Learn to Teach an Amazing Skillshare Class

1. Introduction: Hey, everyone. Welcome to this Meta-Class on Creating a Class on Skillshare. My name is Seniore, and I'm a part of Skillshare's community team. I'm creating this class today using a camera that's already on, a Gorilla Tripod, a Snowball Microphone, QuickTime and Natural Light coming in here at this Skillshare office. Now, for those of you who are new to the platform, Skillshare is a learning community of over 1 million creators and makers. Students from around the world sign up for Skillshare to gain access to thousands of classes and creative topics, and collaborate with each other to create amazing projects that they can share in their classes and even across the web. By creating a class on Skillshare, you'll join us in our mission to make high quality learning accessible and become an important part of our active, supportive, and thriving teacher community. Here at Skillshare, we believe that anyone can teach. That's why we built an open platform with no application or approval process. You can create your own class and publish to Skillshare whenever you're ready. You can teach anything your passion about; any hobby, trade, skill, or craft. Whatever your skill may be, it has a place on Skillshare. As a teacher, you can leverage Skillshare to earn substantial revenue, build an online following, and share your knowledge with the community of people eager to expand their skill set. In this class, we'll help you get started with teaching and walk you through the process of creating a class on Skillshare from start to finish. We'll start up by going over the basics and benefits of teaching. Then we'll dive into the class project, publishing your very own class to Skillshare. You'll build your class across three main steps. Designing a class, filming a class, and publishing it to Skillshare. As your very first step, we highly encourage you to join our monthly Teach Challenge, a program that's specifically designed for new teachers just like you. During this 30-day program, you'll receive reminders, tons of support from our teacher community, and even be eligible for prizes along the way. As a new teacher, you're four times more likely to publish a class when you join the challenge. So, if you haven't already, sign up here. One more note, whether or not you choose to join our monthly Teach Challenge, as you go through the process of creating a class, I encourage you to upload your progress to the class' Project Gallery to get feedback along the way. Simply start a class project and share your class planning with us. Feel free to e-mail us directly at [email protected] for any questions or any feedback throughout the process, and always refer back to our teacher handbook as you go to resource for detailed instructions for each phase of the process. We're so excited that you're here and can't wait to see your class come to life. Let's get started. 2. Basics + Benefits of Teaching: Before you dive into creating your class, let's go through some of the benefits of teaching on Skillshare along with a few teaching basics. Maybe you're still on the fence about teaching, or maybe you're not feeling 100 percent ready to start working on your class. Not to worry, we've all been there. We're going to outline a few of the specific benefits of teaching to inspire you to get started right away. People just like you have leveraged Skillshare to earn substantial revenue, build an online following, and even get back to the community. I'm going to quickly talk about each of these two benefits in a bit more detail. First off, let's talk through how you will earn money. Teachers on Skillshare have been able to earn substantial revenue through teaching, some even quitting their day jobs to focus on teaching full time. How do students pay per class on Skillshare? Skillshare operates as a subscription service similar to other sites like Spotify and Netflix. Students pay $12 per month or $96 dollars per year for a premium membership, which gives them access to all classes on the site. Most teachers choose to keep their classes in our premium catalog, which is the default choice when you publish your class on the site. As a teacher, you will be compensated not only for the volume of students taking your class, but also for their level of engagement with your content. Your monthly royalty payment is based on the number of minutes watched across all of your classes each month. The more video content your students watch, the more you'll earn. This means the teachers who provide value to their students by teaching real skills in engaging way will be the most successful on the platform. Your premium referrals are based on the number of new students you bring to Skillshare from your own networks. We'll pay you an extra $10 for each new premium member you refer on top of your monthly royalties. In addition to earning substantial revenue, our most popular teachers have leveraged Skillshare to build an online following, and grow other personal brands by gaining exposure to our community of over one million students. Teachers like Jake Bartlett have built their following completely on Skillshare. Jake now has over 20,000 followers, and each time he publishes a new class, all of his followers are notified allowing him to quickly capture more premium moments and continue to expand his audience at the same time. Finally, our teachers are able to pass their knowledge to a community of students who are eager to expand their skills and learn from people who are passionate about what they do. Now that we've covered a few teaching benefits, we'll quickly run through a few teaching basics. All classes on Skillshare are project based, meaning each class includes a project that prompts students to put their new skills into action. Simply come up with a fun exercise or assignment students can easily complete after taking your class. All classes on Skillshare are pre-recorded rather than live, so students can learn at their own pace and post their class project whenever they're ready. Most importantly, Skillshare classes are community-driven, meaning they foster collaborative and interactive learning experience. Students interact directly with each other through your classes community board and share feedback on each other's projects. Your very first step to becoming a teacher on Skillshare is to access our class creator. Head to www.skillshare.com/teach and click start class. You'll always be able to access your work in progress by going to your class creator. Just click your avatar on the top right hand corner and click the teaching button to access your class creator. Up next, we'll chat about choosing a great class topic. We'll return to your class creator once you filmed your class videos and are ready to publish your class. Up next, we'll chat about a few best practices when choosing your class topic. 