The Top 5 Mistakes You Never Knew You Were Making With Your Digital Course

What if the key to your online course's success lies not just in the content you provide but in the way you present yourself as an instructor? 

Join me, Francesca, as I dismantle the "invisible teacher syndrome" and uncover how your active presence can revolutionize student engagement and completion rates. 

Discover how personal check-ins and involvement in course communities can create a connection that goes beyond just video lectures. 

We'll explore strategies to transform the "no man's land learning experience" into a journey full of mini-wins and tangible progress, keeping your students motivated every step of the way.

In our quest for effective course creation, we tackle the infamous "too many light bulbs" problem and offer the teach-apply-pause model as a remedy for cognitive overload. 

Create a supportive environment where learning from mistakes is encouraged and celebrated, addressing the "no safety net syndrome" head-on.

 We'll also delve into the "invisible success trap," where documenting starting points and celebrating small wins can turn passive learning into an empowering experience. 

Whether you're a seasoned course creator or just starting out, these insights promise to transform your courses from informative to truly transformational.

Links mentioned in the show: 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Transforming Online Course Creation
• 10:22 Effective Course Creation Strategies

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:42

Welcome back to Teaching Mastery Academy. You're with Francesca here and today we're diving into a topic that could completely transform the way you create and deliver your online course, and this is a podcast episode that I have wanted to record for a while, and we have been on the summer break here in the Southern Hemisphere, so it means the kids have been at home for about seven, six, seven weeks and I really wanted to wait until they went back to school so that I could focus on this particular podcast episode, because it is a goodie and I can very happily say they are back to school today. So I am in the recording room now sharing with you this really important niche when it comes to the digital course creation world that no one talks about. No one does, but it's so important and every single course creator has the exact same worry. What I'm talking about are the hidden mistakes that course creators make, not the obvious ones, like picking the wrong niche or not marketing enough. Those are surface level problems.

Speaker 1: 2:51

The real mistakes the ones that I wanted to devote this podcast to, episode two are the ones that happen inside your course and they're the reason your students drop off before finishing. They're the reason your students struggle to implement what you're teaching, and they're the reason your students struggle to implement what you're teaching, and they're the reason that your students feel like they didn't get the transformation that they were promised. Now, if any of those apply to you, then this is an episode for you, because here's the kicker these mistakes have nothing to do with your expertise. You could be brilliant at what you do, but if you don't know how to teach your knowledge, your niche, your content, your expertise, effectively, your course will always struggle, and that's why, today, I'm revealing the five biggest course creation mistakes that no one is talking about. These are the mistakes that are secretly sabotaging your student engagement results and even your sales. So by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to fix them and create a course that isn't just informative, it's truly transformational.

Speaker 1: 4:01

So grab a notebook, get comfortable and let's make sure your course delivers real results. Let's get started. We'll start with mistake number one and let's make sure your course delivers real results. Let's get started. We'll start with mistake number one, and I like to call this the invisible teacher syndrome. What is the invisible teacher syndrome, you ask me? Well, this happens when course creators assume that their content speaks for itself, and they forget to actively guide their students through the learning process. And I see this all the time.

Speaker 1: 4:27

Course creators think I recorded my videos, so therefore my students will figure it out no problems. Or course creators might think I gave them worksheets. What else do they need? Or you might think, if this is you, I've structured my course well. It's clear enough.

Speaker 1: 4:45

But here's the truth. Students don't just need content, they need a teacher. Think about the best teachers you've ever had. What made them great? Those intuitive, unspoken skills that go beyond the content that they're teaching. They go beyond the classroom. Was it just their knowledge? No, it was their ability to guide you, to encourage you and to make you feel supported.

Speaker 1: 5:11

When students feel like they're just consuming content instead of being taught, they feel disconnected and unmotivated. Your students might struggle to stay engaged, or your students might drop off midway through your course because they don't feel supported. And your students need to feel like you're walking alongside them, cheering them on and making sure that they don't get lost. So how do we fix it? It's really easy, and there's two ways you can do this. So number one is bring your presence beyond just the videos. Your students should feel like you're with them throughout the course. Even in pre-recorded content.

