3 Questions to Help You Decide What to Teach
Have you thought about teaching on Skillshare but don’t know where to start? The first step is narrowing in on a great class topic. We’ve found that specialized classes that teach a distinct skill are the most successful. There are three questions to ask yourself when deciding what to teach.
Have you thought about teaching on Skillshare but don't know where to start? The first step is narrowing in on a great class topic. We've found that specialized classes that teach a distinct skill are the most successful. There are three questions to ask yourself when deciding what to teach.
1. What is my area of expertise?
The best way to get started is to reflect on your own skills and passions. Remember to get specific and narrow in on a particular topic within your field that you know and love. Let's look at some examples from other teachers on Skillshare:
In web designer Josh Cavin's class, Learn SEO to Grow Your Website, he focuses specifically on how to use search engine optimization to grow a website. One of many business marketing strategies, SEO is a a distinct skill that Josh himself knows well.
Fashion photographer Justin Bridges focuses his photography class, Portrait Photography: Creating Drama with Light, specifically on using light to create dramatic portraits. Each lesson explores a different set of constraints that all relate back to light and portraiture. This focus made it easy for photography students to anticipate what they were going to learn and helped the class find its best audience.
In her class, Learn inDesign, Anne Ditmeyer puts her focus on layouts, type and images. Because you can teach an unlimited number of classes on Skillshare, she used her next two classes on Skillshare to explore her other areas of expertise.
2. What skill do I want my students to learn?
Classes on Skillshare are designed to teach tangible, creative skills that students can apply in the real world. Elizabeth Olwen’s class on Pattern Design provides a great example. She instructs her students how to design a repeat pattern in Adobe Illustrator, which is a skill they can use in countless ways from designing desktop wallpaper or an iPhone case to printed fabric or stationery. You should make sure that students will be able to apply whatever they learn from your class into their own work and creative pursuits.
3. What do I want my students to create and share?
Finally, since all Skillshare classes are project-based, think about what project you would like your students to create throughout your class and share in the project gallery, followed by what you would need to teach them to make that happen.

Feel free to email teach@skillshare.com at any time with questions on how to create a successful class, or head to the Teacher Help Center for more tips and tricks!
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