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A New Take on Online Course Delivery & Engagement | With Vickie Maris

Tim Cooper

Sep 13 2015



Discover how to be meaningful with your course content and how to connect with your students in the online environment.

To truly connect with your students and deliver value, you must be passionate about sharing your knowledge. Yes, there is money to be made in online course creation, but if money is your main driver there will be a disconnect between you and your students.

One important aspect when it comes to connecting with your students is that you have to be comfortable in your presentation.

There are many ways to present your material from on camera talking-head style videos to voice over PowerPoint, Keynote, or screen capture. Your material can also be supplemented with PDF documents, audio files and any other resource you feel would assist the student in achieving their learning objective.

Here are some really good tips to increase engagement

Smile a lot.

Start to smile before you hit the record button. This is important whether you are presenting in front of a camera or recording a voice over.

As a side note here, if you are live streaming on platforms such as Blab or Periscope the same thing applies. Start smiling before you go live. You want to appear happy and excited to be there as soon as your broadcast starts. Don't wait for people to join your broadcast before you start smiling.

Present every piece of information as if the student has never heard it before.

You know your material, you've probably presented it a thousand times. There is no doubt that some students taking your course have already had exposure to your topic and have varying degrees of understanding.

But there will also be students in your course who are hearing this information for the first time and these are the students that you design your presentation around.

Be excited and energetic in your presentation.

We've all been there. Someone is presenting either on stage, in the classroom, on video or television. They are totally present. They are passionate and there is a positive energy to their presentation. They are smiling and their body language is open.

Before you know it you are being swept along in the presenter's energetic flow and totally absorbed in what is being said.

Now, that is engagement.

When you follow these simple yet highly effective tips you will find your students will not only be engaged, they will also tend to be more forgiving if you make a mistake or encounter technical difficulties.

Stay on topic

Probably one of the quickest ways to lose the attention of your student is to lose focus, go off topic or try to pad your information out with fluff. More is not better.

People's time is precious and your objective is to deliver the information in the shortest amount of time while ensuring a high level of clarity and understanding.

Using Social Media Tools To Engage With Your Students

In recent times, there have been a number of new innovations in the world of social media, two of which stand out.

Blab and Periscope. Both of these platforms offer live streaming video and bring their own unique offerings to the table.

As these technologies mature and become more accessible, the landscape of online teaching will change. Students will come to expect access to instructors via these platforms.

Both Blab and Periscope allow students to interact and communicate with the instructor in real time and are ideal for short tutorials, Q&A sessions, and live coaching.

As online instructors now is the time to embrace these new technologies.

The other benefit of broadcasting and interacting through platforms such as Blab and Periscope is that not only are you interacting with your current students, but anybody interested in your topic can join the broadcast and listen to your information and maybe even purchase your course.

Students are more likely to purchase future courses from you because they know you are accessible and happy to answer their questions.

Create An Avatar Of Your Ideal Student

This is a powerful way to connect with your students. Write out a detailed bio of your ideal student.

Not just - “male, aged 35 - 45, likes cars”.

Create a detailed story about your ideal students, their home and work life, dreams, and aspirations, fears, and frustrations.

Then when you are preparing your material have your avatar in mind. Are you addressing your ideal student's fears and frustrations? Will your course bring your student closer to achieving their hearts desire?

Then when you present your material, imagine you are talking directly to your avatar.

You can find out more about Vickie at http://vickiemaris.com

Resources and sites mentioned in this episode

Here are some affiliate links to Vickie's courses -

Aviator's Wife Tells of Home Front Life During World War 2 - $10

Learn a Simple Approach to Creating an Online Video Course - $15

Periscope: How to Improve Your Scopes and Grow Followers - $15

The online learning industry is booming and showing no signs of slowing down. This podcast is for those looking to create an online course for any number of reasons. You may be looking at creating a course and publishing it to Udemy or similar sites. You may already have courses published and are looking for ways to improve your content or reach a larger audience. You may be a workplace trainer or workshop presenter looking at streamlining your training material. No matter what the scenario, this podcast will arm you with all the information you need to take your online course from concept to market and beyond. Thank you for subscribing and I look forward to seeing you in the community. About Tim Cooper

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