Great online courses tell great stories. They make ideas stick to the brain and grab the heart.

But what makes for a great story?

Time for a

1. Inherently interesting details. @garygulman says that words with the sound “buh,” “puh,” and “kuh” get more laughs. “Buick” is funnier than “Nissan.” In the same way, some details of a story are intrinsically more interesting. Include those. They’ll grab attention.

2. Brewing tension. A ticking clock, a butter knife on the counter, an inflated stock. The key is to make the black hats noticeable but not obvious. You want people to feel unsettled by the subtle signs of tragedy on the horizon.

3. More verbs, fewer adjectives. Who cares if your heroine is brilliant. It’s more interesting to learn that she graduated from Princeton. Show, don’t tell.

Pro tip: replace every form of “to be” with a real verb. Your writing will get instantly better.

4. Invested agency. Endear your audience to your characters and then frustrate them a little. Give people a chance to yell at the screen “don’t open that door,” “kiss him already,” “don’t let her say that to you.” It’ll spark their engagement.

5. Overturned expectations. This is what makes @Gladwell such an interesting writer. As @AdamMGrant noted, Gladwell shows the upside of downsides, the bad in the good, the order in the disorder. He makes the obvious seem opaque and the opaque seem obvious. Follow his example!

6. Change through time. Flat characters are boring. We want bad people to get way worse; good people to get way better; failures to achieve success; flops to experience redemption. This development is the essence of your story.

7. A clear reason why. What caused the change? It could be a magic item like a locket or pill, a wise guide like a mentor or spouse, a new idea from philosophy or religion, etc. Homo sapiens hunger for explanations. Make sure to deliver and drive home the point of your story.

8. For your course, the most important story to tell is yours. Ask, “How can I frame my experience around these story tips?” You’ll build relationships and credibility with your audience.

You’re inviting them to sign up to become a little like you. Show them why that’s valuable.

Sources and inspiration: @RoyPeterClark,
@jonathangottsch, @donaldmiller, @j1berger,
@Gladwell, @RobbieCrab, @AlexAndBooks_, and @david_perell