Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Tailoring Online Courses to Adult Brains
You've spent years cultivating your gifts as a coach. Your one-on-one sessions are incredibly powerful. Now, you feel called to share your wisdom with even more people through an online course.
But translating your in-person transformations into digital lessons feels overwhelming. You're not a professional teacher - you're a guide focused on emotional healing and spiritual growth.
“The good news is you don’t need fancy instructional design degrees to create courses that resonate.”
By understanding some core concepts of how adults learn best, you can share your gifts through courses. Let's explore key principles to keep in mind so your course can create the same breakthroughs online as your private sessions:
Leverage Their Life Experience
Your clients come from rich and varied backgrounds. Meet them where they are by using relatable stories and examples in your course content. For instance, when teaching mindfulness, share a story in a video about how meditation helped you overcome anxiety as a busy parent rather than just explaining the theory.
Ask thoughtful reflection prompts in your worksheets or discussions. "Describe a difficulty you faced in life. How did you respond and what lessons did you learn?"
Activating their prior knowledge makes the material resonate on a deeper level. Help them connect new concepts to their lives through shared stories and reflective prompts within the online course.
Make it Emotionally Relevant
Adults crave content that speaks to their inner world and aspirations. Clearly explain in your course overview how your program leads to self-discovery, healing, more conscious living, and other emotional transformations you are offering.
For example, in a course on finding inner peace, share how the rituals, meditations, and journaling practices have helped you slow down anxiety, release anger, and tune into your highest self when faced with life's difficulties.
Use your own stories and transformations to illustrate how the course can activate emotional breakthroughs and spiritual growth for your clients as well. Describe the inner shifts and "aha" moments they can expect. Include opportunities for them to document these through discussions or worksheets.
Foster Autonomy and Self-Direction
Adults like having options when they learn. Offer your teachings in different formats to suit different folks!
Share core concepts in a podcast episode they can listen to during their commute. Recap it in a blog post with pretty visuals. Do a meditation video to help them apply it. or a worksheet with journal prompts so they can work through the concepts.
Giving choices empowers your clients to engage how they learn best. And don't stress timelines - let people move at their own pace. These are adults…it’s ok if they take what connects with them and leave the rest.
Built-in flexibility shows you get that adults have busy lives! They'll integrate lessons in their own time by choosing formats that work for them.
When you design for grown-up learners seeking meaningful change, your course will feel like an intuitive extension of your in-person work rather than an overwhelming new world. A few simple yet powerful principles go a long way.
Stay tuned for more tips on creating courses with soul that guide your clients to emotional breakthroughs and spiritual growth!