The Code Breaker #002: Course Creation 101 - The 3 Step Framework

Hey Code Breakers,

Welcome to this week's Code Breaker Newsletter, where we share some of the best insights, tips, and stories on how to break the code on your market and unlock the potential within your business.

In today's issue, I'm going to break down another one of my favorite frameworks and show you how to turn your ideas into bight size lessons or a full blown courses.

When you leverage this framework, you'll find simple ways to communicate your compelling messages and build lessons and courses with ease.

And even if you're not looking to sell courses specifically, this framework can be leveraged for everything from social media posts to improving on the lessons you share throughout your coaching engagements. And, the more clearly you can articulate your message, the more effective and persuasive your message will be.

Unfortunately, most of us aren't using a framework like this so our message gets lost amongst the noise.

We Assimilate Through Story

I've always been fascinated by stories. As a kid, I had a rather vivid imagination and would frequently tell my family stories about my imaginary friends and all the adventures we had in the woods behind our house. But it wasn't until I got into training customers that I began to understand the power of story.

Back in 2006, I worked a job installing fall protection to protect workers who worked at heights. After every installation we had to train the workers on the proper use of the fall protection. We were frequently met by bitching and moaning about 1) having to wear the harnesses to begin with and 2) feeling restricted by the harness when worn properly.

Story helped in both these situations because:

• People naturally relate to stories.

• The workers could place themselves inside the story and image what it would be like for them.

• The stories imparted trust and credibility because I was the one sharing it.

• The stories were compelling and got the workers to pay attention.

• It got them to ask questions if/when they didn't understand something.

• And, the stories stuck in their minds so they felt compelled to use the equipment anytime they should.

Why? Because effective stories get people to lean in and wonder. They break down the walls that block your communication. And, they allow your lessons you resonate and take action.

Let's dive in. Here's the framework, step by step:

Step 1: STORY

When we hear "once upon a time" we all naturally lean it. It's engrained in us. When you open with story, humans feel compelled to listen, and when your story connects to your teaching points, the subconscious learning process has already begun.

The key here is brevity! If you struggle to share compelling stories it's likely because you're either sharing too much detail or (and more likely) you're sharing the entire movie when you really only need to share a single scene. When thinking about the stories you tell, think about the single moment when the lesson you're communicating occurred and share that. Just that. Not everything else that went on around it.

In the case of the fall protection, I'd share two quick stories:

The first was about a worker who wore his harness and refused to tighten his leg straps. He experienced a fall one day and "bounced" out of the harness, fell over 25' and is now paralyzed for life. The second worker also wasn't wearing his leg straps properly but when he fell, he didn't bounce. Instead the straps accelerated toward his groin and cut into his femoral artery. Luckily, paramedics were able to rescue him in time, but if the team around him hadn't been quick to respond, it would have been a life ending mistake.

Step 2: TEACH

As you can imagine, people were all ears after they heard those two stories. Why? Because both stories tied directly to my teaching points.

The key here is to transition your stories with a connecting phrase. Two of my favorites are:

• And that's why...

• It's kinda like...

When you use simple connecting phrases like this it helps people to connect the dots between your story and your teach and provides an easy lead in to sharing your teaching points.

As coaches and consultant's, I'm assuming you're all skilled in teaching whatever it is that you teach so instead of sharing a specific teaching framework I'll simply share the following key points:

• Peak your audiences curiosity through story, first!

• Keep the length of your story relevant in relation to what you're teaching and the amount of time you have available.

• Share a scene, not the entire movie

• Transition with a phrase like "and that's why" or "it's kinda like"

• When switching to a new teaching point, insert another quick story to illustrate your point and start the cycle over again.

Now, share a tool that helps your audience take action on what you just taught.

Step 3: Tool

With all this information, your audience now has the learnings and understandings of what you're teaching.

You've engaged them with a compelling story that opened them up to learn from your teaching. Your teaching provided greater detail and explicit instruction on how to accomplish the task. Now it's time to get the audience into action.

The key here it's to provide them with a simple tool that allows them to put their new found knowledge into practice. Here's a list of simple tools you can create and provide you audience to take action:

• Bullet Pointed Lists That Share Your Key Points

• PDF Guides, Spreadsheets, Calculators, Etc

• Lock & Home Screen Image Templates

• Powerpoint Walkthroughs

• Fill-In-The-Blank Worksheets

• Curated Lists of Videos and/or Audio Recordings

• List of Explicit Action Steps

This is how influential people share their knowledge and services.

They don't dive straight into their content. And they don't waste time dilly dallying.

They build anticipation and understanding through story. They share their knowledge through clear, concise teaching points. And, they provide tools that help their audience to take action and engrain the knowledge they just shared.

Putting It All Together

Now you can see how a simple framework like STORY - TEACH - TOOL can be leverage to share your knowledge, whether it be a simple video on social media, a single lesson within a training, or a series of lessons you're putting together as a course. The STORY - TEACH - TOOL method can be leverage for each, and will be more engaging, retainable, and actionable as a result!

That was this weeks newsletter. Keep getting after it, developing your skills, building on your ideas, and implementing as much as you can. Have fun as you go, and use this guide to stay both effective and efficient along the way.

Let’s continue breaking the code and unlocking the potential in ourselves, our businesses, and our clients!

See you next week.