Storytelling is one of the most common ways enterprise learning teams try to make training more engaging. A character is introduced, a workplace scenario plays out and the right answer is explained at the end. Learners finish the course and pass the quiz, but their behavior at work stays the same. The reason is simple. They watched someone else make the decision instead of making it themselves.

In this session, Howard B. Lewis, Ph.D., CPT, chief learning architect at CommLab India, will show how to build learning stories that influence behavior using the Learning Story Arc framework and its six elements: context, goal, friction, decision, consequence and transfer. He’ll draw on research into how people understand and remember stories and examine how design choices can inadvertently derail learning efforts.

Attendees will turn one of their own projects into a learning story and leave with a quick reference guide, including AI prompts for drafting scenarios faster and guidance on where storytelling helps versus where a checklist or job aid may work better.

Attendees will learn how to:

• Use the Learning Story Arc framework to turn content-heavy training into scenarios built around real workplace decisions.
• Decide when a story will improve performance and when a checklist, demonstration or job aid will get the job done faster.
• Design decision points and feedback that get learners applying what they know, instead of recalling what they just read.
• Use AI to draft and stress-test scenarios quickly, with checks for accuracy, realism and bias.

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Speaker

Howard B. Lewis, Ph.D., CPT, Chief Learning Architect, CommLab India Howard has been involved in training, education, instructional design and performance technology for over 40 years. He has held corporate positions with Health Net, Apple Computer, Xerox Corporation and RTC. Howard has national and international experience in leadership, management, sales and marketing, engineering, safety, medical management, customer service and performance management. He earned his doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Technology and International Training from the University of Southern California and is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT).