One Simple Way to Help Learners Get Started

Did you know that your learners see a very different view of a Lesson than you do? Take a look at the comparison:

⬅️ What you see |— — — — | What your learners see ➡️

The screen on the left shows what you see as you’re designing the lesson.

The screen on the right shows what your learners see when they’re starting out.

Before a learner decides to hit the “Start” button, you can bet that a host of other attention-stealing thoughts will flood their mind. These distractions can be summed up in a single, unconscious question:

Is learning this worth ___ minutes of my time?

Of course you want them to answer that question with a strong “yes!”.

Here are 5 tips for using Lesson Descriptions to motivate learners:

1. Make it personal. Keep your tone friendly and conversational. Write the title and description just like you’d say it in front of a class or to the learner face-to-face.
2. Start with why. Make a 1–2 sentence “pitch” for why this lesson matters. As you do this, frame the “why” in terms that matter to them. (Example: “In this lesson, you’ll learn an easy recipe for baking chicken that makes first time chefs feel like pros.”)
3. Keep it short. If your description is too long, learners are likely to miss at least a portion of what you wrote.
4. Estimate the time. If your learners don’t know how long your lesson might take, many will opt to not start at all.
5. Use emoji 👋. While not appropriate for every topic or brand, emoji are an easy way to keep a conversational tone while adding a bit of lightheartedness.

Thousands of teachers use Pathwright every day to design and teach lessons to their team, class, or anyone in the world. If you’d like to design a lesson, we invite you to try out Pathwright for free. You’ve got nothing to lose!