1.2 – Brainstorming a Topic Lesson

Lesson Overview

Turning your knowledge into a successful course begins by choosing what—exactly—you want to teach. Most subject matter experts have experience that stretches across many topics, gained through years of work, education, or hands-on projects. However, to create a course that’s engaging and useful, it’s essential to focus on just one area at a time. This helps keep your training clear, manageable, and tailored for your learners.

This lesson centers on brainstorming actionable course topics using ChatGPT. By prompting ChatGPT with your areas of expertise, you can quickly gather creative and relevant ideas that might not have occurred to you on your own. The provided prompt templates allow you to either request general course ideas (with suggested audiences) or focus on a specific audience you wish to serve. Both approaches help you find a starting point that matches your strengths and market needs.

Whether you already have a topic in mind or are just beginning your planning, this lesson is useful during the early planning stages. Many experienced creators may also discover new course directions or identify needs in their audiences they hadn’t considered. In real-world teaching, such as business skills, creative arts, or wellness education, topic clarity is often what separates effective courses from those that miss the mark.

Who This Is For

Generating strong course topics with AI fits anyone looking to refine their course ideas before moving to full development, especially if you:

• Are a subject matter expert unsure which angle to take
• Teach professionals or hobbyists and want focused, practical course content
• Need a repeatable process for brainstorming course ideas
• Want inspiration for future courses or content expansions
• Work as a coach, mentor, or educator building learning programs
• Target a specific audience and want your course concept to match their interests

Where This Fits in a Workflow

Brainstorming a course topic is the natural starting point in any instructional design workflow. Before creating content, designing activities, or writing learning objectives, you need to be clear about your subject and audience. After this lesson, you’ll have a concrete course topic and an identified audience to guide your next steps.

For example, you might use ChatGPT to generate a list of engaging topics based on your experience in digital marketing or coding, and then narrow the list based on your chosen audience, such as small business owners or adult learners. This focused topic then becomes the foundation for your lesson planning, marketing, and course structure.

Technical & Workflow Benefits

Traditionally, brainstorming course ideas is a manual, sometimes time-consuming process. You might jot ideas on paper or consult with peers, only to circle back and refine topics repeatedly. With ChatGPT, you can instantly generate a list of tailored course ideas using just a simple prompt. This speeds up ideation, reduces decision fatigue, and offers options you may not have considered.

For example, when you specify your target audience while prompting ChatGPT, the AI returns ideas matched precisely to those learners’ needs—saving you research time and improving the relevance of your content. Rather than guessing or recycling old course outlines, you can create focused, differentiated content from the start. This approach is especially valuable for educators and content creators working on multiple courses or needing to respond quickly to evolving audience interests.

Practice Exercise

To put this lesson into practice, take these steps

1. List your main areas of expertise (for example, graphic design, HR management, or social media strategy).
2. Use the following ChatGPT prompt:
   “Act as an expert course creator. I’m a subject matter expert in the following topics: [insert your topics]. List some ideas for engaging courses I could teach along with the audience the course would appeal to.”
3. Try a second version by specifying your target audience:
   “List some ideas for engaging courses I could teach that would appeal to [insert audience description].”

Compare the types of ideas and audience suggestions you receive from each prompt. Which produced course topics that felt most relevant and motivating for you to teach?

Course Context Recap

This lesson is an early—and essential—step in the Generative AI for Course Creators course. After learning how to focus your expertise and brainstorm topics with ChatGPT, you’ll move next to defining learning objectives for your chosen topic and audience. If you’re just joining, you can revisit the previous lesson for foundational tips on narrowing your focus. Continue through the course to transform your raw idea into a structured, impactful course design. There’s much more ahead to help you build courses that truly connect with learners.