lesson or they really cared about my success, and so your, your audience, will pick up on your energy as to whether or not you really care. Find out about your audience. Really get to the bottom of who they are. What is what is of interest to them, what do they need, and show that you care. The second thing is plan for engagement. Don't wait for engagement to happen. Build it into your course so you can use quizzes, prompts or live discussions to keep students interacting with the material. Even if it's a synchronous course and I know I use, for example, with my courses I use Kajabi. They have a quiz section built into it, but there's all sorts of different software and different apps that you can use for quizzes or prompts or live discussions. I mean Zoom is always a favourite, and don't underestimate the power of social media either.

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Number three is make the content digestible. Break your content into smaller, easily achievable steps. This keeps the learners motivated as they can see their own progress throughout the course, and I call this. Scaffolding into smaller, easily achievable steps. This keeps the learners motivated as they can see their own progress throughout the course, and I call this scaffolding scaffolded learning. And so what it means is you teach one tiny thing, one lesson that's focused on one thing only, and then the next lesson builds on that and builds on that and builds on that, and all the way along the line you are showing examples or case studies or giving a demo of what you have just taught, and that's called scaffolded learning. It's helping see how it all comes together and you're building on that knowledge lesson to lesson. So really, really niche down in your lessons.

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And my fourth principle is create connection. So, even online, you need to connect with your students, whether it's through personal stories, video messages or even just relatable examples. Let them know that you're there with them on this journey, even if you're having a bad hair day or the kids have kept you up all night. It's the ability to ensure that you are still visible. You're still showing up when and where it's possible, and that might not be every day. You would work at your own pace and work it into when it suits you. But I think the personal connection and seeing somebody's face especially now with AI on the rise and this whole wave of faceless accounts are finding themselves it's a whole genre, it's a whole niche within it's within a niche, but people, when they're spending money, want to know that there is somebody real on the other end. There's that personal connection, because engaging without physical presence is hard right.

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It's one of the biggest challenges when teaching online is that you can no longer rely on physical cues or adjust your approach based on students' body language. And in a traditional classroom, you can sense when students are losing focus or when they're excited and you can adapt on the fly. But online it's all about designing that engagement up front. It's almost like we need a crystal ball, and that's where storytelling becomes a powerful tool. In a physical classroom, engagement is dynamic. You can read the room, you can see who's leaning in, who's daydreaming, who's struggling. You can adapt in real time to bring them back in. But online you don't have that luxury. Instead, you have to create engagement through your course design. As a course creator, you can use storytelling to pull your learners in.

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When introducing new concepts, try framing them within a story that connects emotionally. And here is a really good tip Are you listening? When introducing new concepts, try framing them within a story that connects emotionally to your audience. People remember stories more than facts or data, and this can mimic that sense of personal connection we have in live settings. Here's another great way to engage online learners, and that is through visuals, whether it's infographics, diagrams or even just dynamic slide presentations. Visuals helps break up the monotony of text-heavy learning and appeal to different learning styles. This way, you can recreate the interaction and the energy of the classroom without being there in person. So try and keep the amount of words that you've got on each slide to a relative minimum, because if that's what you're doing is just reading out huge chunks of text on each slide then you will lose your audience. They will switch off. Some of them will be with you, but you will lose the majority.

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Interactive elements are also key, so use prompts that require learners to respond to, discuss or reflect. For example, adding reflection questions or discussion boards into your course can create a virtual dialogue. When students feel like they're part of the conversation, even if it's asynchronous, they're more likely to stay engaged. And one of my favorite things is meditation. I love the courses because I'm a course junkie. I've put a lot of courses in my time and a lot of them are personal development or holistic courses, and I love the meditation elements where, even though it's an asynchronous course meaning I'm doing it at my own time I get to listen to these meditations and it feels like I have that connection with the course teacher. And so you can really think outside the box of coming up with interactive elements with your course, if it's going to be an evergreen funnel or if it's going to be a course that students do in their own time. It's not going to be a live one. Then you can look at things like reflection questions or recorded tapes, podcasts secret podcasts is another good one, just to think about ways they feel more engaged.

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Because in a traditional classroom feedback is immediate you can glance at a student's work, offer a quick comment or even adjust your lesson based on how other class is following along. But online the feedback loop is longer and requires more planning to ensure students feel supported. One of the biggest challenges that I faced moving online was losing that real-time feedback. In a classroom, you can provide instant feedback. You can look at a student's face and know if they're confused and you can adjust on the spot. But online, that immediate connection is gone and this can lead to students feeling lost or unsupported if there's no structure for regular feedback and remember, the goal of this is you want to be the go-to expert in your niche, so we need to make sure that all of our students are feeling supported. So that's why creating feedback loops in a digital course is essential. You can do this by incorporating tools like quizzes, discussions and assignments throughout your course.

