What Hollywood, Advertisers, and UX Designers Can Teach You About Course Writing
No matter how you get into designing learning content, one thing catches almost everyone off guard — how much writing it actually involves. And not just any writing. We’re talking about making boring or dry topics actually feel interesting to someone who may not care much to begin with.
So, how do you keep it fresh and engaging? One good trick: borrow writing tips from other industries. Advertising, journalism, Hollywood, even user experience (UX) design all offer great lessons that you can adapt to learning content.
What Instructional Designers Can Steal from Advertising
1. Truly Understand Your Audience
Everyone says, “know your audience,” but in advertising, they really know their audience — often through big budgets and tons of research. You may not have those resources, but you can still talk to your learners. Set up short interviews, casual chats, or even quick surveys. You’ll start to pick up on their language, frustrations, and what motivates them — all of which makes your writing way more relatable.
2. Match the Right Voice
Good ads sound like someone you would listen to. For training, the voice might be a helpful coworker, a knowledgeable manager, or a peer who’s been in your shoes. It’s not about your personal writing voice — it’s about what will actually resonate with your audience.
3. Go Active, Not Passive
Want your writing to sound energetic and confident? Use active voice. For example:
Active: “She caught the mistake before it went live.”
Passive: “The mistake was caught before it went live.”
Passive sentences can feel flat and distant — not great for engagement. Active sentences feel direct and clear.
What Journalism Can Teach Us
4. Use Catchy Headlines, Not Boring Titles
Journalists know how to make you click — even on topics you didn’t think you cared about. Try using curiosity or a little mystery to pull learners in. Compare these:
Instead of “Handwashing Procedures”, try “Why Your Hand Sanitizer Might Not Be Working”
Swap “Data Privacy Guidelines” with “The Data Mistake Hackers Are Hoping You’ll Make”
5. Add Teasers to Menus and Topic Screens
Just like magazine covers use blurbs to make you want to read more, you can add mini-teasers to your eLearning menus or intros. For example:
“He never learned the wine list. Were his tips affected?”
“Amy avoided small talk — but what did customers think of her?”
“A dirty table. A new guest. See what Amir did next.”
These little hints help spark curiosity and make the content feel more like a story, not a chore.
What Hollywood Knows About Good Stories
6. Give Your Main Character a Challenge
Think about your learning scenarios like movie plots. A good story always has a character facing some kind of problem. Instead of listing “email etiquette rules,” tell a story: someone loses a client due to a sloppy email, then learns and grows. That sticks with people more than a list ever will.
7. Let Characters Evolve
In a great story, characters change because of the challenges they face. When you write training stories, let your characters grow. Maybe they fail, then figure it out. That emotional arc keeps people engaged — it feels real.
What UX Design Can Teach Instructional Writers
8. Keep It Short and Clear
In UX, microcopy (those tiny bits of instructional text) is a big deal. Every word counts. Same goes for learning content. If a sentence doesn’t add clarity or help someone move forward, cut it. Being concise makes your writing stronger and easier to digest.
9. Show Some Personality
Sometimes, a little humor or warmth goes a long way. Ever seen a quirky error message in an app that made you smile? Add that human touch when you can. It reminds learners there’s a real person behind the content who cares about their experience.
