Impact Of Storytelling On The Learning Process
Stories have been told since time immemorial. From the cavemen to the modern expert filmmakers, stories have been inscribed or told. The art form may have been different, but good stories have always captivated the minds and hearts of people. From the epics like Mahabharata and Homer's Illiad to Shakespearean plays, stories have played a part in the evolution of people's culture.
Stories tend to stick to our memories. Stories have an inherent quality of emotion that profoundly affects people.
In learning design, there are three ways of eliciting a response from people. These are cognitive, affective, and conative. The cognitive process is about making people think, affective is about making them feel, and conative is about making them do. Quite often, people ignore that everything needs to affect people's emotions. Only when learners or audiences connect to the learning emotionally is there a good chance of remembering the concepts learned.
Storytelling is that medium or technique that can be used powerfully to create the right impact on the learner's mind.
How To Use Storytelling Effectively
In digital learning, storytelling can be used in the form of short scenarios or stories that can be interspersed throughout the module.
Let us look at the three ways to increase the impact of your digital learning programs with storytelling.
1. At The Beginning Of The Module
Stories can be used to set the right context. For example, it can be the story of an individual who underwent an emotional journey or an experience. By using storytelling at the beginning of the module, you can impress the importance of the subject upon the learners.
2. As A Technique To Connect The Dots
Stories can be used throughout the module to connect the dots; that is, connect the various concepts. For example, a course on an organization's values can be created with stories on the various values. Each story can help learners understand the concept better.
3. As Testimonials
Some courses can have stories as testimonials. Employees can share personal stories about how they used a concept or overcame an illness or a challenge. These personal stories can greatly impact the learners' minds when integrated into the course. Coming from a colleague, the story can have the right impact.
Case Study: Hospitality Industry
For a hospitality organization, we created stories on various concepts such as reception, front-desk services, housekeeping, food and beverage, and on-demand services.
We used a story of a traveler who had booked a room in advance at a decent hotel. When he reached the hotel, he found that the room was not available, and he was provided with an alternative room that was not up to his expectations. The traveler then expressed his frustration through social media. A hotel in the same city immediately contacted the traveler and asked him to try their hotel. He reached this second hotel and found the room to his liking.
He was treated with great care. He was provided with various facilities, and his room was upgraded at no extra charge. The traveler was thrilled and posted his incredible experience on social media again. He gave five stars to the hotel's services. Thus, using the story of a traveler, we could create the right impact on the minds of the audience, who were, in fact, the new interns and employees of a reputed chain of hotels and resorts.
Conclusion
To conclude, storytelling is an excellent method to improve learning outcomes. Storytelling can be used at the beginning of the course to set the context or throughout the module.
At Tesseract Learning, our learning and visual architects are constantly innovating and reinventing their approaches to design, develop, and deliver effective L&D programs. KREDO, our learning platform, helps create and deliver effective learning experiences.
We have been recognized as a Top Custom Content Provider and a top eLearning, gamification, microlearning, mobile learning, and onboarding company for three years in a row. We can deliver innovative and effective learning programs based on your business needs with our learning design expertise that drive a positive change and ROI.
Contact me or leave a comment below to learn more about our services and how we can help you.
Editor's Note
Tesseract Learning was also featured on eLearning Industry's Top Content Providers For Custom eLearning list.
