Are you a trainer or coach and unsure how to start your first online course? Or do you want to optimize your existing online courses? In both cases, the first content in the course is crucial for the motivation of your participants! In this article, we explain why and show you examples for a perfect course start.
“First impressions matter!” – This applies not only to personal contact and physical products. The first impression is also crucial in online courses. The first minutes in the course can have a strong influence on learning motivation: Do I really want to look at the content? Am I interested in the topic? Does the whole presentation appeal to me?
Don’t: This is not how your online course start should look
To understand why the course start and motivation are connected, put yourself in the position of a participant: You enroll in an online course. You are more or less motivated. And you have certain expectations.
The course starts, and the first thing you see is a document on the topic. It’s not quite clear what you are supposed to do with it. You also wonder how the course will proceed and who your “digital counterpart” is. You are probably confused or even annoyed. Your motivation decreases even before the online course has really started. A good introduction looks different!
Do: This is how to succeed at the start of an online course
The example clearly shows why the first impression in an online course is extremely important. What should your participants experience in the first few minutes of the course to create a motivating first impression?
These five points have proven effective at the start of online training:
Personal address: Direct customer addressing is a “must do” in advertising and speeches. This also applies to online courses: Address your participants directly. For example, use “You will learn in this course…” instead of “The participants will learn in this course…”. A “you” or “your” address conveys a personal feeling and builds familiarity. Additionally, direct addressing increases your participants’ attention.
Provide context: Address why your participants are in this course. Is it a purely online course for personal development? Or the online accompaniment to a presence event in blended learning format? Meet your participants exactly where they are to make it easier for them to get started.
Convey added value: The goals of a course are likely already clear to most participants when they begin it. However, what is much more important for motivation than the goal is the personal added value: Explain what your participants will gain by following the course attentively. Example: “Throughout the course, you will learn to communicate more clearly. This way, you can defuse conflicts more easily and be more relaxed in everyday life.”
Explain the process: For your online course, you have developed a concept for the process, for example, with the course template for day workshops. Share the process plan with your participants! How are the chapters structured? What topic will they encounter when? Is there a final exam? – This way, your participants can prepare for it and always know the next step.
Call to action: Especially in online courses, without direct personal contact, your participants need to know exactly what to do. Therefore, use concrete calls to action right from the start, for example, “Click now on ‘continue’ to start with the first chapter”.
Tip: You can find concrete examples for your learning content in the article “Good calls to action in online courses”.
Getting these five points across at the very beginning of your online course sounds like a lot of information for the participants. You shouldn’t overwhelm them. Make bullet points for yourself and try to clarify each point in one, at most two sentences. This way, you create a good basis for the perfect course start. Now you just need to implement the first content.
Examples for the perfect start in an online course
If you use blink.it as a platform for your online courses, you have a variety of formats available. Which format you choose for the start of your course is, of course, a matter of taste.
A short text on the points mentioned above is the simplest option (see image). This way, you can quickly add a motivating introduction to existing courses.
For additional motivation, you can also create the same introduction for your online course as a video. Videos have many advantages in online courses: They convey content quickly and easily, add variety, and bring a personal touch to the course. You can create videos for online courses with your smartphone – quickly, easily, and without expensive studio equipment.