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Quizzes are especially useful. They give students a way to test their understanding of the material and get immediate feedback on their progress, and even something as simple as a short quiz at the end of each module can go a long way in making students feel like they're on track. I like to do a quiz at the end of each module, and the next module is locked until they've completed that quiz, and it's just so that I know that they are engaged and they're able to interpret the information that we've just discussed before moving on to the next. And it's really cool because at the end of the whole course they get a certificate that they can use in their CV or they can use it for any type of reference, and it shows that they've completed the whole course and that's based on the quizzes that they do along the way. So it's that connection and it's the fact that my students have achieved that sense of achievement at the end of the course. So that's why creating feedback loops in the digital course are essential. So that's why creating feedback loops in the digital course are essential For more qualitative feedback.

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Discussion forums and assignments allow students to apply what they've learned and receive thoughtful responses from you or their peers. No-transcript, where you are able to offer that one-on-one feedback, and this can mimic the classroom experience of peer review or group discussions. And don't underestimate the value of automated feedback. Many platforms allow you to provide customized responses to quiz results, giving students that extra layer of guidance. Now I'm going to teach you another strategy which you are going to love.

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One thing that makes great teachers stand out is how they keep these students involved in the learning process In the classroom. This is called active learning. It's when students aren't just sitting back and listening, but actually doing something with the material. And here's the good news you can create the same kind of engagement online without needing a classroom background. For example, a great way to get your students actively learning is through recall questions. After each lesson, ask your students to recall what they've learned by answering a few simple questions or completing a quick quiz. This keeps them engaged with the material and helps solidify what they've just learned.

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Another technique is peer learning. That's P-E-E-R not like the fruit, but peer P-E-E-R peer learning. You might not have a traditional classroom, but you can still encourage students to interact with each other through forums or discussion boards. It's as easy as posing a question related to your course and inviting students to share their thoughts or experiences. This way, they're learning from each other and not just from you. Facebook groups are a great example of this, and here's my actionable tip After each lesson, add a few questions that ask your students to reflect on what they've just learned. If you're using a course platform, most have built-in quizzes that make this super easy. And for peer learning, set up a simple discussion thread where students can share their insights.

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As a teacher, one of your most important jobs is to help your students feel confident. When students feel like they're making progress, they're more likely to stay motivated and complete your course. And even if you've never taught before, there are some really simple ways to build your students' confidence online. The first thing you can do is set up small wins throughout your course. Think of your course like a journey. If students only get to celebrate at the end, it can feel long and discouraging. But if you break the journey into smaller milestones, they get to feel a sense of accomplishment along the way. For example, after completing each module, you can congratulate your students with a quick message like well done, you've completed module one. You're one step closer to mastering your topic. Another important thing is to give personalized feedback, whether it's through comments on assignments or a quick email. Acknowledging your students progress and giving them suggestions for improvement makes them feel supported. This doesn't need to be long or complicated. Just a few words can make a huge difference, and here's my actionable tip for this try adding a congratulations message at the end of each section of your course, and don't forget to give your students feedback on their progress. Even a short message can help boost their confidence and keep them motivated to continue One of my favorite ways to build that connection is through personalized video messages.

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You don't have to do this for every student, but a quick welcome video at the beginning of the course or a personal note when they reach certain milestones can go a long way in making your students feel like they're being taught by a real person, not just watching videos. You can also set up live Q&A sessions where your students can ask you questions directly, and that's a great way to interact with them, and it doesn't have to be intimidating. Even if it's just a 30-minute session every couple of weeks, your students will appreciate the chance to connect with you in real time. And if you really want to take it a step further, consider offering virtual office hours, and this is great. If you run like a membership type program, these don't have to be long. You can just dedicate an hour a week where students can drop in and ask you anything that they need help with. This makes you approachable and gives students a place to get direct support. So here's my actionable tip Try recording quick welcome videos to introduce yourself to your students and make them feel at ease.

