The power of storytelling for learning and development

Creating impactful learning and development programs is essential for nurturing talent and driving organizational growth. But we all know that some L&D programs are better than others. Storytelling can transform your L&D initiatives, by engaging your employees while equipping them with necessary skills. 

Crafting compelling narratives through storytelling

The power of storytelling lies in its ability to forge profound connections. With captivating narratives, you can encourage employees to open up, fostering trust and comfort.

Storytelling to drive change

Bringing about change often involves upskilling employees. Storytelling can be powerful in facilitating change. Storytelling connects with people at an emotional level while illustrating the need for change. Storytelling breaks through resistance while building a shared vision for your organization.

Small talk: The under-utilized opportunity

Small talk, often underappreciated, presents a valuable opportunity to connect. Instead of generic greetings, you can use small talk to share relatable experiences, creating a genuine connection with your audience. Building trust through connection is foundational for any initiative — but especially when change is on the horizon.

A 3-step formula to connect with anyone through storytelling

Connection stories – or short and relatable anecdotes – are relatable and helpful for creating engagement. The key is tapping into common human emotions. The process is simple:

• Transition: Begin with a short, intriguing hook to pique the listener's interest.
• Share your story: Keep your story brief.
• Transition out: Ask open-ended questions, beginning with "when" or "what," to inspire your conversation partner to share their experiences.

Actions HR + people leaders can take:

• Integrate storytelling into training: Incorporate storytelling elements into your training programs to make them more engaging and memorable.
• Encourage employee stories: Promote a culture where employees share their experiences to build a stronger community.
• Leverage common emotions: Recognize and utilize common human emotions to connect with individuals.
• Prioritize personal development: Empower employees with opportunities for personal growth and skill development through storytelling.
• Evaluate learning solutions: Assess the effectiveness of your current learning solutions and consider adding impactful storytelling techniques. Electives instructors are real people sharing real-life experiences as professors, FBI agents, psychologists, performers, athletes and more. All Electives instructors are great storytellers.

Harnessing the power of storytelling learning + development

Storytelling creates connections, drives change and builds better learning and development programs. Elevate your learning and development story-based experiences that resonate with your employees and drive your organization's success.

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Extraordinary instructors. Unforgettable learning.

Our instructor community features professors, C-suite executives, astronauts, Olympic athletes and coaches, comedians, poets, songwriters, historians, best-selling authors and more. Together, they tell stories as they teach on a wide variety of evergreen and timely topics.