Creative daily

The production professional's guide to designing and recording an instructional course

Jan 25, 2024

It's true: the creation of online courses involves many hours of laborwhich can turn into a painfully time-consuming procedure, especially when you create a lot of educational videos.

One thing that can help you simplify course design and production? Stories.

Elise London,  the resident expert in video who films all our marketing and in-house courses, shares that the key to making engaging online course is to use stories to organize and present information.

Finding the narrative in the issue your course addresses and structuring content using the hero's journey storytelling technique are game-changers. This is everything you must be able to do in order to organize, plan and create an exciting online course that includes all the necessary tools.

Jump ahead:

Finding the ideal topic for your online course

You don't need a new concept, straight from the box to create your online course.

Instead, identify a topic that is in demand. A thorough understanding of your goals and audience will help. Here's how:

Identify what's already resonating

Utilize data measurement tools such as Google Analytics to find high-performing publications. Spot an ebook on a specific topic that did particularly well? Consider expanding it into a detailed video course.

It's also possible to look through your email list to unearth subjects that your readers would like for a virtual class on. You can also distribute the survey to social media (if you have an engaged audience on those platforms) as well as to the communities you're associated with.

Keep in mind that the aim is to choose a subject that the audience has an interest in.

Deepen your dive, don't widen it.

"If you consider the kinds of questions that learners ask around their topic and the emotions they experience as they work through your subject will help you position your video course as the answer.
 
 The concept"live streaming" can be vast, but it can be overwhelming for students to wrap their heads around."   Elise London, Senior content production manager


The solution? Review the emotional struggles the audience has to face when dealing with the subject.

Ask yourself:

  • What kind of confusion are we encountering as they solve the problem?
  • Are there feelings that are so overwhelming we can help them overcome?

In the case of live streaming for instance, the answers could be anxious feelings as you set up their very first live streaming. A course on this topic could be "How you can easily setup live streams so you're not overwhelmed."

Pro tip for your course name

When you're brainstorming names for your class, consider what your target audience thinks about the specific problem you're addressing and work this into the name.

The process of planning the structure of your online course

Elise advises you to use the hero's journey to lay out your online course. This involves:

  • Addressing the issues that students have. Find these by asking the right questions concerning the topic of your class.
  • Helping them overcome challenges and discovering solutions. It is here that you break the topic into modules and videos with each lesson answering an inquiry.
  • Leaving them with the promised transformation. Offer additional resources, such as checklists, templates and other forms to aid students to apply what they learn.

Here's how to dig out audience questions and desired outcomes to plan and structure your program:

Research questions your audience has

Instead of making assumptions, take these steps:

  • Search Reddit as well as Quora to compile a list of questions that are frequently asked.
  • Survey and hold one-on-one conversations with students to ask questions directly.
  • Take calls from customers from support and sales teams for answers to common issues.
  • Check bestseller books' index pages on Amazon to gain insight into the issues they answer on the subject of study.

If you've been hosting webinars about the subject, you can also look over questions the attendees asked in order to inform your investigation.

Divide the topic of the class into buckets

Woman recording herself with smartphone. Image reads, "Concept > modules > video lessons"

Next, reference your audience's challenges and questions in order to divide your topic into narrative modules that build on each other in the next stage to the learning journey.

"Instead instead of saying 'We're going to train you how to use an interactive program' (which is a broad difficult-to-understand thing) Instead, state "We'll teach the beginner, intermediate and advanced capabilities.' This is how the subject matter for your online course] will fit into one of those three buckets."   Elise London, Senior content production manager

Put simply, break "disparate concepts" and place them into buckets so that when you're looking over the course from a distance it all seems more doable."

Pro tip for course structure

Be sure to outline the course structure to meet the students at any point in their journey. It's not uncommon to overload and make students confused due to the curse of knowledge (a cognitive bias that presumes your audience knows as much as you know). So remember to review the course's design to ensure it is simple.

Video lessons to be planned

  1. Bring your student's problems to the forefront related to the question the video lessons will help solve.
  2. Answer the questions by giving solutions to the problem they're facing.
  3. Summarize the video or offer supplementary resources to help them change.

Videos on demand with scripts

pro tip

Script generator gif

Shooting your course video content

You'll require tools

For a decent production tool kit and setup You'll require:

  •   Microphone, cameras (two at a minimum) and a 3 or 4-point lighting kit  
  • Learning Management System (LMS). This software houses the video content, making it accessible for students. Examples: Teachable, Podia, and Kajabi.
  • . A platform for video that is ad-free for hosting, recording edit and also incorporate interactivity into educational videos that you can and then upload onto your LMS.
  • Teleprompter. A device for display that displays moving text on screen to make it easy for people on the screen to record videos.
  • Music pedal. An affordable, keyboard that can be operated by a foot that allows you to alter the course of slide slides displayed on screen.

Making the perfect video set

Elise recommends you:

1. Do not use fluorescent overhead lights.

They can create harsh shadows on your face. The lights of fluorescent bulbs can flicker occasionally and can cause a greenish shade and altering the video's quality and consistency.

2. Record with no natural light

Natural light patterns change through the day and if you're recording for a long time in a row the lighting quality in your video won't look consistent, Elise warns. This is also a problem when you choose to transfer segments from one video into a different video.

3. Set your cameras at different angles

The second camera doesn't "just add spice to the editing (which can be helpful regardless of whether you're working with a script or even if you do get it all done in a single take) but also to prevent the boredom of watching at the face of the instructor."

"More crucially, a different camera can be used to hide cut-outs," Elise adds. "So when you're making a presentation that is not going to come out all at once, then the way that the edit can be hidden is to use B-roll, or simply cutting it onto a different camera."

4. Make sure you have a tidy, clutter-free background

Do not use bright colors like magenta, orange and yellow since these can create reflections in the color and can be distractions for the viewers. Use neutral tones for your background including dark blue, grey and soft white. These look great on camera and are also comfortable on your eyes.

Recording your online video course

Naturally, recording can feel a little nerve-racking. If you've put in the time in planning and drafting your course, filming isn't a big deal.

5. Always make use of a Teleprompter

A teleprompter saves you from freezing up on screen as you struggle to figure out what the next point is.

This makes recording easy and helps with editing, however "it will also allow you to maintain eye contact with the camera while looking at the teleprompter screen," says Elise.

6. Use a music pedal to switch between slides

"Instead of using a keyboard or clicker visible on your hands, try using the music pedal in order to switch the slides you're playing. It's really the same as a USB Bluetooth keyboard with a left and a right. Using it means the person presenting doesn't have to reach for the keyboard or mouse to advance it."

Editing the videos you have on demand

Try to cut down on the length of your edits and provide an engaging viewers with these professional suggestions:

7. Edit ruthlessly

8. Add B-roll content for maximum engagement

One method to break through boring talking-head video is to switch between camera at an ad-hoc rate.

You can also include animations, graphics, slides and stock footage as well as personalized recordings to provide an engrossing learning experience.

9. Layers of interactivity

  • Enjoy a build-your-own-learning path
  • Hit the video hotspots below to dig into more learning resources
  • Jump between sections most relevant to these sections (useful for onboarding video in the company)

In turn, interactive videos improve viewer engagement and resulting in better retention. It is also possible to test your students' knowledge by making video quizzes using Interactive.

Are you ready to create your own online course?

Making a course for video that the audience enjoys is as simple as:

  • Being specific about the problem you wish to resolve
  • Building the information into a cohesive story
  • Organizing the content so it's simple to read and understand

And don't forget, the right tools can alleviate the strain the process of creating high-quality videos and provide a full-immersive learning experience.