Can I really teach online? Imposter syndrome
What is the single most common reason that people who are considering creating an online course never end up doing it? Is it lack of funds? Is it lack of time? No. The most common reason is their own doubts!
Imposter Syndrome
It is very easy, especially when we have never taught anyone before, to question ourselves. What gives me the right to say I am a teacher? How can I call myself an expert? Will people find my teaching helpful or amateurish?
Whilst we may want to start an online teaching venture, and even have a great deal of knowledge and experience in a topic, it is very common for self-doubts to creep in. This is known as ‘imposter syndrome’, and is an extremely common feeling of being a fake or not qualified enough to portray ourselves as an authority figure.
Not only is this an uncomfortable feeling, but it can lead to procrastination and even block our progress completely.
Let me start by saying that this is completely natural, and experienced by everyone when they take their first steps into teaching online. It can manifest in 2 ways:
You put off committing to starting the writing process, doing lots of thinking about how you would go about creating your course, but never actually sitting down and starting the process of building an online training course.
You complete the writing of your course, but struggle to put it out into the world and launch it online.
As you can see, either of these experiences are completely obstructive towards achieving your goals, and if we can’t overcome them then it is likely that our online teaching dream will remain just that …. a dream!
So how do we avoid imposter syndrome and make sure that we approach building our course with the right mindset?
Stop a second - what do your students need?
Take a moment to think back to when you were first starting to learn about your chosen topic. Try to remember how you felt and what you were looking for. Most likely you felt slightly uncomfortable at being a beginner in this new subject or skill, but hopeful that you would be able (with some hard work and dedication) to start to build your knowledge.
You were probably looking for someone who had walked this path before - been in your footsteps but had made it further down the learning journey and was prepared to share the knowledge gained from that process.
You were also probably looking for somebody who could communicate that experience clearly and concisely. We all have limited time, so finding somebody who could transfer that knowledge to you in an organised, efficient but also fun way was probably high on your list of priorities.
Finally, rather than just reading a book, perhaps you were looking for someone who could hold your hand/mentor you through the learning process so you felt supported and inspired as you learned.
Ring a bell? Well that is because these things are what the vast majority of your potential students are looking for as well. You don’t need to be a university professor in your chosen topic, or a trained teacher to offer real value to others who want to follow you on that learning journey.
Who says you can’t be an online teacher?
What qualifies someone to be a teacher? Is it having a university degree or professional qualification? Is it a decade of experience or thousands of hours of practicing a particular skill? The truth is that it depends…
The definition of a teacher is someone who has a greater level of knowledge than the student, who passes some of that knowledge onto the student helping them learn faster than if they just tried to figure it out on their own.
Well that is a pretty broad scope for who might be qualified to teach. The two critical factors in that definition are:
You need to have more knowledge or experience than your students.
You need to be able to communicate that knowledge effectively.
So maybe you have years of experience, several professional qualifications and are an industry authority figure in your subject? If so, then you are probably qualified to teach at university level or run corporate training events.
Alternatively, perhaps you are a few years into building knowledge about your niche, have worked hard to solidify your understanding of various elements of the topic, and have some experience that total beginners would find very useful and instructive to hear about? In that case you are more likely to consider creating a beginners course aimed at those just starting out on their learning journey.
Wherever you are in your own journey, there is always someone behind you that would benefit from sharing your knowledge!
Maybe you are already teaching your subject in a face-to-face class. In this case you will be simply documenting the teaching you already do, and opening it up to a much larger audience. The fact that you already teach gives you plenty of credibility and should be the cornerstone of your online offering.
Perhaps you already act as a sort of “mentor” to others in your role as a seasoned practitioner of something? Do those people benefit from your guidance? Well so would lots of other people who don’t have the opportunity to meet you personally.
Even if you have never taught anyone in your life, if you have an expertise in something there will be plenty of people worldwide who could gain from your knowledge. Have you learnt to navigate your way through pitfalls as you gained experience? Do you have handy tips that you wish you had been given when you were learning? Do you think you could communicate your knowledge clearly (with some help from our course)? Then you definitely have what it takes to teach.
Feel the fear and do it anyway
Whilst it is normal to experience doubts, especially when we step outside our comfort zone, it is important to recognise the feeling and spend a little time analysing those doubts in order to keep them in perspective.
When it comes down to it, one of the most powerful questions we can ask is ‘what is the worst that can happen?’. If we are feeling fear, anxiety or apathy (which is usually just fear hiding behind procrastination) then the only way to defeat it is to have the courage to look straight at it and try to get to the bottom of what is causing it.
So what is the worst that could happen? Here’s some suggestions:
You launch your course and no-one buys it
You get a bad review for your course
Someone demands their money back
So looking at those examples, the first thing that springs to mind is that no-one died! Realistically the worst that happened was you wasted some time, your ego was bruised a bit or you made less money than you hoped. Not quite a disaster :)
And taking a step back, after the initial pain, we can change our approach to these ‘negative’ events and actually use them to our advantage. Here’s how:
Any feedback (and especially negative feedback) is incredibly useful. It allows you to hone your course offering and marketing efforts to better serve the needs of your students, which will eventually lead to more income. Maybe there are areas where your course needs a little work? Well now you know and can improve those areas.
Realise that everyone is different. People’s needs are varied and one person may find your course inspiring and helpful while another may be having a bad day and unfairly take their frustration out on you. In truth, you just have to develop a thick skin whenever you put yourself out there, whether it is online or in the real world, and accept that you can’t please everyone all of the time.
Launching any business or online course takes time and patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your audience our reputation be. You need to approach teaching online as a marathon, where you put energy and determination into the growth of your product over the long-term, and see any setbacks as merely bumps in the road. Learn from them, make some changes, and move on!
Finally, let’s flip that question on its head. If we do persevere, work hard and be patient, what is the best that could happen?
You gradually build a community of empowered students, learning together with them, and meeting some amazing people.
You start to build an income from your course, and as your venture grows you start to branch out into other income streams.
Opportunities come your way that would otherwise not have been available to you, as your reputation as a good teacher builds.
You feel a great deal of pride in having created something that will really help people change their lives or pursue their dreams.
Surely that is worth taking the risk for? :)
The right approach
So we need to develop a mindset that allows us to move forward despite our understandable feelings of anxiety or apathy. Here are a few tips to help:
Focus clearly on who you think would benefit from your course. If you are aiming at beginners, then concentrate on being as inspiring and supportive as possible rather than having to be a world-renowned expert! At this stage that is just as important to them as what they learn.
Whenever you find yourself procrastinating, or anxious about moving forward, just take a step. Don’t focus on the ultimate goal (launching your course), but concentrate on what is the next thing to be done. Our ‘Monetize Your Expertise Training’ offers a step-by-step approach to creating and launching your online course - just focus on the next lesson or exercise. Every step you take makes you that bit closer to your goal.
Believe in yourself - as long as you commit to creating the very best course that you can, offering good value for money and committing to supporting your students however you can, then you are going to be a great teacher!
Let me know in the comments what techniques you use to get over ‘analysis paralysis’ or procrastination when starting a new project!
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‘Your first steps towards becoming an online teacher’
