Making Compliance Training Engaging
We’ve all had to do training that we just know, deep in our bones, is there so our employer can tick the box to say it’s been covered. Short of a full revolution, we are stuck with the need to cover the same topics that staff have seen over and over again.
So how might we break out of the mode of dull, boring content that staff will largely click through?
Script Writing
When you carefully examine movies, what you actually find is that there are a limited number of stories that keep being told over and over again. So, given that, what is it about the way films are crafted that keeps us engaged and draws us in? Basically, good script writing plays on the following core aspects:
- A clear journey
- Identifiable characters, even if we hate them
- Strong emotions
- Easter eggs or rewards
The Clear Journey
Humans seem pre-programmed to love a good story, so why isn’t more use made of this in learning? Often learning and development people may not feel that they have the skills to produce compelling stories. If this is the case, then start with a true story. Larger organisations may have internal real events that could be used as the basis of a story.
Good storytellers do this all the time, and there is no harm in that if you are using it to good effect in making an important message engaging and memorable.
It is ok to embellish and exaggerate.
Good storytellers do this all the time, and there is no harm in that if you are using it to good effect in making an important message engaging and memorable.
Identifiable Characters
Great films have characters you remember long after the film is over. Even if you hate them, you remember them. The very tendency in L&D of ‘playing it safe’ and avoiding any controversy or possible offense works against us in creating characters that are worth remembering, or even paying any attention to.
Strong Emotions
Great films are highly emotional. Yet most learning material is so bland and emotion-free that it has no impact at all. It is understandable why this is so in the contemporary ‘play it safe’ corporate climate, but it really does work against us being effective in producing lasting impact and changing behaviours.
Rewards and Payoffs
Any great film provides many rewards. In fact, they usually offer a diversity of rewards so that everyone in the audience gets a payoff, no matter what their own interests are.
But what is the payoff or reward in most training modules beyond not being nagged by your manager?
What's Next?
So, the next piece of learning you have to produce, think about ways to introduce these four elements into the material somehow. In future posts we’ll explore each of these in more detail and examine ideas of how to include them.
Happy learning authoring.
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