Create a Quality Audio Course the Fast and Easy Way
Recently, I created an audio course that my students love and wanted to walk you through why you may want to consider creating an audio course versus the traditional video-based course.
Most of my online courses include videos, supplemental material such as workbooks, and additional resources like swipe files and templates.
But my students were asking for ways to learn on the go. They’re busy and don’t have time to sit at their desks and watch videos. In this new course, I have audio-only lessons along with an action guide to help my students get massive results.
They're able to listen to the audio on their phone through their favorite podcast platform. This allows them to listen while working out, walking their dog, or in their car!
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to launch your first course while helping your students learn on the go, consider creating an audio course.
Note: Some of these links below are affiliate links, which means I may get a commission if you try them and purchase. However, none of the fees have been increased to compensate me.
Why You Should Create an Audio Course
There are many reasons why audio courses are popular both with students and course creators.
Audio, as a form of communication, continues to grow and research has shown that listeners feel more connected to their instructor when audio is used.
Audio courses are easy to create, and you don't need a lot of technical skills to develop a course. In addition, they don’t require a ton of bandwidth and, because of this, they’re faster to download.
Audio is much easier to set up than video since there is no need to worry about lighting, fixing your hair or makeup, or having a picture-perfect background.
An audio course makes it easier to conduct interviews with leading researchers or experts to add value to your course.
What Is an Audio Course?
An audio course is simply a course in audio form. Instead of being on video and displaying your face while speaking or using graphics to convey or illustrate a point, you talk into a mic and record your lessons or modules. This is pretty much the same way that podcasters record their podcasts but in a much more structured form.
As with video courses, you can still include any supplemental material to help your students such as workbooks, cheat sheets, or action guides.
Let’s walk through the steps to create an audio course below.
5 Steps to Create an Audio Course
1. Determine the goal of your audio course
Will you use it as a free lead magnet? Will you use it as a tripwire? A low-cost revenue-generating mini-course?
A lead magnet is just what the name states. You are looking to attract potential customers to your online course. Using an audio course as a lead magnet offered for free, as a tripwire, or as a mini-course is a great way to attract your perfect customer. In addition, by signing up for your audio course, they get a taste of what it's like to work with you and how you teach.
Here’s an example of an audio course that I’m using as a free lead magnet in my book, “Launch Your Online Course Business in 90 Days or Less.”
Purchasers of the book are given the link to sign up for this free audio course. In the course, I have the audio chapters of the book along with an action guide and other valuable resources to help them jump start their business.
It’s important to have lead magnets in your non fiction books so you can invite readers to sign up for your email list.
Below is an excerpt from the book so you can see how the audio course is promoted and used as a lead magnet.
2. Decide upon the topic of your audio course - what will you teach?
What is the promised transformation? What will your students be able to accomplish by the end of the audio course?
This step is critical to crafting an audio course that people will buy and listen to. Ask your audience what topics they are interested in learning about. Think about what questions you get from clients or previous customers that they ask you over and over again.
You need to be very specific about what your students will achieve by completing the course and doing the work. In other words, make sure what your course lives up to its promised transformation.
You can determine market demand for your topic by doing the following:
Visit some Facebook groups where your ideal customer hangs out and listen to their conversations and the questions people are asking. This is a great indicator as to whether or not your course is what they're looking for.
Survey your email list and social media followers. Where are they struggling and need help?
Conduct a competitive analysis and assess if there is a gap in what your competitors are providing.
Once you decide upon your course topic, you are ready to move to the next step.
3. Outline your audio episodes – what is the topic of each episode?
What are your talking points for each episode? Do you need to create any supplemental material, e.g., workbooks or worksheets, to help them achieve the promised transformation?
Having an outline helps you organize your ideas so you can take your students on a clear journey. You don't want your students learning things out of order, especially if it is necessary to complete a specific module before moving on to the next section. You could add a checklist of the essential skills your students will learn by completing the course.
An outline helps:
Organize your content into bite-sized lessons. (You don't want to overwhelm your students with too much information all at once).
Students stay on track and engaged with your course.
Structuring your audio course will help you create a more natural speaking deliverance of your lessons. You don't want to sound like a robot (that will certainly annoy some learners). You can add intro music and introduce yourself so your students can better understand you and relate to you. You could also add in a lesson summary with some key takeaways for your students.
4. Record your content
When recording your audio course, it is important to have good equipment. That doesn't mean you should empty your bank account to buy the most expensive audio equipment on the market.
There are simple and low-cost ways to record without compromising quality.
Here's what you need to record your audio:
You only need a decent microphone and a quiet place to record. I also use a pop filter, so you don't hear "popping" noises into the microphone.
To record your audio lessons, you can even use the Voice Memo app on your iPhone. I've seen podcasters with huge audiences record podcast episodes with this app, and it sounds great!
Another great microphone is the Blue Snowball. It's less than seventy dollars at many retail outlets and will have your audio courses sounding like you paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars for your microphone.
What's impressive about the Blue Snowball mic is that you can connect it to your desktop or laptop via USB. I use a Blue Snowball mic for recording my podcast episodes.
If your budget is low, you can still get your course recorded. You could use a voice recorder app such as the one offered by rev.com. It's very simple to use, plus, it's free. Just click on the record button and start recording.
5. Upload your content to Hello Audio
My favorite tool for creating an audio course is Hello Audio. What I like best about this tool is the student experience. They will subscribe to your private, student only podcast feed through their selected podcast platform.
As an example, here is the link from Hello Audio for what it looks like when students subscribe to my private podcast feed for my audio course that accompanies my book on Amazon, “Launch Your Online Course Business in 90 Days or Less.”
Any questions about how to create your audio course? DM me on Instagram @destinicopp.
I look forward to hearing about your audio course!
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Create a Quality Audio Course the Fast and Easy Way