Picture this: You're competing for attention with TikTok, Instagram, and every other shiny object distraction on a college student's phone. Yet somehow, Tatiana Rodriguez - Rutgers adjunct professor and creator behind Tatiana Teaches - keeps her students glued to every word. When she joined us on the latest show, we had to know her secret.
The answer? It's not about fancy tech or viral tactics. It's about something most creators completely overlook.
"It's not enough to care," Tatiana told us. "We have to show them that we care." Her students consistently say the same thing when asked what makes great teachers: "The ones who care about their students." But here's the kicker - as content creators, we're educators too, whether we realize it or not.
Tatiana's classroom strategies translate in lock-step to content creation:
Show, Don't Just Tell: Instead of assuming your audience knows you care, actively demonstrate it. Respond to comments, ask specific questions, remember details people share. "We do not laugh with people we don't like," she reminded us. Let your genuine enjoyment of your community shine through. This requires active listening - and not just thinking about what you’re going to say before the person is finished speaking.
Scaffold Your Content: Stop trying to teach everything in one video. Tatiana breaks complex topics into digestible steps - first her students create audio-only podcasts, then add visual elements later. For creators, this means building content series where each piece builds on the last, giving your audience small wins along the way. We need to stop trying to boil the ocean!
Get People Off the Bench: "People don't join a team to sit on the bench," she said. Use tools like polls, direct questions, or simple "show me with your hands" prompts to pull viewers out of passive mode. Even acknowledging future viewers - "whether you're watching live or catching this later" - makes everyone feel included.
Her most powerful insight? "Fear is not the obstacle, it's information." When we asked about camera anxiety, Tatiana flipped our thinking: "Fear is not the opposite of confidence... I take action anyway, and that's how I get confidence."
Watch and/or listen our full conversation with Tatiana Rodriguez and discover why the best creators think like teachers.
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