Spark Engagement with Skillshare Discussions: What Actually Works

Are your Skillshare discussions reaching your students — and inspiring them to engage? 

Every time you post a general discussion, you’re showing up directly in your followers’ notification feeds — and in their inboxes, too. In fact, discussion emails average a 45% open rate (which is generally considered above average), which means your followers are paying attention, even if they don’t always respond.

With that kind of visibility, discussions are one of the most impactful — and underused — tools teachers have. So how can you make the most of them? Turns out it’s not just about what you post — it’s all about how you say it.

In this article, we’ll share what we’ve learned from a deep dive into thousands of posts:

• What general discussions are, and how teachers use them
• What actually drives engagement (with data to back it up!)
• The tactics that work best for encouraging responses from your followers
• Real examples from the Skillshare teacher community for you to adapt in your teaching.

What Are General Discussions?

General discussions are short posts that Skillshare teachers can send to their followers from their teacher profiles. These posts appear in student dashboards and can be emailed out as well. General discussions are great for any announcements related to your activity on Skillshare, such as launching a new class, digital product, or 1–on-1, sharing any big creative or personal updates, or asking for feedback or inviting participation. 

As a teacher, you can post and email discussions from within your individual classes too, but for the purposes of this article, we’re narrowing our scope to general discussions posted from teacher profiles to streamline our analysis. 

How Are Teachers Using Them?

Between March 2024 and March 2025, 913 teachers shared a total of 4,004 general announcements. On average, each teacher posted around 4 times, though some posted 50 or more! So while only about 10% of active teachers used this feature, those messages resulted in over 13.4 million emails sent.

If you’re not seeing a big response to your discussion posts, you’re not alone. Currently, 54% of general discussions receive no visible engagement — no comments or upvotes. But that doesn’t mean no one’s seeing them! In fact, the average email open rate is around 45%, which is well above average and means your messages are reaching your students and impacting visibility of your classes.

That said, if you want to better understand how to leverage discussions to not only increase visibility but to build connections with your students, then read through this data dive on where where we're seeing correlations with engagement.

Data Deep Dive: What Correlates with Engagement?

We analyzed this 12-month data set to understand what drives responses. Here’s what we found:

Follower count and tenure matter, but it’s not the only thing

More followers and more time on Skillshare do correlate with slightly higher engagement. But the impact is smaller than you might think! Even newer teachers with smaller audiences saw strong responses when they posted with the right tone and frequency.

There’s a correlation with class quality

We’ve found that the highest levels of engagement happened when discussions were paired with strong classes. For teachers who already have a quality catalog, well-placed discussions seemed to encourage more students to discover and connect with their work.

Big takeaway: There’s a sweet spot for frequency

More posts didn’t always mean more engagement. The highest-performing teachers posted 11–15 times per year, and did so consistently throughout the year, i.e. roughly once a month. After 15 posts, engagement started to drop — suggesting that too much posting can have diminishing returns.

Bonus Deep Dive: Impact on Minutes Watched 

After analyzing engagement, we had another question: Do general discussions lead to more minutes watched?

It’s a tricky one to untangle. Many teachers use discussions to announce new classes — and class launches are already a major driver of watched minutes. So, how do we know if the lift comes from the post, the class, or both?

To get closer to an answer, we took a sample of 147 teachers and mapped their daily watched minutes over a 12-month period. We overlaid the dates of any general discussions or class publishes, then compared average watch time in the 3 days before vs. after each event.

Here’s what we found:

The takeaway: Publishing a new class had the biggest impact, with teachers seeing an average 48% jump in watch time in the 3 days after launch. By the same token, discussion posts gave meaningful 9% boost.

Even more interesting: we saw gains across the board, regardless of follower size.

So yes — if you’ve got a large following, the lift is bigger. But newer teachers still see a slight benefit from posting. The more consistently you show up for your students, the more likely they are to show up for your classes.

4 Traits of Highly Engaging Discussions

But it’s not just about frequency, consistency or follower count — the tactics and content that certain teachers share really matters. From this larger data set, we found 4 consistent patterns in posts with the most replies:

Student-centered, not just promotional

Across the most engaging posts, one pattern stood out: they weren’t just announcements to an audience — they were framed around the student experience. 

Even when the message was tied to a class launch or personal update, the tone was generous and inclusive. That small shift — from “Here’s my new class” to “This class was inspired by your feedback” — goes a long way in making students feel seen and involved.

Warm, personal tone

The best posts feel like they’re coming from a real person — not a newsletter. Teachers who addressed their students directly and shared personal and authentic notes saw better response rates.

• Top Teacher Yu-Yin Lin marked her birthday with a cheerful, heartfelt message that gave students a reason to celebrate with her — a personal moment that drew connection. 
• Rising Teacher Barbara Luel shared vulnerable, encouraging thoughts on letting go of perfectionism in your art — a topic that resonated deeply and prompted reflection.
• Top Teacher Tom Froese teased an upcoming class and invited “good vibes” to help him finish it. His tone is casual, charming, and participatory — we love it, and so do his followers.

Emotional expression

Posts that conveyed excitement, gratitude, or curiosity outperformed flat or overly formal ones. Even just saying “Thank you so much for your support!” can help boost engagement by signaling authenticity.

• Top Teacher Jane Davies celebrated an exhibition of her artwork and connected it back to what she teaches on Skillshare — a great example of sharing wins while reinforcing value.
• Top Teacher Tracey Capone kept things light and lively with a friendly announcement about her upcoming classes — her enthusiasm clearly resonated.
• Top Teacher Bonnie Christine paired a class-centered giveaway with a powerful prompt: encouraging students to dream big about licensing their work. It’s a post that’s both aspirational and interactive.

Invite collaboration or participation

Teachers who asked for feedback or input on future class ideas saw strong engagement. Students were more likely to comment when they felt like their voice shaped what came next. Some of the best-performing posts nailed this by keeping their question simple and student-focused.

• Top Teacher Gabrielle Brickey used a simple image poll to ask students which class they’d prefer next, closing with a heartfelt reminder: “At the end of the day, I want to create classes you all want to see.”
• Rising Teacher Evgenia Cordie also used a graphic to invite votes on her next class topic — a great tactic that worked even with a smaller following.

Final Takeaway: It’s Not About Posting More — It’s About Posting with Purpose

The data is clear: when it comes to Skillshare discussions, consistency and intentionality beat volume. Teachers who posted around 11–15 times per year — roughly once a month — saw the highest average engagement. That rhythm helped them stay top of mind without overwhelming their followers.

But it wasn’t just how often they posted — it was how they connected.

The most engaging discussions shared 4 common traits:

• A warm, personal tone that felt real, not robotic
• Genuine emotional expression — gratitude, excitement, curiosity
• Invitations to participate, like polls or class topic suggestions
• A student-centered focus, not just promotional updates

And here’s the good news: these strategies worked even for teachers with smaller followings. When teachers showed up regularly with thoughtful, student-minded posts, students responded — through comments, upvotes, and increased watch time.

So if you're not sure what to say, start small: share a quick update, ask a simple question, or reflect on something you're working on. You don’t need a perfect strategy — just a clear, consistent voice and a genuine reason to connect.

Written By

Jen Hutton

Staff Program Manager & Community Operations @ Skillshare

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