Episode 006: How to Find Your Teaching Sweet Spot in 10 Minutes

A live reflection exercise that turns everything you know into one clear starting point. You know you have something worth teaching — but the second someone asks what your course is actually about, everything comes out at once and it turns into noise. This episode walks you through the exact exercise Renee uses with clients to find the real starting point: the Roots stage of the Roots to Canopy Method. In this episode: Why "more expertise" isn't what's missing — and what actually is The 2–3 year reflection exercise that instantly surfaces your teaching sweet spot Why you don't need to be the leading expert, just a few steps ahead How to name the one person your first offer is actually for (hint: it's not your whole audience) The "cafe test" for understanding how your audience actually consumes what you build Why published is better than perfect — and how to pick your first low-tech way to share How to tell whether your first piece should be free or paid Timestamps [0:00] Why everything you know isn't a course — it's noise [1:00] Welcome back + recap: backwards design and the birth of Roots to Canopy [2:00] The idea that takes the pressure off: no single offer has to do everything [3:00] The reflection: what would you tell yourself 2–3 years ago? [4:00] That gap is your teaching sweet spot — you don't need to be the leading expert [6:00] Naming the gap in your own words [7:00] Newsletter callout — reneeKoster.com/newsletter [8:00] Finding your one person — the cafe test [10:00] Turning the gap and the person into one small, shareable thing [12:00] Free vs. paid — it's about depth, not length [13:00] Recap: you've already done more than when you hit play Resources Mentioned Newsletter — reneekoster.com/newsletter (reply with "podcast share" in the subject line to share your reflection)