3. Choose Your Class Topic: Now, that we've gone over the basics of teaching, let's dive into the class design portion of creating your class. In this first video lesson, I'm going to teach you how to choose an amazing class topic and once you've completed this video, you'll be able to add your working class title and your class description within your own project in the gallery below. Keep in mind that there are three total stages of the class creation process. Class design, filming, and publishing. Choosing your class topic is the first step of the class design process which itself is comprised into three simple steps. Choosing your class topic, crafting your class project, and drafting your class outlines that you're all set to film. So, there are two important questions to ask yourself in deciding what to teach. Our first tip is to get specific. This will help keep your content focused and fairly lightweight. That said, you probably have a lot to cover so consider how you can break down your knowledge into a handful of short classes that you can publish over the coming months. Take photographer and sculpture teacher Andre Wagner as an example, instead of creating a classroom on everything he knows, he breaks down his knowledge into multiple classes and publishes them over time. Remember, our top teachers publish a new class at least once a month. So, think about your strategic ways you can segment your classes. Consider the difference between a film photography class compared to a class specifically focused or on working with a light meter. Also, think about how you can teach a really broad subject through a really specific application. For instance, teach interior design by showing students how to improve the interior decor of their kitchen or teach Mexican cuisine basics by walking students through preparing enchiladas. Tip number two: if you're stuck, think about what you'd want students to create as a result of your class. A short class that walks students through a quick project you're comfortable with will resonate well with students looking to get creative. For example, graphic designer John Brama, teaches students how to create textures in Adobe Illustrator by making a custom pen and design for their own city. An illustration artist, Mimi Cho it teaches students how to draw on their own photos. Notice that these are both examples that allow students to make the project personal and also incorporate their new skills to create something amazing. Now, it's time to create your project within this class and tell us what you'll be teaching. By doing so, other first time teachers will be able to provide feedback and encouragement as you build your class. Simply scroll down and click the blue 'Start Project' button and tell us what you'll be teaching. Up next, I'll walk through a few best practices and tips on how to create an engaging class project. See you in the next video lesson. 4. Craft Your Class Project: Welcome back. In this lesson, we're going to talk about the second step of the class design phase. How to craft an engaging class project. Think of your class project as a fun exercise students can do to apply what you've just taught them in your class. Since we strongly believe in the power of active learning, the number of projects added to your class project gallery impact how high your class trends on our class listings page. This means that crafting a great class project and encouraging students to start your project, is an integral part of your success as a teacher. Here are three tips for crafting an engaging project that will inspire students to get started with their class project right away. First, we recommend making the project easy to start. Students are more likely to do a lightweight exercise that allows them to jump right in and feel a quick sense of accomplishment in just a few minutes. Consider Faye Brown's business branding class. She focuses her class projects specifically around creating a brand mission statement. While branding your business is no small task. This project feels manageable and something students can accomplish while exercising the skills they just learned in her class. Second, ensure your project instructions are easy to understand. If your project requires multiple steps, list them out clearly to keep it digestible and approachable. Also, be sure to encourage your students to share their work in progress rather than waiting to submit a final outcome. The more students share their work in progress, the more feedback they'll get from other students providing a more interactive and rewarding learning experience. Lastly, make sure the final project is shareable. You should instruct students to post their work or a photo of it in the class project gallery so they can get feedback from you and your students. Check out Jamie Bartlett's class project example. Notice her instructions are clear, straightforward, and encourage students to upload their work in progress. As soon as you determine your class project, update your class project within this class, to tell your fellow teachers what you've got planned. Up next, we'll talk about outlining your class contents so you're all set to film. 5. Outline Your Class: Now, that you've crafted your class project, you're ready to move into the final phase of designing your class. Outlining your video lessons. Outlining your class content is the best way to ensure your video lessons are well organized and engaging. It also makes filming your class a lot easier because you'll know exactly what you'll be covering and how. Our most successful teachers follow pretty basic format. Teachers open with one brief video introducing themselves and explaining the class, followed by a series of videos breaking down their process and sharing their skills and wrapping up with one short video showing their final thoughts. This is our recommended basic template, but you should feel free to customize it however you'd like. During the outline phase, you also decide which filming formats are