Most training starts as a document somebody already wrote: a policy, a handbook, a product guide. The document is accurate, but nobody learns from it. Turning it into a course is mostly a job of selecting, sequencing and checking, not writing from scratch.
1. Decide what people must be able to do
Before you outline anything, write three to five sentences that start with "After this course, you can…". A refund policy becomes "approve a refund within your limit", "escalate a refund over the limit" and "record the reason correctly". These are your objectives, and everything else in the PDF is supporting detail.
2. Narrow the source
One focused document makes a sharper course than a binder. If your PDF covers ten topics, make ten small courses or pick the two that matter this quarter. Remove material learners don't need: legal definitions they'll never apply, history, appendices.
3. Sequence lessons around decisions
Order lessons by when people need them, not by the order of the document. A useful pattern: why it matters → the rule → how to apply it → common mistakes → practice. Keep each lesson to one idea and three to six minutes.
4. Write for the ear, then cut
If lessons will be narrated, write the way a colleague would explain it: short sentences, concrete examples, one idea per paragraph. At around 130 words per minute, a four-minute lesson is about 500 words.
5. Check understanding, not memory
Write questions that test whether someone can apply the rule. Good wrong answers are the mistakes people actually make, such as the old rule or the near miss. Every question should explain why the right answer is right.
6. Review against the source
Compare every claim in the course to the PDF. Anything you can't point to in the source is either a gap to fill with your subject-matter expert or something to cut.
Doing it with Coursecast
Coursecast automates the first draft of steps 1 to 5. Upload the PDF, set the audience and lesson count, and it plans the outline then writes each lesson with the full source in view, with review notes listing gaps and claims to check. Step 6 is still yours, and that's deliberate.