5 Tips for Storytelling in eLearning

Stories create a world that anyone can get lost in. They entice and entertain us; they draw us in and take us on a journey.

Stories are also great for getting information across through an unexpected means. Sort of like tricking kids into eating vegetables by hiding them inside something objectively delicious. A real trojan horse of education, if you will.

In eLearning, stories need to have a purpose to be effective. They don’t exist for a fluffy break from course content. Rather, they offer an opportunity to relate back your learning objectives, and to create a realistic and interactive element that will engage learners.

Learners crave that connection to something real and they’re quick to notice when something falls short. Nothing takes you out of a course faster than a half-hearted setup, or language that doesn’t fit the circumstances.

Here are a few tips to consider when crafting entertaining stories for your eLearning content.

1. Create a ‘Hook’

Use your first few sentences to grab the learners’ attention right from the jump. If you’re not able to achieve this, they may lose interest immediately. Keep in mind that you’re competing against the endless number of distractions that exist, so you’ll want to take some time to identify the most impactful hook for your story. Try to capture your learners’ curiosity with a question or statement that gets them intrigued to continue learning.

2. Keep it Simple

Don’t create an overly complicated storyline with dozens of characters, extensive backstory, and dozens of twists and turns. For it to be impactful, and memorable, your story needs to be simple enough for any learner to follow and understand.

3. Use Emotions

Emotions are what help learners connect and relate to both your story and content. By evoking an emotional response, you can give your learners a reason to care and make your story even more memorable. That, in turn, increases the likelihood that they will be able to recall the story’s message later on. In fact, compelling storytelling activates parts of our brains that mere bullet points of text can’t. Chemicals like dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin are released, which triggers our ability to better remember what we’ve been told. It’s science, baby.

4. Introduce an Obstacle

To get your learners to tap into their critical thinking skills, create an obstacle or problem for them to solve. Use it to test their knowledge on the subject matter. You can introduce the obstacle from the learner’s perspective, or through a character, to build connection, activate their problem-solving abilities, and inspire a higher level of cognitive engagement.

5. Be Creative

Have fun with it! Your story doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety or dread. If you enjoy writing it, chances are that will come through for the learners. Alternatively, if you’re just slapping words together and hoping it will result in a meaningful lesson, well, the learner will be able to tell that too. By tapping into your own imagination, it will make it that much easier for the learner to visualize and engage with your content.

Are you unsure of, or just not confident in, creating your own stories for your eLearning course? Basecorp’s Learning Resource Development team has talented Instructional Designers for that exact purpose. They can create scenarios that complement your course content and increase your learner’s competency in the subject matter. Not to mention our eLearning Developers can spin your content into engaging visuals that will appeal to any learner. Contact Basecorp to find out more!

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