A Silent Walkthrough Towards Becoming An Effective Instructor Online

"A burning candle burns itself to give light to others".

This quote has been spoken many times. But did you ever think about it deeply?

Another thing to ponder:

Who is an instructor or teacher? 

The reality is we never think about these things. We give importance only to those things which we experience.

The instructor is the person who shares their knowledge on the basis of their experience.

As we are in the blogging industry, we share our experiences through the internet. So the only visible and audible communication methods are our blog articles. Easy to understand articles last a long time and attract more visitors. So, in this article, we will discuss how to become an effective instructor online.

Steps To Become An Effective Online Instructor In A Simple Way:

In the following graphic, all the qualities of an effective instructor are listed:

1. Make Readers Ready To Learn

Your readers are your students. They need to be taught, but before that, they need to become ready to take in information.

• Put Readers At Ease 

In most cases, readers are thirsty for information. They want information which answers all the questions wandering through their mind.

If I have written anything about blogging or how to make money online, then my readers will expect me to answer their queries on that topic.

I want to tell you that choosing a niche matters a lot, but your hard work and patience matters the most. A blogger like Harsh Agrawal, founder of ShoutMeLoud, is performing well in his blogging niche. But he was also a beginner like us and was at one point unaware of blogging stuff.

But he learned and built up this ShoutMeLoud masterpiece.

• You can read Harsh’s blogging story here.

To become an effective instructor, you need to make up your mind and stick with the plan.

Give examples of other successful bloggers. You can even tell the story of your own blogging journey (like Harsh did).

• Try To Know What They Want To Learn 

To get inside of a reader’s mind, you can make lists of things they want to learn. You can add a survey questionnaire in your blog post or on your Facebook page. You can create a forum where you can ask about your reader’s problems.

On social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., you can create posts to gauge interest in a topic.

One easy way to find out what your audience is struggling with is to read questions related to your niche on Quora. On Quora, you can find answers to some common questions. Also, you can figure out ideas for your next blog post topic.

After you have an idea of what problems people are facing, try to solve them with your posts.

• Tell Them About The Things You Know 

Sharing your knowledge is the best way to attract an audience and be an effective instructor. Set yourself free and start teaching the things you know to your readers.

By doing this, you will gradually improve as a teacher.

• Make Learning Interesting 

Everyone in their life has experienced a boring lecture from a college/school professor. But we have also likely had an amazing experience with a good teacher. Both professors were knowledgeable in their field. The only difference between them was their teaching style.

The person who has an interesting way of teaching is always remembered by their students. So, it is important that you must have an interesting way of teaching others.

For example, take the question:

How do you make a good blog?

If I’m asked this by an experienced blogging professional, then explaining the answer is no problem. But if I were asked to explain the answer to a newbie, then it would be a tougher task. I would instead use an answer they could connect to easily.

The answer would go something like this:

Suppose you’re building a home for yourself. What’s the procedure? What steps do you take?

You will first search for a place to build a house. So you will contact a dealer/owner to provide a space. Then you will pay money for the place and the registered address. But that dealer is kind so he/she will provide you with an architect as well.

Now you have your home, but you need to decorate it so that you can invite others to your home for a party. So you will buy some new things which will enhance the appearance of your new home.

So in this parable:

1. Buyer of home – User
2. Plot or Place – Web server
3. Property Dealer – Web host provider
4. Address – Domain name
5. Architect – WordPress inbuilt in web host
6. Decorative/Functional items – Plugins/content

• Place Readers In The Right Direction So They Come Back 

Explaining the basics to your readers should be the primary focus of an effective instructor.

Most businesses collapse because they lack the basics in their business model.

The company Zirtual used to provide virtual assistants on demand. Now this company is not functional because of the unavailability of a full-time CFO and proper board members (i.e. the basics of a successful organization).

So teach the basics to your readers and they will keep coming back.

 2. Explain the Topic 

• Tell, Show, & Illustrate Each Step

Telling details in steps makes the instructions more digestible.

This is an effective manner to explain things and hold your reader’s interest. Divide your post up into points. After that, explain all the steps in detail so that you can deliver the finer points of your knowledge to your readers.

For example, here are the steps for setting up a WordPress blog through any web host provider:

1. Assess the features of particular web hosting provider
2. Sign-up for a web hosting service
3. Select a domain
4. Enter billing/payment information
5. Complete the purchase
6. Setup the account
7. Create a password
8. Go through the “Welcome page”
9. WordPress set-up
10. WordPress login

• Stress Each Key Point

Key points are those important factors which one should consider to master a particular topic.

In the above example, if I were to list out the key points, what would they be? Well, as a teacher, I want to see what you come up with.

Try answering all of these key points in the comment box one by one.

• Explain Clearly & Carefully

Your message should be clearly transmitted to your readers. Use all the methods discussed above so that the results come out in your favor.

• Explain Within A Reader’s Ability To Understand 

There are usually two types of readers –

1. The reader who is very familiar with your article, the topic, and the points discussed.
2. The newbie who doesn’t know anything.

So if you write content according to the first category, then you will not meet the expectations of the second category, and vice-versa.

Then how we should optimize our content that will cover both types of readers? The answer is to write content for both. Include all the basic steps and also the advance points to satisfy both the beginners and the advanced students.

In this way, you can hold the interest of your readers and come out as a knowledgeable, effective teacher.

3. Strong Follow-up 

• Practical Examples 

Provide your readers with a good number of practical examples. The more concrete everything is, the easier it will be to take in.

It is easy to relate to things which are real rather than imagined.

Also, practical examples require techniques which can be discussed in detail. They provide readers a deeper look at the real-world applications of a technique.

In general, the survival of a business depends on the owner’s practical experience.

• Evaluate What You Have Told 

Evaluation is necessary to know how effective your teaching method is. At the end of the article, or in the comment box, you can add some questions related to your published blog post. These will make you understand how well your audience is understanding your teachings. It will also give you ideas on what you can improve in your next post.

It can even provide you a lead for your next article.

Taking in your audience’s feedback is a powerful activity that will cause you to become an effective instructor and/or mainstream blogger.

It is not an easy task to become an effective instructor or blogger. We need to improve continuously.

The impact of an idea rests solely on the author’s ability to provide information to their audience in an effective manner.

But if we consider all of the above points, then we can definitely achieve our desired targets.

It is very joyful and gives you immense pleasure when your readers start to follow you. This level of success is a truly wonderful feeling.

By being an effective teacher, you too can experience this feeling.

This article was a guest post submission. Want to submit a guest post for ShoutMeLoud? Check out our submission guidelines.