used for your class. You have the option of incorporating screencast, talking head, or physical demonstration. A screencast is where you simply record your screen. You can incorporate a slide presentation or a software demo. A talking head style format is where you appear in front of the camera to talk to students directly. Finally, a physical demonstration is where we see you demonstrating your physical process. For example, a sewing class maybe a mix it with talking head and physical demo. Talking head meaning that the teacher is talking to students directly and physical demo meaning that the teacher is sewing while narrating their creative decisions. After you've selected which formats you'll be using, its time to segment your class content into a series of short, concise video lessons. To outline your video lessons we recommend using our online template. You can access it directly by heading to the projects section within this class. After you've clicked the outline template, simply click File, Make a copy and start filling in your own class outline. You can get as detailed as you'd like. Some teachers just jot down a few talking points while others put together a more detailed script. As you draft your class outline. Try to imagine your target student is in the room with you, really picture them, their name, where they went to school, what they might be eager to learn and what concepts they might struggle with. Create and curate your content around that specific student profile. Remember the more specific you can get the better. Let's walk through a few more basic best practices to keep in mind while you're putting together your class outline. Be sure to include your personal tips and tricks throughout your video lessons. For example, if you have any favorite shortcuts you use in Photoshop or special trick you use when composing a photograph, share it. Students love hearing teacher's unique approach to their craft. As you go through your project demonstration, be sure to cover all the necessary steps in the process so that students are fully equipped to get started. Be sure to also stick to one major concept per lesson, so the students aren't overwhelmed with too much information. Be sure to explain the why of your class. Narrate your creative decisions and tell students why you make particular choices or use certain techniques so they can get to know your unique process and style. Now, it's time to share a class outline with the teacher community. Simply click the blue Share button on the right hand corner. Then Advanced Settings, then anyone can view. Then, paste this link to your project in this class to get feedback. You're welcome to e-mail your class outline to us directly at [email protected] Congrats, you've completed the class design process. You're now ready to move on to filming. 6. Film Your Class: At this point of the process, you should have completed your class outlines that you're all ready to film your video lessons. In this lesson, I'm going to review the different options for recording your class. We won't be diving too much into the technical details here. The teacher handbook is your go to resource for all the tools you'll need for filming your videos. I'd also recommend checking out Vimeo's free DIY filming class for more detailed instructions. In this video, I'll give a quick overview of the filming process that you're fully equipped to choose how you'll film your video lessons. Pick out the right tools and schedule a date into your calendar to sit down and record. Teachers are always surprised how easy it is to record high quality video lessons at home without breaking the bank. Keep in mind, students care more about your educational content than production quality, so as long as you're offering meaningful insights and achieving clear audio and video quality, your class will be successful. You should already have an idea on which filming format you plan on using for each video based on your class outline. But we'll quickly walkthrough each format once again just to be sure you're clear and all your options. Many of our most successful teachers found themselves using a simple screencast. Screen casting as the easiest way to record your Skillshare class and the best option for classes that don't require a physical demo. All you need is a computer and a microphone, walk your students through an engaging slide presentation or a QuickTime Software Demo for products like Lightroom or Excel. Apart from your computer, you'll need a screen recording software like QuickTime or Camtasia and a microphone like a snowball mic or a headset to capture your audio. A talking head style video or a physical demonstration is meant for classes where you need to appear in front of the camera to physically show students your process. Keep in mind, this format or acquire a few additional tools, you'll need a device to film, yourself like a DSL, or a camera, webcam, a smartphone, or a video camera, a tripod or something to stabilize. Consider a stack of books, a gorilla tripod, or even asking a friend to film you, and a microphone. Consider a live mic or an iPhone. But remember, this tool is an optional one. If you won't be using a mic, try to stand close to the camera, about three feet. As far as lighting goes, the sun is the best light source you have, so just be sure the light sources in front of you as opposed to behind you. To put these formats into a real life example, if I'm creating a photo class around learning how to use a light meter, I'll be doing a combination of a talking head to introduce myself in the class, mixed with a physical demonstration showcasing students how to use the light meter and narrating my steps. Theoretically, I could also teach the same subject through a screencast, by outlining my process, for an engaging class slide presentation and informative talking points. For a detailed list of potential tools for screencasting, talking head, and physical demo, head to the filming section of our teacher handbook. Whether you're a quarter class with the screencast or a physical demonstration in front of the camera, there are a few important tips to keep in mind around teacher presentation. Here are a few quick tips around teacher presentation to ensure a fun and seamless filling process. Be sure to practice. Do a run through of each video lessons that you can iron out any wrinkles in your class content and confirm your class feels natural. Avoid distractions. Make