The Concept Keys Authoring Process

Never before has the phrase, keep it simple, carried more meaning and impact. This is the essence of the Concept Keys approach to make learning easy for busy people. As an author, you are able to just write in a style that is easy for everyone to understand.

Basics-Basics-Basics

Keep it simple! Language and grammar can be complex. Jargon is good to learn; just remember when possible, simpler is better. Several short sentences are often less complicated than one long extended sentence.

Your micro-lessons may vary in size. Some may require more or less than the standard four paragraphs with just 2-4 sentences in each paragraph. Be flexible and adjust to the needs of your material.

You have invested a lot of time becoming an expert. This will now pay off for you as an author of a Concept Keys program. The process is simple, easy, and takes very little time. Completing your first draft is easy. There are five basic steps:

Generate an extended list of basic fundamental keys to success or understanding in that area
Select the most important of those keys
Explain the key in more detail
Select the best Food For Thought Questions to encourage understanding and motivation to use the information wisely.
Prepare the program for the Certification Exam.

You already have a general topic in which you have expertise or have access to extensive literature.

Step 1: Generate a List of Keys to Success

Create an initial list of basic fundaments to your topic; brainstorming is quite effective. If you anticipate a 50 Key program, set a target of brainstorming 200 or more basic fundamentals. It is very helpful to use standard brainstorming techniques if you have co-authors. When first making your extensive list, do not deny any Key to success no matter how silly it might sound. When you are drained and cannot think of another remotely possible Key, stop!

Take a break and then come back to your list. Many folks find their list of basic fundamentals is much longer than expected. This is not a bad thing! It's actually a very good thing because you reduce the chances of overlooking a really important Key. Review the Keys and eliminate duplicates. Don't worry yet about eliminating the Keys that are too basic or silly. They sometimes fit well in a micro-lesson.

Step 2: Select the Most Important Keys from Your List

One approach is to divide your 200+ Keys into 50 piles; then, identify the one Key that covers all the others or generate a new Key that summarizes the entire pile. This is a time for critical decision-making. Use your instinct and expertise. The size of your program sometimes grows to more Keys than you originally anticipated-and sometimes less. Make your decision and make it happen by finalizing the number of truly useful Keys.

Step 3: Generate the Micro-lesson for Each Key

Place these Keys on the KeyEd software in the order that you want the participant to process this information. In most Concept Keys programs, the Micro-lessons are four bulleted paragraphs. Each paragraph includes two to four sentences. In some cases, the organization of the paragraphs will flow quite naturally. Often a time sequence or an organizational pattern based on procedure, size, or space works effectively. Another way is to insert aspects of the original pile of basics. In other cases a unique organizational principle will have to be used. Some authors have found a functional pattern to be best:

Paragraph 1 - Explanation of Key
Paragraph 2 - Description of Key
Paragraph 3 - Negative Motivation (this will happen if you do not use this Key)
Paragraph 4 - Positive Motivation (this will happen when you do use this Key)

Be flexible and realize that these decisions about what to include are all part of the overall intent of your program and should be selected to help make learning easy for your participants.

Step 4: Create your "Food For Thought" Questions

Food for Thought questions are a single set of questions designed with the intent to be asked after each key throughout the entire program. The questions may be a combination of mutiple choice, true/false, and short answer.

Step 5: Prepare each Key for the Certification Program

The Certification Exam is comprised of two types of questions: A list of 20 keys, 5 of which come from the program just taken and a matching type question where keys are matched to bullets from the micro-lessons. Rather than rely on complete randomness, the author chooses one bullet from each micro-lesson which best represents the Key and micro-lesson without exactly duplicating the Key jargon whenever possible. You must do this even though you do not feel Certification is necessary with your program. If that is the case, simply select bullet 1 for all Keys.

Contact Our Sales Team!