Write Your Class Description

Your class description is where you outline your topic, set expectations, and make students feel excited to take your class.

In this article:

Best Practices for Class Descriptions
Class Description Examples
Resources

Similar to class titles, once you get closer to publishing your class we encourage you to revisit your class description and refine it for discoverability and SEO so it can be seen by more students. For more information on that process, refer to the article Class Merchandising and SEO.

Writing a class description doesn’t have to be hard! Top Teacher Silvia Ospina walks through the elements of the class description from one of her classes to ensure she’s providing the right information to her students up front, as well as optimizing it for SEO. This lesson is from our teacher training class, Teach on Skillshare: Plan, Publish, and Promote an Engaging Class.

Best Practices for Class Descriptions

Try to address each of the following in your class description, using a voice and tone that is consistent with how you teach. Feel free to use the prompts below — which are framed towards your future student — as headings to help organize your class description.

Class Overview: Describe what your class is about in a few sentences. Keep in mind that it’s the first 2-3 sentences that a student (or a search engine) will read so it’s important to use clear, complete sentences that accurately describe the topic and focus of your class.
What You Will Learn: List the top skills, techniques, or concepts students will learn and practice in your class. It can be helpful to use a bulleted list to organize these.
Why You Should Take This Class: This is your opportunity to outline your class’s value proposition. To help you think through this, consider how you would respond to the following questions about your class:
- Why is the topic or skill(s) you’re teaching important?
- How are the skills useful to your students?
- In what ways can students apply those skills?
- Why should potential students learn from you?
Who This Class is For: State whether your class is geared to a broad audience or a specific one, e.g. designers, entrepreneurs, etc. You should also mention what prior knowledge or level of expertise your students will need to get the most out of your class.
Materials/Resources: List what students will need to take your class and complete the project. Likewise, list any relevant resources, such as templates or tools, that you might be providing as part of the class.

Read on to learn some other things to keep in mind with your class description.

Maximize Readability

A wall of text can be intimidating. Short paragraphs, bulleted or numbered lists, and bold or italicized text (where appropriate) can organize information in a digestible way.

Add Images After Written Copy

If you do add images to your class description, it’s best to put them after your written text so they don’t interfere with SEO.

Try reading your class description out loud. Then ask yourself: would a new student who has never taken one of your classes immediately understand what your class is about and why they should take it? If the answer is no, try addressing those missing components in the draft.

Class Description Examples

Take a look at these popular classes on Skillshare to get a sense of what makes an excellent class description:

In her class, How to Retain a Hand Drawn Quality to Your Vector Drawings, Lisa Glanz outlines the skills students will learn in a clear bulleted list. This is really effective for quickly articulating the key skills to your future students.
The class description for Top Teacher Rich Armstrong’s class, Abstract Art: Easy Ways to Express Yourself With Adobe Fresco, is on the longer side but he uses headings throughout to organize his content. The value proposition — why take this class? — is right at the top so students don’t miss it. Additionally, his enthusiasm for his topic comes through loud and clear!
Top Teacher Amelie Satzger’s class description for iPhone Photography: How to Shoot & Edit Conceptual Photos on Your Phone is structured almost like a pitch-perfect intro video: she starts off with a compelling hook, explains what students will learn in the class, and then ends with an encouraging conclusion.

Resources

Class Merchandising and SEO: Your class description is essential to ensuring the right students find your class in Skillshare’s catalog and on Google. Review this article for guidelines on optimizing your class description for SEO and discoverability.