Speaker 1: 5:43

You could add voice notes or personal check-ins inside your course platform, for example, or you could use guided reflection exercises to make them pause and think. Or you could show up inside the course community that you've got running. You know, don't just leave them to chat amongst themselves. So, for example, if you're teaching a marketing course, I would just say here's a funnel template, go build your own. Instead, I would add to it. I would say hey, before you dive into this template, take five minutes to answer these questions about your audience. This will help you get way better results. This tiny change makes your students feel guided, not just dumped into content.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Now, the second way that you can make sure your students don't get lost is to create your on the right track moments, and what I mean by this is students need reassurance that they're making progress. So you could add checkpoints that say hey, look how far you've come in your course. Or you could offer personalized feedback opportunities. Even if it's AI assisted, it doesn't matter. It's keeping that communication there to let them know that you're checking in and making sure that they're understanding the content. And we're only talking small tweaks here, because small tweaks leads to massive impact and your students will feel more supported, which means higher engagement and completion rates for your course.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Okay, so the second mistake that all course creators make is I like to call it the no man's land learning experience. What is it, you ask? It happens when students feel like they're floating through your course without any sense of progress. Really, and if your students ever think, am I even getting anywhere? This is why and they are in the no man's land learning experience your course has drifted into no man's land. Now why is this a problem? Well, when students don't see progress, they feel stuck, and when they feel stuck, they disengage. And when your students disengage, then they won't finish your course and then they won't get the results.

Speaker 1: 7:59

So how do we fix that? Well, we can build in mini-winths, so we can add I like to call these checkpoint lessons, and we go into this in depth in Teaching Mastery Academy, but in short, summary form every two to three modules, when I would have a checkpoint lesson where students reflect on their progress, and it just means that they feel like they've actually learned something along the way. They can stop and look back and reflect on how far they've come, and sometimes you need those little checkpoint lessons because your students might not actively be reflecting on their own work to that point. So they're really handy. They're highly effective. The other one is using progress trackers, and this could be as simple as a PDF worksheet or a Trello board or a mondaycom board. It can be a downloaded summary of how much they've learned at that point in the course. So checkpoint lessons and progress trackers are two really effective ways of building in mini wins.

Speaker 1: 8:57

Now remember, in Teaching Mastery Academy we go into all of this in depth and you get templates and structures and frameworks and feedback and all that sort of thing. So if you are concerned about the structure of your course and if one of these problems or all of these problems apply to you, then I highly recommend checking Teaching Mastery Academy out, because we go into all of this in depth. Now the other way that you can fix the no man's land scenario in your course is to create an arrival point experience. Now students should feel like they've achieved something at the end of each module. So we want to give them something like an achievement badge or a guided journal entry or a reflection moment so that they can look back and really celebrate how far they've come or what they've learned or how they can apply the skills that they've learned from your course so far. Or you could also use reward-based reinforcement, so this could be a shout out inside your course community, for example, or on an email. So, for example, instead of just moving from module three to module four in your course, you could pause and say congrats, you've just mastered one of the toughest parts of this process. Take a moment to reflect. What's your biggest takeaway so far? Can you see how this tiny moment really anchors your students learning and makes them feel like they're winning? Oh so good, all right.

Speaker 1: 10:23

So mistake number three the third mistake that we all make as course creators, whether we know it or not, is the too many light bulbs problem. What is it? Well, it's too many breakthroughs at once, which leads to overwhelm with your students, and when students are overwhelmed, they don't take action. So how do we fix this? How do we fix this desire that we all have as creators to really give and share and be generous with our knowledge to our students without overwhelming them? We don't want too many light bulbs all going off at once. So we can fix it in two ways.

Speaker 1: 11:04

The first way is to use a teach-apply-pause model, and how this works is you teach a concept, you give an activity to apply it and then you provide space to reflect. And, as I say, we go into all of this at Teaching Mastery Academy, but it's a really great mini framework that you can quickly apply to any lesson or to any module or to any master class that you're teaching. And it's teach one concept, give an activity to apply it and then provide space to reflect. Super simple, super effective. The other way that you can do it is to limit one major aha per module. So you want to spread out your insights so that your students don't burn out. So, for example, instead of saying here's how to define your brand, target, audience and messaging all in one lesson, try. Lesson one can be about defining your brand values. Lesson two can be clarify your audience. Lesson three can be develop your messaging, and this prevents cognitive overload and keeps your students moving forward.

