We previously shared some top tips on how to launch an online course on Udemy. This time around we’ll be covering one of the most popular platforms for teaching creative skills like photography, design and writing! If you read the previous post, you already know that by 2025, the e-learning market is predicted to be worth a whopping $325 billion so let’s dive into Skillshare and how you can use the platform to kickstart your online teaching hustle.
Skillshare offers pre-recorded classes, live sessions, workshops and has over 12 million members as of 2022. Unlike other platforms that put a lot of emphasis on learning objectives, Skillshare favors community-based learning through project sharing and feedback gathering.
Decide on a class topic and project
Start by choosing a topic that you already know and enjoy digging deeper into. To make sure that the topic you’re interested in teaching doesn’t go against Skillshare guidelines, read their Restricted Class Topics list to rule out any potential mishaps.
Since Skillshare is project oriented, start thinking about something your students could do to tie together and apply what they’ll learn. While we’re on the topic of students, figure out who they are and how you can help them hone in on a specific skill vs a topic that might end up being too broad. Here are some of the most in-demand topics you can draw inspiration from.
Figure out how to leverage the community
With Skillshare being community based, when creating your projects, it’s important to include exercises that are lightweight and quick to complete to help encourage sharing and peer feedback. The goal is to make sure your students are comfortable sharing their work, thought processes, challenges and learning outcomes with each other to increase the overall engagement within the community.
Design your classes
Each Skillshare class should have a short lesson followed by a hands-on project. The preferred structure of the platform is to have 20-60 minute long videos split into a series of brief 2-8 minute long lessons. Here are more details on the recommended class structure and a template you can follow.
Record your Skillshare videos in Detail
You want to start by making sure you have Detail downloaded for your Mac and iPhone.
Setting up multiple cameras or screens
Start by setting up your camera and screen share. Don’t worry if you don’t have a professional camera. You can literally get started by using your iPhone with Detail. Watch this video to learn how to connect cameras via USB-C or HDMI capture card.
Then create your combo scene. With a combo scene, you can combine two or more cameras or screens to make your shots a bit more engaging.
If your class is teaching students how to use an app or piece of software, a picture-in-picture layout works best. Make sure your screen share is the main focus with your camera taking up less space in one of the corners.
Teaching dance, fitness or crafts? You can easily connect a second camera or iPhone and use a split screen combo scene so your students can see multiple angles.
If you’d like to save time and record promotional content for social media at the same time you can create a vertical combo scene. Just add a vertical (9:16) combo scene, pick which cameras and screens to record and you’ll have content ready to share on Instagram Reels, Youtube Shorts or TikTok.
Lastly, you need to pick your audio source. You can use a budget friendly USB mic like the Rode NT-USB Mini or just use your Apple Airpods! Now that you’re all set up, just hit record and start creating your lessons!
Editing your online course content
Your cameras, screens and combo scenes will be captured separately in Detail. This makes fixing mistakes and redesigning your final video easy. Once you’re done recording, all your clips will appear in the timeline and you can either export the full video or individual sections.
The editing workflow in Detail is straightforward. Split clips by right-clicking and selecting “Split Clip,” or by hitting the “X” key.
Reorder your clips by dragging and dropping, and delete any footage you no longer want by pressing the “Delete” key or right-clicking and selecting “Delete Clip”.
If you’ve got animated intros and outros or any branded titles for your class, you can import them into Detail by clicking “Timeline > Import Video” in the menu bar and simply selecting the video you want to use in Finder.
When you’re ready to export your full video, click the export button in the top right corner of the Detail window. You’re now ready to share your course on Skillshare! Here’s their step-by-step upload guide.
Already have pre-recorded teaching videos? Why not use Detail to create your social content with just one click? Just import your existing videos to Detail, add any image or text overlays you want, then export the video to your Detail Library.
In the Library, find your exported video and hit “Create Highlights” to upload to the web and automatically generate short, shareable clips for social media, as well as video title, description and hashtag suggestions.Watch the video below or follow this guide on how to get AI-generated highlights for social media promo to get more in-depth instructions.
Ready to go? Download Detail and start your Skillshare video course today!
