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Kristin Haynes

July 2015 - TD Magazine

First, identify the appropriate e-learning program for the apprentice, and then provide an employee support system.

Find Success With Online Learning for the Trades

If learning and development experts know one thing, it's how easily people forget. In the e-learning industry, a host of techniques and technologies have been applied to increase learner retention, from interactivity and gamification to virtual reality. But it turns out that the most effective tool for getting information to stick may be the very oldest: storytelling.Why Does Storytelling Work? Emotion, Memory, and MotivationEven if you're struggling to remember what happened in that meeting just now, you'd probably have no trouble telling a co-worker about a movie you saw last week—or last year. The reason stories are so memorable is that they engage our emotional brain. The brain releases dopamine during an emotional experience, and dopamine aids memory. As Doug Stevenson, CEO of Story Theater International explains, "We don't just listen to stories; we see images and feel emotions. We actually experience the story as if it's happening to us."Besides being more memorable than raw information, stories are also better at motivating people to act. Research shows that character-driven stories cause the brain to synthesize oxytocin, a chemical associated with social well-being and cooperation. As a result, incorporating stories into employee training gets learners excited about working with others. Consider the following story:He'd flown an airplane for four U.S. presidents, and served as Warren Buffet's personal pilot for 10 years. Yet despite an incredibly successful career, Mike Flint felt unsatisfied. There was a lot besides flying that he'd hoped to accomplish.One day, Buffet instructed Flint to write down his top 25 goals in life. From that list, he was told to circle his top five. Suddenly, Flint understood the importance of getting to work on what really mattered to him. He resolved to focus on his top five goals right away.What about the other 20? Flint said he'd address those intermittently, as time permitted. "No. You've got it wrong, Mike," Buffet responded. "Everything you didn't circle just became your 'avoid at all costs list.' No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you've succeeded with your top five."The point of this story, as told by Business Insider, is to introduce the counterintuitive strategy of the "not-to-do list." The main character is having an emotional experience that most of us can relate to: wanting to accomplish more with his life, but not knowing where to begin. Of course, we could have simply explained the concept of the not-to-do list. But the development of the idea through a human narrative makes it a lot more "sticky."Designing a Great StoryUnderstand Your AudienceTo harness the power of storytelling for your employee training, it's essential that you begin by reading your audience. Compared to other training formats, storytelling is relatively easy to personalize. But you have to start by asking the right questions: Who is taking this training? What's their work environment like? What kind of day-to-day challenges do they encounter? Answering these questions first will allow you to craft stories that are realistic and relevant. Remember, the more your learners see themselves in the story, the stronger their emotional response will be and the more they'll retain.Define Your Learning ObjectiveFood training expert Kristin Kastrup advises: "As you develop and refine your story, keep in mind your ultimate goal for the training. Is it behavior change, process change, skill development, awareness, or some other objective? If you haven't clearly defined your desired outcome, you may not achieve it."Build Out the Structure of the StoryA simple breakdown of an effective story goes like this:The Hook: Journalists and advertisers understand that to get someone to buy into your message, you have to pique their interest without delay. The hook is what gets the learner to sit up in their seat. "He'd flown an airplane for four U.S. presidents . . ."The Challenge: Tension creates attention. The challenge or conflict does more than just illustrate a realistic scenario for the learner; it also provides the story's vital energy and earns the learner's investment. "Yet despite an incredibly successful career, Mike Flint felt unsatisfied . . ."The Resolution: This is your chance to drive home the learning objective. A story that, for example, models effective behavior in the workplace should demonstrate consequences in a satisfying and memorable conclusion. "Everything you didn't circle just became your 'avoid at all costs list' . . ."As Connie Malamed helpfully points out, this narrative format can be used to organize any kind of information; even without using characters or a setting, presenting information (about product development or a new policy, for instance) in a beginning-middle-end format can be highly effective. Get ideas for even more creative narrative formats.A final word: In the context of training, resist the urge to make the story any longer than it needs to be. Microlearning and storytelling go hand-in-hand. Give learners quick, punchy stories with direct relevance to their work so that they can apply them on the job. Storytelling works because it leaves learners with an emotional imprint. As you develop a training on any scale for any purpose, don't neglect to tell stories—the most basic and effective instructional strategy of all.

For Employee Training That Sticks, Tell Better Stories

The Dubai Police Department, an ATD Excellence in Practice Award Winner, turned to video and gamification to train its young force of digital natives.

Kristin Haynes

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