When given the option to learn from a new modlette or do a whole course involving modlettes learners are always a bit apprehensive. Of course there are courses and courses and you want yours to engage the learners from the git-go.
Most introductions fall into two categories, legal documents or vague and superficial. These can be a waste of the learner’s time because you can’t put your heart into the detail.
However, when your headline is specific, you give learners a promise that your modlette is worth their time. You’ll help them avoid a specific problem. Or you’ll help them achieve a specific aim. Or you’ll answer a specific question.
As a course designer, specificity is one of your best friends. Your learners will genuinely feel they’re learning from you. That’s how to build authority and make learners come back for more.
How to make your modlette more specific
A good training narrative answers a question, helps the learner achieve an aim, or helps them solve a problem. You can break a question down into a series of mini questions. You can break an aim down into smaller aims that add up to the overall aim.
For instance, let’s imagine you’re a business coach for start-ups. Your original plan is to write a course about, “How do you start a business?”
You can break this question down into smaller questions:
- How do you come up with business ideas?
- How do you test business ideas?
- How do you write a business plan?
- How do you do a feasibility study?
- How do you choose one business idea from many?
You can also think about the various problems your clients are facing, such as:
- How do you overcome your fears to get started?
- How do you deal with people who tell you it’s the wrong time or are otherwise negative?
- How do you avoid picking the wrong idea?
- How do you stop feeling overwhelmed and prioritise your work?
Or you might want to think about the aims people want to achieve, and break the bigger aims into smaller steps:
- How do you find your first client?
- How do you make your first $1,000?
- How do you get your start-up out to a new audience?
You can always go smaller and dive deeper into a topic. For instance, if you found one of your topics is getting a bit long or detailed you can break it down again with more headings and modlettes.
If you know your audience well you know exactly what kind of questions they have, what kind of problems they’re struggling with, and how you can help them step-by-step to reach their goals. If you’re not an instructional designer but just wanting to write some training for your own people, you may not know all these questions, so start with what you know about areas where you need onboarding or performance improvement. What you know about people’s questions and problems and keep your ears and eyes open to learn more.