Giving classes is all about selling

I often get comments on how different my computer classes are. People generally look happy when they say that, so I hope that's a good sign. Yesterday, I started thinking about what I want to achieve but generally don't get during other classes? I think it's all about selling: when I give a course in say, Microsoft Project, I try to sell the program. Instead of showing features, I try to sell the participants the concept to choose that program for a certain need. And I don't think that only applies to computer classes. You all remember them, the teachers who really felt for their subject. The ones that just loved reading or history. They tried to sell you their interest. And it was, and is, captivating. To put it short: I don't care sh*t about how you format a Gantt chart if I'm not sure if I'm going to use the program in question.
So, how do you sell a program during the course: insight and interest for the participants. Discussing examples that apply to themselves. When I gave courses in Project, we always ended up creating a real plan for an actual project. When giving courses in databases, we created real databases. Of course, some got nervous that their ignorance was going to be exposed and someone was about to tell them they were a fool. But as I always say during my computer classes: the only stupid questions are the ones you didn't ask during the course.