Speaker 1: 12:07

So the too many light bulbs problem is it comes from a good place. We all do it because we all are generous with our knowledge and we want to help people, but we just have to sometimes stop and pause and make sure that we're not burning our students out. We're not actually confusing them by giving them too much information in one hit. Now the fourth mistake that we all make as course creators is the no safety net syndrome. What is this, you ask me? Well, if students are afraid to fail, they won't take action in the first place. And the no safety net syndrome can be equally as common as the too many light bulbs. It's all about providing a safe environment for students to be able to participate, to speak up, to ask questions, making sure that your community has got a supportive vibe about it and everybody's free and open to ask questions and supports each other. And you, as the course creator, are giving feedback in a very nourishing and holistic way, because we don't want our students to be afraid to fail.

Speaker 1: 13:15

So how do we fix it? So we normalize failure. Share your own mistakes. Everybody appreciates a vulnerable moment. If they can see that you've been where your students are at and you've pushed through it and you've come out the other end, then they are so much more likely to take action. So we want to normalize the failure. It's a very normal part of learning. In fact, there is no learning if there's no failure because we've come in with this attitude of we know everything, so you've got nothing left to teach us. So we need to ensure that failure is not something to be swept under the carpet and hidden, and you can do that by sharing your own mistakes. And the other way is to build a soft landing system and this allows your students to redo exercises without penalty, without feeling like they're getting left behind or they're going to miss out on the next lesson or module or freebie. So, for example, in a copywriting course, you could let students submit drafts without pressure, and then this builds confidence rather than fear. Like remove the deadlines, remove the pressure. If you've got an end of module quiz before they unlock the next module, they make it really, really accessible and easy, so your students won't give up and never actually complete the course.

Speaker 1: 14:28

Now my final mistake that we all make as course creators. All of us do this one, and I like to call it the invisible success trap. And what is this one, you asked me? Well, it is when students, when your students, don't realize how far they've come, they don't feel accomplished. It's almost like you're dangling the carrot in front of them and you keep moving it along and your students are getting to this point of thinking, oh, when am I ever going to achieve something? Or when am I ever going to, you know, get to the end.

Speaker 1: 15:01

And it's a really easy fix. And we do this as course grads because we want to keep our students motivated, right, we want to keep them feeling like they can keep going, keep going, because there's something at the end if you keep going. But we also have to remember that our students need to know how much success they've gained throughout the course, rather than just at the very end. So we can fix this in two ways. We can have our students document their starting point so that they can see their transformation as they go through, they can refer back to it. Or even if they do get to the end and that's the point where you have them look back on their transformation there is something there at the very start that has been documented that they can really measure.

Speaker 1: 15:43

And the other way to fix it is that you want to celebrate wins small wins, not big wins, small wins inside the course community. So if you have got a Facebook page, for example or it might just be within your learning framework, or it could just be between you and your student. Make sure that you do encourage, praise and celebrate the small wins, because we know how far our students can come and we can see them working their way through the modules. But we want them to also know that they are doing well, they're getting through it, they're achieving, they're succeeding Bit by bit. They're learning all of those very, very subtle skills, those transferable skills, because you will have your overall transformation promise right. But also along the way they'll be picking up and learning other little bits and pieces, like the language that might be applied to your particular niche. You know technical words or you know little frameworks to apply the knowledge that you're teaching them. So there's a whole range of ways that you can celebrate those wins.

Speaker 1: 16:49

So these five mistakes are barely scratching the surface. They are the five top ones, right, but there are a whole range of other very, very subtle, subconscious mistakes that we all make as course creators that Teaching Mastery Academy can sort out, can iron out and get you onto the right track. No more bad mistakes. So we really want to make your course transformational and the best way that you can do that is by joining the waitlist for Teaching Mastery Academy, because then you will go onto my VIP list with some extra bonuses, and you will be the first to be notified when we are opening the doors next, because, remember, your students are waiting. Let's make your course unforgettable.

Speaker 1: 17:34

So that's it for today's episode. I have been very, very busy today putting together a mini course for you. If you are serious, this is only for serious course creators out there who really want to tap into premium course pricing. But if you want to know what the five key pillars are for premium courses, what you need to include, what you must include if you want to start charging higher rates for your courses, then you can sign up to my free mini course. I will put the link in the show notes as well. As I say, I have been putting the bells and whistles on this today, the finishing touches, so I think you're really going to enjoy this one. It's completely free. Normally it would be an upsell at $197, but for you, my podcast friends, you get this free. You get videos, you get workbooks, you get secret landing pages, you get all sorts. So it's huge value and I will link it in the show notes. Until next time. Keep creating, keep striving, keep teaching. You've got this. Bye for now.