sure there are no distracting sounds or visuals in the backgrounds that your students can focus on what's important, your class content. If you're using a screencast, clean up your desktop and turn off any notifications before you start recording. Appear comfortable and confident. Think of recording your class as a conversation with a camera rather than a lecture. You can even pretend your target student or a friend is in the room with you to keep your tone engaging and approachable. Smile and have fun. They'll come through as the students watch your class and if you mess up, not a big deal, just laugh it off and try again. It's okay to do multiple takes and remove your ohs and ums in post-production, so don't feel discouraged. Another pro tip, be sure to have your assets and materials ready before filming. Whether you have digital photographs, materials, portfolio examples, culinary ingredients, slides, or anything else you need or might want to show in your class, be sure to have them all set aside and ready before film time. Finally, to ensure a smooth uploading process, refer to our basic video specifications before diving into filming. I won't review all the specifications here but just quickly run through them in our teacher handbook to confirm you've configured all the proper settings. Once you have your raw footage, it'll be time to edit your class content. Editing your class video footage is an easy task when you're equipped with the right tools and tips. For Macs, we recommend using products like iMovie, QuickTime, or Screenflow. For windows, we suggest Windows Movie Maker or Cantasia. You can find a few tutorials on how to use these editing softwares in our teacher handbook as well. Once you've selected your filming format and tools, start by recording your introduction video, a simple video lesson or simply a test video to get comfortable being in front of the camera. Then, post your video to your project within this class to get feedback from the teacher support team and other first time teachers. To do this, upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo and embed the link in your class project. Again, always refer back to our teacher handbook for a detailed list of recommended tools or best practices for lighting, video, and framing along with links to a number of helpful Skillshare classes on getting started with video production. In this next lesson, we'll talk about uploading your videos and adding the finishing touches. 7. Merchandise and Publish Your Class: In this video lesson, we will walk through how to upload your finalized class videos, to the class creator and at a few finishing marketing touches to ensure your classes optimized to reach the widest possible audience. Merchandising your class is a key part of getting more students watching your class. So take note of these best practices. Start by uploading your finalized videos in the video lessons tabs of your class creator. Now it's time to add an engaging class cover image. To do so, simply click the image icon on the first video lesson that notes replace cover image. Then add your desired image. Image sizing is flexible but 1280 by 720 is perfect sizing for the class creator. A great class cover image is visually appealing and accurately represents your class topic. For contents, a most successful class cover images show teachers in action or provide a visually compelling slide like this one. You can even take a screenshot directly from your class as well. Next, you'll click the class info section to add some more details, starting with your class title. Remember to capitalize your class title and make sure it clearly reflects the core skill you are teaching. Your class description just give students a quick understanding of what your class will cover and briefly know what background is necessary to take the class. Then, add your class project information. As we talked about them the previous lesson, remember to keep your project instructions clear and digestible by breaking them down into steps, and ensuring the first step is as easy as possible, so that students can dive right in. The project section is a great place to include any additional files or resources that students might find helpful. Finally, you'll need to fill in a few more additional details. Select the class category that best relates to your class content. This will ensure that students who are interested in your class topic will discover your class when browsing skillshare. Add four to five tags that relate to your class content. Select your tags by thinking about what search words your students would use when searching for your content. I'd suggest reading our article on optimizing your skillshare class for SEO. Finally, you'll need to hop over to your skillshare profile to add as a sync teacher bio, profile photo, headline and links to your own website to increase your credibility on the platform. Also be sure to connect your social media accounts to add any followers you may have already had on skillshare. Each time you publish a class, your student followers will be notified, increasing the chances of them watching your class and helping you trend on their class listings page. That's it. Once you finish adding in your class info to the class creator, you're ready to publish. Take one last look over everything and click the blue publish button. Congrats, you are now officially a teacher on Skillshare. Don't forget to share link to your published class in the project gallery, so we can all see the final results. Join us in our last video lesson for some final thoughts and some quick next steps after you publish your first Skillshare class. 8. Final Thoughts: Welcome. You're now part of our teacher community. The best way to start earning money as a teacher is to market your class directly to your friends, family, and followers to get your class trending in our class listings. The best way to maximize your impact and success on Skillshare is by continually adding clauses to a platform, so start tinkering with ideas for your next class topic. Before you know it, you could have hundreds or even thousands of student followers on the platform and don't forget the Skillshare team is here to help you succeed. So, if you have any questions or get stuck along the way, always feel free to reach out to us directly at [email protected] Thank you so much for taking this class, can't wait to see your classes come to life. Good luck.