What is the real reason that a learner would want to take your course? Maybe acquiring new skills can lead to career advancement, which might mean more security for their family? Maybe learning how to report your company’s carbon emissions means you’ll attract some of the top talent that are driven by their passion for climate action? What is THE PROMISE of your course? And how are you, the course developer, articulating this promise to your learners? Identifying the promise is essential to crafting a course narrative that authentically connects with your learner and delivers outcomes aligned with their desires.
THE PROMISE is the third of the 5 Pillars of Content. If the dilemma identifies the status quo, or the beginning state of your learner as they start your course, then you can think of the promise as the desired end state of the learner at the completion of your course. The promise identifies more than the skills the learner will adopt by completing the course. Instead, think of the promise as what the learner will be able to achieve with their new skills and how they feel once they complete the course. The promise identifies how you, the course developer, empower the learner to achieve a clear outcome.
The promise answers the following questions:
By the end of the course the learner will be able to __________ , which will help them achieve their goal of _______.
By the end of the course the learner feels ______ about their new skill and how it will help them achieve their goals.
Let’s look at an example. Imagine you are developing a course designed to teach Business Analysts how to build predictive machine learning models using a product that does not require coding knowledge. What is the promise?
By the end of the course the learner will be able to build machine learning models to answer tough business questions, which will help them achieve their goal of standing out to senior management amongst their colleagues.
By the end of the course the learner feels confident and excited about their new skill of building machine learning models and how it will help achieve their goal of providing senior management with valuable insights to make impactful business decisions.
Remember, the promise is the real reason that a learner will decide to commit to taking your course. Take the time at the earliest stages of course development to identify the promise, which will ensure the content delivers on the learner’s expectations.
Coming up next: How to create an authentic connection between the learner and the instructor