Hello Reader,

So I worked with a coach a while back who had built something she was really proud of. The core content of her group program was good and she knew it. She’d been doing this work with clients for years and finally reached that exciting stage where she could see all of those conversations, exercises, and breakthroughs becoming something that could help more than one person at a time.

And because she cared so much and because she had so much material, she made a really understandable decision. She included almost everything.

Not because she didn’t understand boundaries or because she thought more automatically meant better, but because every piece had a reason for existing. She could point to moments where each worksheet had helped someone. She remembered conversations that made each explanation feel important. She knew where the supporting content came from and why she’d created it in the first place, and when you’ve spent years developing something, leaving good material out can start to feel irresponsible or wasteful or like you’re holding something back that might help someone.

But by the end of the program, people were saying they couldn’t keep up.

Not that they didn’t like it. Not that they thought it wasn’t valuable. They were saying things like they needed to go back and rewatch things or they kept meaning to come back to certain modules and never did. It started becoming clear that people weren’t struggling because the content lacked quality. They were struggling because there was so much quality competing for their attention at the same time.

The core concepts, the things she had actually built the whole experience around, never got enough space to settle because before someone could sit with an idea and try it and connect it to their own life, there was another lesson waiting and another layer of context and another thing that also felt important.

I think that’s one of the harder things to realize when you create something.

If the content was weak, the answer would be easier. But when the content is good, when all of it could theoretically help, that’s where discernment becomes harder because now you’re not deciding between good and bad. You’re deciding between necessary and supportive. Between what someone needs today and what they might appreciate later. Between teaching thoroughly and teaching in a way that actually gives people enough room to change.

That’s one of the reasons that when I work through someone’s course with them, I usually don’t start with the question, “What should we cut?”

I find myself asking things more like, what is this module actually responsible for, what needs to happen here before someone moves forward, and is everything inside this section helping that happen or is some of it pulling attention away from the core focus?

Content that belongs somewhere else usually isn’t bad content.

Most of the time it’s really thoughtful, really valuable content that showed up in the wrong place or at the wrong stage of the learner journey and instead of adding value it accidentally creates friction.

And a course that tries to include everything often becomes harder to finish than a course that is willing to do one thing exceptionally well.

And if people don’t finish, they don’t apply.

If they don’t apply, they don’t get results.

Which is kind of the whole point of building the course in the first place.

So if you’re somewhere in the middle of building and you’ve got a module that keeps growing because every time you open it, you think of three more things people should know before moving on, it might be worth slowing down and asking whether this is actually a content question at all or whether it’s a structure question pretending to be a content question.

That’s exactly the kind of thing we work through in a Course Clarity Session.

But I’m curious, what’s inside your course right now that you already know probably belongs somewhere else?

Sarah

I'm Sarah Shoop, a course creation specialist who empowers heart-centered coaches, healers, and creative entrepreneurs to craft impact-driven online courses and group program content for their clients. Discover more at sarahshoop.com and download your free guide '10 Authentic Engagement Strategies for Impact-Driven Courses' to elevate your online teaching experience.

That course idea keeps nagging at you, doesn’t it? In 90 minutes, my Course Clarity Session will turn your scattered ideas into a clear framework your clients will love. You’ll get support before and after too, so you’re never left wondering “what now?” 🤝 Ready to get that course out of your head and into the world? Book a Course Clarity Session 👇🙌