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Now, if you're listening to this podcast and you've never built an online course before the idea of using tech tools can feel intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, there are platforms designed to make course creation as easy as possible. Course before the idea of using tech tools can feel intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, there are platforms designed to make course creation as easy as possible, even if you're not tech savvy. So platforms like Kajabi are perfect for beginners because they do most of the heavy lifting for you. I use Kajabi and I love it. These platforms are all-in-one solutions, meaning they help you with everything from uploading your videos to organizing your course into modules. They even have built-in tools for quizzes, feedback and certificates of completion. That way, you can focus on what really matters creating your content and let the platform take care of the rest. All you need to do is upload your content and Kajabi will handle things like payment processing, student tracking and feedback systems. So here's my actionable tip If you're just getting started, take one of these platforms either Teacherbill, thinkific or Kajabi and spend some time exploring their tutorials. They'll walk you through the basics and you'll be up and running in no time.

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Keeping your students engaged is one of the most important parts of teaching and luckily, there are lots of great tools that can help make your course more interactive without needing advanced tech skills. One tool I recommend is Typeform. It's perfect for creating quizzes, surveys or even feedback forms. You can easily add a quiz at the end of each lesson to reinforce key points and make sure your students are following along. Another great tool is Vimeo or Loom for creating interactive videos. With these tools, you can record yourself delivering a lesson and even add clickable elements to your video, like links or questions, to make the experience more engaging. And if you want to go a step further with engagement, you can use Badger, which lets you create gamification in your course by awarding badges when students complete certain milestones. It's a fun way to motivate your students and make the learning experience more rewarding. So here's my actionable tip Try using Typeform to create a simple quiz at the end of each module to test your students' knowledge. It's easy to set up and your students will love the chance to apply what they've learned.

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If you're wondering how you're going to keep track of your students and manage your course materials, you'll be glad to know that there are platforms called Learning Management Systems or LMS for short, that can help you do just that An LMS is basically a system that lets you organize all your lessons, quizzes and assignments in one place. It also lets you track how your students are progressing through your course. Think of it as a virtual classroom. It's where your students will access everything and where you can interact with them, assign work and give feedback. A platform like Kajabi or Teachable acts as a built-in LMS, so you don't need to worry about managing students manually. These platforms help you create a structured learning experience and they handle things like automated grading, tracking student progress and even offering certificates of completion once the student finishes your course. So my actionable tip is, when you're picking a platform, choose one that has an LMS built in, like Kajabi or Teachable or Thinkific. It'll make managing your students and your content so much easier and you can focus on delivering great lessons rather than dealing with all those admin tasks.

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Recap the key takeaways from today's episode and it's my very first episode with you. We have had so much fun. I have been able to share so many really cool actionable strategies that you can use straight away. So first we talked about how you don't need to be a classroom teacher to create a course that engages and teaches your students, whether it's storytelling, interactive tools or building small wins throughout your course, there are simple strategies that anyone can use to make their lessons more engaging and effective. We also covered how important it is to give your students regular feedback and how tools like quizzes, discussion boards and even personalized messages can help them stay on track and motivated. And remember, setting clear goals and creating accountability through small milestones or community engagement can make a huge difference in helping your students succeed.

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Finally, we talked about the tech side of things, and I hope you're feeling more confident about using platforms like Kajabi or Teachable to manage your course. With these user-friendly platforms, you don't need to be a tech expert to create something powerful and professional. I want to leave you with this, my friend no matter where you are in your teaching journey whether you've just started thinking about creating a course or you've already launched one know that your ability to teach is incredibly valuable. You have something unique to offer and, with the right strategies, you can create learning experiences that are just as powerful and impactful as anything that happens in a traditional classroom. Remember, it's not about being perfect. It's about connecting with your students and guiding them step by step. If you apply the techniques we talked about today keeping students engaged, providing feedback and using simple, effective tools. You're already well on your way to becoming a great teacher.

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Now, if you're excited to take your teaching skills to the next level, I've got something special for you. I'm launching a free training called Master the Art of Teaching your Course. I'm writing it right now and I am giving you everything that I know and, trust me, you won't want to miss this. I'll walk you through everything you need to know to confidently teach your content and create courses that truly make an impact. And here's the best part you can be the first to hear when doors open by signing up as a VIP now. Click on the link in my show notes and register now. By joining the VIP list, you'll get early access, bonus materials and all the tips you need to become the teacher you were meant to be, my friend, so don't wait. Click on the link in my show notes and secure your spot today.

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So that's it for today's show. I will be back with you very shortly. This is going to be a weekly podcast and I have got so much more information to give you, to share with you. We've got so many more topics to cover. I can't wait to start episode two. Don't forget to subscribe, and if you really enjoyed this episode, I would be so grateful for writing. As I say, this is my very first episode and I can't wait to be able to continue this journey together. So until next time, my friend. Bye-bye for now.

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Francesca Hudson

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