Teach the What, Sell the How
Give away the strategy on the webinar; the tactics are what they buy.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
Brunson's webinar-teaching rule: teach the what (strategy) but never the how (tactics). The what inspires belief that the map will get the result; the how — the click-by-click implementation — is what the paid product delivers. Teaching both overwhelms attendees and removes their reason to buy, and it's impossible to deliver all the tactics in 90 minutes anyway, so over-teaching actually under-serves. He structures the teaching into three points: the framework, proof they can do it, and proof nothing can hold them back.
Origin
Brunson identifies over-teaching as the number-one reason webinars fail; the host confirms her own biggest webinar mistake was teaching so much that attendees felt no need to buy the course.
Core principles
- 01Teach the strategy (the what) during the presentation, sell the tactics (the how) in the offer.
- 02Teaching both the what and the how overwhelms buyers and removes the reason to purchase.
- 03You cannot fit all the tactics into 90 minutes, so teaching how actually under-serves people.
- 04Structure teaching in three points: the framework, that they can do it, and that nothing can hold them back.
How to run it
- 1
Separate strategy from tactics
Divide your material into the what (high-level strategy) and the how (detailed click-by-click tactics).
- 2
Teach only the what
Present the strategic steps — e.g. find a converting funnel, funnel-hack it, sketch it, build it — without the implementation detail.
- 3
Structure teaching in three points
Cover the framework, then that they can personally do it, then that nothing can hold them back.
- 4
Sell the how in the offer
Position the course, training, or mastermind as the place where they get the full tactics to implement.
Watch out Teaching the how on the webinar overwhelms people and removes the reason to buy.
In the wild
Teaching about building funnels, Brunson gives the strategy: (1) find a funnel already converting, (2) funnel-hack it by buying the products, (3) sketch out the funnel, (4) build it in ClickFunnels. He teaches those whats but not the how — the click-by-click tactics inside the software.
→ Attendees grasp the strategy and buy the product to get the time-consuming how.
Common mistakes
Teaching too much
Dumping the full how leaves attendees feeling they can implement alone, so they don't buy — and 90 minutes can't fit all the tactics anyway, so it under-serves them.
Is it for you?
Best for
Webinar presenters selling courses, trainings, or masterminds.
Not ideal for
Free educational content with no back-end offer to protect.
From the transcript
“I'm teaching them the what but not the how”
“they're buying from you the how like that's the big differentiator”
From the episode
Russell Brunson: How to Build a Million-Dollar Sales Funnel
Russell Brunson